Healthy Fish?

Alaeriel · Sep 9, 2020

I stumbled into these two firefish at a local Petco. One looks to have no damage to its fins, the other has what looks like a couple nibbles into its tail fin. I've attached a few photos of them as well as another fish they're in the same tank with. The pink fish (wrasse of some sort?) Has some white spots on it and I'd really rather not add ich to this new system and have to go fallow until the dawn of eternity. Its a 20 gallon high and the firefish would be the only fish in the system. I have no trouble waiting for a more reputable distributor to get some in stock if these guys are too risky. Thanks in advance for your advice!

nikki7181 · Sep 9, 2020

I would find out how long they have been there, then talk to the "aquatics specialist" to see if they actually know what they are talking about. The sedation and the method they are transported is terrible, but if the store has a good staff the fish may be good. I got a maroon lightning clown from a Petco over a year ago and he is very healthy and happy.

Wolf89 · Sep 9, 2020

if you get ich, you don't have to do anything! 99% of fish will live with ich perfectly fine. Ich is way overblown

Alaeriel · Sep 9, 2020

The firefish look like they stay fairly close together in the tank, but they're in with rather a lot of semi-aggressive fish (several different types of clowns, small brown tangs, etc.)

nikki7181 said:
I would find out how long they have been there, then talk to the "aquatics specialist" to see if they actually know what they are talking about. The sedation and the method they are transported is terrible, but if the store has a good staff the fish may be good. I got a maroon lightning clown from a Petco over a year ago and he is very healthy and happy.

The current "aquatics specialist" just started there a few days ago. I may stop back there at a later point and see if someone more knowledgeable is around and ask some questions then.

mattzang · Sep 9, 2020

the pink wrasse is an exquisite fairy wrasse and gets too large for a 20 gallon tank

if you're looking to avoid ich i'd avoid petco.. or qt the fish

nereefpat · Sep 9, 2020

It's possible that the damage to the firefish was done by the other firefish. They can pick on each other. The slightly beat up firefish is also a little skinny. The other one looks really healthy. I wouldn't hesitate to take that one home.

As for ich, just use Tank Transfer Method or 10-14 days in Copper Power. Really easy.

Alaeriel · Sep 9, 2020

mattzang said:
the pink wrasse is an exquisite fairy wrasse and gets too large for a 20 gallon tank

if you're looking to avoid ich i'd avoid petco.. or qt the fish

Definitely not looking for a wrasse for this build! Haha that photo was only included for the suspicious white dots on him to let others know what was in the tank. My planned stock is a firefish, pederson cleaner shrimp, blue leg hermits, and a red tuxedo urchin.

Alaeriel · Sep 9, 2020

nereefpat said:
It's possible that the damage to the firefish was done by the other firefish. They can pick on each other. The slightly beat up firefish is also a little skinny. The other one looks really healthy. I wouldn't hesitate to take that one home.

As for ich, just use Tank Transfer Method or 10-14 days in Copper Power. Really easy.

Especially in a tank as small as the 20 gallon. Could have been the clowns, could have been the other firefish, probably not the sea hare in there but ya never know!

I wouldn't be comfortable dosing copper since I'd be adding urchins in the future and don't want it to leach back from the rocks and kill the inverts.
Thanks for the reply!!

nereefpat · Sep 9, 2020

Alaeriel said:
I wouldn't be comfortable dosing copper since I'd be adding urchins in the future and don't want it to leach back from the rocks and kill the inverts.

Yes, it would have to be done in a QT....which in the case of one firefish, could be a 5 gallon bucket with an airstone and heater.

Alaeriel · Sep 9, 2020

nereefpat said:
Yes, it would have to be done in a QT....which in the case of one firefish, could be a 5 gallon bucket with an airstone and heater.

I've got an un-stocked freshwater 10 gallon tank and already have extra saltwater mixing, I think I'll convert that to saltwater and make it a QT. Is a 5-gallon water change in that one excessively paranoid to do every 3 days, or should I plan for that? Do you have a recommendation for brands of medication or will any copper-based ich treatment do?
The DT gets weekly 20% water changes since its only 20 gallons.

nereefpat · Sep 9, 2020

That would be a good plan. You can also test for ammonia, even with a cheap kit or ammonia badge

nereefpat · Sep 9, 2020

Edit: I like copper power

Alaeriel · Sep 9, 2020

nereefpat said:
That would be a good plan. You can also test for ammonia, even with a cheap kit or ammonia badge

Excellent, I do already have plenty of reagent for my ammonia test kit, so hopefully this little guy does well! I've got a frozen mysis blend and some pellet food already (will check the brand name of the pellets when I get back home). I'll swing by the shop tomorrow and bring him home!
The directions on the copper treatment bottle just list a ratio per water volume, but do I acclimate to the water first and THEN dose copper, or just acclimate to pre-treated water in the QT? Or does it not actually matter? I've only kept shrimps before, so this is my first actual fish. Sorry for all the newbie questions!

nereefpat · Sep 10, 2020

Alaeriel said:
The directions on the copper treatment bottle just list a ratio per water volume, but do I acclimate to the water first and THEN dose copper, or just acclimate to pre-treated water in the QT? Or does it not actually matter?

The best acclimation practice, if you're going to QT, is to check the salinity the fish is already in, then match your QT salinity to that-float for temp for a 20 minutes- then dump the fish in.

Copper, in general, should be ramped up. You can start with a little copper already there. Then take a couple days to get the QT up to therapeutic levels. Now, that's if you are doing copper. Not everyone uses copper.

Alaeriel · Sep 11, 2020

nereefpat said:
The best acclimation practice, if you're going to QT, is to check the salinity the fish is already in, then match your QT salinity to that-float for temp for a 20 minutes- then dump the fish in.

Copper, in general, should be ramped up. You can start with a little copper already there. Then take a couple days to get the QT up to therapeutic levels. Now, that's if you are doing copper. Not everyone uses copper.

After going back to the tank the next day, I watched a clownfish take another bite out of the skinny one's tail. Ended up bringing them both home (bagged separately) and grabbed a tank divider just to be safe during QT. Because I'm paranoid, I drip-acclimated for about two hours then put them in the tank. One immediately bolted into one of the 5 PVC couplings and the other began squaring off against its reflection. Strangely, this was the one with the tattered fin who had been rather timid in the shop. After a while, this one snooped around the PVC and decided on one it liked as a bolt hole. This morning, I put some food in and they both ate like pigs. Then the one with the tattered fin seemed to guide the healthy looking one into the coupling it had slept in last night and they both hung out there for a while! We have the divider and a standby tank in case they do decide to get rough with each other, but I suspect they might actually be a pair. We'll keep observing them over the next few weeks and see how things go!