White Spots on Clownfish

[jy808]

Thanks for all the information. I encouraged my wife to read of all your comments and she's encouraged me to follow all your recommendations (we are both doing this hobby together, and the wife can be right most times ). We have decided to invest in a QT should any further issues occur in the future as we really want to stay in this hobby in the long run.

So I will head out today to purchase a QT and all it's accessories. Things I am purchasing:

1. Tank: we have decided to purchase an AquaOne Aquanano 40 (link), which is a 55Litres (14.5 gallon). Appears everything that is needed is included, will a powerhead be needed to agitate the water?
2. Water: I will head over to my LFS to stock up on some marine water as well as some RO.

Questions:

1. Given that I currently only have 3 small clownfish, would the 55 Litre / 14.5 Gallon tank suffice?
2. I had to cycle my DT for up to 2 weeks, is it bad that we are not doing it with the QT and adding the fish into it straight away?

Really want to thank you all for your help! Hoping to get through this little problem with a positive result!

 

[Stege_saurus]

Thanks for all the information. I encouraged my wife to read of all your comments and she's encouraged me to follow all your recommendations (we are both doing this hobby together, and the wife can be right most times ). We have decided to invest in a QT should any further issues occur in the future as we really want to stay in this hobby in the long run.

So I will head out today to purchase a QT and all it's accessories. Things I am purchasing:

1. Tank: we have decided to purchase an AquaOne Aquanano 40 (link), which is a 55Litres (14.5 gallon). Appears everything that is needed is included, will a powerhead be needed to agitate the water?
2. Water: I will head over to my LFS to stock up on some marine water as well as some RO.

Questions:

1. Given that I currently only have 3 small clownfish, would the 55 Litre / 14.5 Gallon tank suffice?
2. I had to cycle my DT for up to 2 weeks, is it bad that we are not doing it with the QT and adding the fish into it straight away?

Really want to thank you all for your help! Hoping to get through this little problem with a positive result!

Sounds good!
Some answers:
1. That should be good, if in the future you decide to get other fish, I would limit the amount of fish incoming:
-1 Tang, Angelfish, Butterfly, or something of similar size.
-or-
- Up to 3 small fish (blennies, clowns, damsels, gobies or similar size)
2. I would also give a day or two before you start putting anything in it, just to give the bacteria (assuming your seeding it with something) a chance to get in the small system. Or at least 3-4 hours AFTER setup, just to be safe.

Remember: Patience is key in this hobby, rushing things rarely helps any situation.
Happy Reefing!

 

[Big G]

Highly recommend a powerhead. It supplies the greatest amount of O2 through the agitation of the surface water.
Paint, on the outside, the back wall and two end walls with a blue or other dark paint to give the fish more privacy. It will calm them down a lot.
A few plastic aquarium plants help relax the fish too.

 

[jy808]

2. I would also give a day or two before you start putting anything in it, just to give the bacteria (assuming your seeding it with something) a chance to get in the small system. Or at least 3-4 hours AFTER setup, just to be safe.

I am hoping to get the clowns out of the DT as soon as possible. As the white spots have occured again over night. It ever only seems to be attacking them at night during their sleep, when they are most vulnerable I guess!

Which leads me to the next questions. Should I put one live rock in there to produce / add some bacteria into the tank? As the live rock in the QT will contain some copper, I will not be putting it into my DT in the future. If now what other seeding can I go with to get the bacteria going? Going against putting a live rock in there as I think that was what got me this problem with the ich in the first place (I placed some new live rock into my DT a few days after putting my clowns into the DT)

At this stage I am frantic about this white spot and really want to get the clowns out of the DT as soon as possible.

 

[Gw2kpro]

Thanks for all the information. I encouraged my wife to read of all your comments and she's encouraged me to follow all your recommendations (we are both doing this hobby together, and the wife can be right most times ). We have decided to invest in a QT should any further issues occur in the future as we really want to stay in this hobby in the long run.

So I will head out today to purchase a QT and all it's accessories. Things I am purchasing:

1. Tank: we have decided to purchase an AquaOne Aquanano 40 (link), which is a 55Litres (14.5 gallon). Appears everything that is needed is included, will a powerhead be needed to agitate the water?
2. Water: I will head over to my LFS to stock up on some marine water as well as some RO.

Questions:

1. Given that I currently only have 3 small clownfish, would the 55 Litre / 14.5 Gallon tank suffice?
2. I had to cycle my DT for up to 2 weeks, is it bad that we are not doing it with the QT and adding the fish into it straight away?

Really want to thank you all for your help! Hoping to get through this little problem with a positive result!

Probably not immediately helpful but I find these to be very useful for QT coupled with an air pump, which are useful for all kinds of things.



They're inexpensive. They aerate the water. And they solve the cycle issue: I keep a pair of the sponges in my sump (or you can keep them in a display, etc). When you get ready to set up QT -- pull out the sponges, put them on one of these filters in your QT, and it's instantly cycled. The nitrifying bacteria are already seeded on the sponges.

It allows you to be able to set up a QT or a hospital tank as soon as you get water to proper salinity and temp.

 

[Stege_saurus]

I am hoping to get the clowns out of the DT as soon as possible. As the white spots have occured again over night. It ever only seems to be attacking them at night during their sleep, when they are most vulnerable I guess!

