sick fish

[fishygirl]

Ok I have a big problem. I have two fish right now and I think onegot it hs ich. She seems to be really in trouoble and quick. I have had her for two weeks, from petco. She is a koran angel and the other one is a flame angle. she started flashing, and is now sitting side ways to rest. I have a quarentine tank. I am in the process of moving them into it. I just got it up and running the two tanks match in ph, salinity, temp. I am going to attempt to try the hyposalinity treament. Is it to late the flame seems ok but has obviously been contaminated. So they are both getting ready to go through with it.
Should I go through with it, the koran seems to be getting ready to go through a color change or is she so sick she is pale? I am confused I ahve never had ich I ahve had other troubles but this seems to have come on so fast. And with no white spots to speak of.

[leebca]

If one or more fishes are displaying the symptoms, then all are infected and all have to be treated.

This will give you all that you need to know on what to do. Just follow this post and all the links it gives you to read:
Curing Fish of Marine Ich

Good luck!

[fishygirl]

The Flame Angel is dead!! The Koran is hanging on by a thread. Went back to Petco to tell them what I thought was wrong, like a parasite of some kin and they insisted it was stress not any kind of disease. I thought they were not being helpful, and went home. The Flame Angel who was the one who seemed better, is now dead. I took the fish from the tank and placed them into the qurantine, I read your post about Melafix and thought since the flame angel had a spot on his tail i would try it, since one of the post said that hyposalinity would be very particular in what is cured. I am stressed out and think I am loosing them both. I see now looking very carfully at the flame that the fins are eaten away, which happened really quick. I have had the fish about two weeks, and have lost one. What about fin rot, what should i do now that both tanks have this chemical in them.

[leebca]

Sorry for the loss.

If you've decided now that it's fin rot, then the cause is any combination of poor water quality; poor diet; and/or poor environment.

You can cure the fish in a quarantine tank using antibiotics, but you still have to correct the problem(s) that led to this.

Not sure who's advice you are taking for setting up a marine aquarium, but the real (and proper) advice is here: Setting Up a FOWLR Aquarium

If you're not going about this in the way the above post guides you, then you've been getting poor advice. This is not unusual (to get poor advice). Best to start from the beginning if this is the case. Just return the fish, even if you don't get credit for it, if you're not going to able to cure it.

[fishygirl]

My water quality is as follows and I use R/O water.
temp-79-80
ph-8.0
salanity-1.022
Nitrites-0.05
Nitrates-0
Ammonia-.2

Until the fish died in the tank the ammonia was 0. I don't know what else the water should be at?? The tank is 36 gallons, and it was only the two fish. The poor koran is still alive but seems to be bad off. I have been treating them with melafix. Is this the wrong choice?? Please help she is hazy in both eyes now. Should I stop using the medicine? Keeping with the treatment?? Do something different? Change something about the water quality?

[fishygirl]

I read through your way one should set up a tank. This is the standard of what I did and have done several times in the past. These are not my first fish, but this is the first time I have had a severely diseased fish. Do you think they came with it? My fish have always been healthy and this is the first time I have had to buy fish from a mass production. I have only owned them for two weeks. I just can stand this I feel like I have murdered a being, and a special one at that.

[fishygirl]

Ok I just gave her the dip ini fresh water. A bunch of white little particals were floating around, was that her scales or was it MV?? She almost has a golden look. I don't have any copper medication and will have to wait till tomorrow due to the location of where I live. Do you think I can only buy it at a pet shop??

[leebca]

The thing about Marine Velvet is that it usually kills fast. By the time the hobbyist realizes it's MV, the fish is beyond recovery.

In the FW dip diagnostic method, many MV parasites drop off and settle on the bottom of the FW dip bowl. They won't float. Can't say for sure what is 'floating.'

Based upon your description, I'd agree with the copper treatment. Use only Cupramine, though. The fish will do better with that. If this is MV, then I don't have a great amount of faith you will be able to stop the problem unless treatment already began. You'll need both the medication and a Salifert or SeaChem Copper Test Kit. These are available online and only in pet stores (that handle marine fishes) and aquarium stores.

I understand your feeling in the matter. I consider them living beings also and that is why I spend my time giving people free help. I wouldn't beat yourself up too much about this, though. They were sick when you bought them, I'm sure. The pet store chains are usually not a very reliable place for information and marine fish livestock. That is why I thought you were getting bad advice.

The marine fish, from the time it is caught by the collector until it reaches the LFS tank, is considered a commodity. Like an orange or like a screwdriver. Only when we buy them do they actually return to being a living creature and sometimes a pet. Then we are sometimes faced with having to undo the treatment they've gone through.

The ammonia is not a good sign. Has it gone back to undetectable right now? If not, I want you to do a major water change. I'm talking like about 80% or more. Since this will be a large water change, then I want you to follow the guidelines for doing that, written here: How to Make a Successful Water Change

With regards to water quality, there are many hidden things we don't test for which affects water quality. This will help you on that perspective: What is Water Quality. However in this case, I'd say the fin rot is a result of the possible disease, rather than water quality. The deterioration of fins is often a secondary result to other parasites and diseases. It is usually a bacterial infection, but that is secondary to the main problem.

If you manage to treat this fish with copper, and you're using Cupramine, then I would suggest at the same time, you treat the fish with Maracyn Two for Saltwater fishes. You can do both at the same time. This antibiotic will work with the copper and help stop the secondary infection.

Hope for the best.