Which leads me to the next questions. Should I put one live rock in there to produce / add some bacteria into the tank? As the live rock in the QT will contain some copper, I will not be putting it into my DT in the future. If now what other seeding can I go with to get the bacteria going? Going against putting a live rock in there as I think that was what got me this problem with the ich in the first place (I placed some new live rock into my DT a few days after putting my clowns into the DT)

At this stage I am frantic about this white spot and really want to get the clowns out of the DT as soon as possible.

You could put the live rock in there before you treat the tank, just make sure you put some other media in there for the bacteria to grow on, then remove the live rock before you start treatment.

 

[jy808]

Hey guys. After a long day I've finally managed to set my QT (picture below)!

Now my next concern for this small tank is some aeration. The pump outlet (picture below) agitates the top of the water (somewhat), but will that be sufficient?

All of the water is the QT is from my DP. I will now let it run for a minimum of 3 hours before bringing my clowns for quarantine.

When do i put the copper medication in? Immediately (before the clowns go in)?

 

[jy808]

Just noticed the venturi attachment for the pump. Will this help the aeration?

 

[Stege_saurus]

Just noticed the venturi attachment for the pump. Will this help the aeration?

Looks good. Let your clowns settle in a couple hours and then slowly begin treating them. Gradually raise the copper levels until you reach therapeutic levels and maintain those levels for 2-3 weeks.

 

[jy808]

Thank you all for your help.

QT seems to be going great. I woke up to find the clowns without any spots and seem to be recovering well. Will slowly add small dosages each day for the next 3 days as per instructions from bottle. I was thinking that I would do a 25% water change after 1 week?

Also what is a safe amount of copper in the QT for the clowns? I will aim to test it every day to ensure I am not overdosing.

If my LFS talked me out of getting a QT tank and instead dose copper straight to my DT, they would no longer be my LFS.

And yes, it was such a shame that I took the advice from my LFS to add the copper to my DT. Unfortunately I added a single dose the first night and stopped after. I slowly saw the live rock change in colour and form some kind of foamy white substance on it. This I would presume is the live rock absorbing the copper.

So now lies the challenge of removing any trace of copper in the DT. I had already tested my water in the DT and it shows 0, but I want to be sure. So I purchased cuprisorb and will let my DT run for the next few weeks.

 

[DeniseAndy]

No need to have the light on. Save a bit of energy. My qts only have ambient light. Never overhead lights.
When I transfer them to main dt, they get a couple days light ramp up to get used to bright lights (if I remember).
Good luck! I hope the clowns make it for you.

 

[KyOsIBa515]

If I remember right 160 liters is around 40 gallons. From your initial picture I can see the power head and it looks some what big. (Maybe I am wrong). However, many years ago when I first started this hobby I had a powerhead that flow couldn’t be adjusted in a 28 gallon cube. Every time I would put a clown in it would get ich and die. Come to find out my powerhead had too much flow for the tank causing it to stress the fish and giving them ich. I don’t know if that is what is causing the ich for you.

 

[jy808]

If I remember right 160 liters is around 40 gallons. From your initial picture I can see the power head and it looks some what big. (Maybe I am wrong). However, many years ago when I first started this hobby I had a powerhead that flow couldn’t be adjusted in a 28 gallon cube. Every time I would put a clown in it would get ich and die. Come to find out my powerhead had too much flow for the tank causing it to stress the fish and giving them ich. I don’t know if that is what is causing the ich for you.

You could be right. I didn't think that could be an issue but I guess the only way I will find out is if I place the clowns back into the DT to see any noticeable stress to the clowns. Should this be an issue I guess I could drop to a smaller model or at least an adjustable model.

 

[jy808]

get a couple days light ramp up to get used to bright lights (if I remember).
Good luck! I hope the clowns make it for you.

Thank you! I haven't really turned on the light and have really just used ambient light as suggested.
Just trying to maintain the parameters of the QT now to ensure some happy clowns!

 

[Uncle99]

Keep in mind that the DT must go 72 days without any fish to break the parasites cycle.
Your QT looks great.

 

[jy808]

Keep in mind that the DT must go 72 days without any fish to break the parasites cycle.
Your QT looks great.

That will be the plan.

So it's been 3 days since all the clown have been removed from the DT. Tonight, I turned on the light to observe my DT to notice little white spots on the glass. It looks much like mites/parasites moving around on the glass. Is this the parasite that is getting under the skin of the clown causing ich?!?!? It's actually visible of that size!?

 

[KyOsIBa515]

That will be the plan.

So it's been 3 days since all the clown have been removed from the DT. Tonight, I turned on the light to observe my DT to notice little white spots on the glass. It looks much like mites/parasites moving around on the glass. Is this the parasite that is getting under the skin of the clown causing ich?!?!? It's actually visible of that size!?

Kind of looks like copepods. Usually found in a refugium of the sump. Either or can make it to the display and becomes a food source for the fish. Very rarely are copepods parasites

 

[jy808]

4 days into quarantine.

Copper levels are at a minimal and I would say is therapeutical. It does seem like they have cured.

I currently have 3 clowns in the QT, and one of the smaller one seems to have stopped eating. I am unsure why.
Water is a little cloudy. So I did a 25% water change after 4 days in the QT (is this bad?)

They all aren't as active as usual, but 2 out of the 3 are eating at least. The smaller one that isnt eating has white stringy poo at the moment.

Have done all the water parameter checks, and all seem to be in check. Water is still a little cloudy.

Any recommendations?
At this rate I'm scared that it won't last the 76 days!

 

[UncleSalty]

White stringy poop usually means flukes.