[fishguy_8]

Well the 125 I set up at school has been going quite well. Until last week. We picked up a valentini puffer and it seemed ok at first. Then it wouldnt eat. A week went by and would not eat anything at anytime of day. Then I started seeing white spots on his body then yesterday when I turned on the lights his eyes were covered in a white film. All the while I had been adding Melafix to try and counter act what I thought was Ich. So I watched the fish struggle to live and he eventually died. I tested the water and everything came out normal. 0 ammonia, undetectable nitrates and nitrites, pH was right on target and salinity was 1.026. Now while I was watching the puffer I started seeing a fairl odd behavior from my Koran Angel. He would get a "running" start and scrape his body against the substrate. He did this about once or twice every couple of minutes. I started noticing right behind his fins a raw spot that I assume is a result of this behavior. I picked up Pimafix today and did a 20g water change. Pimafix says its made to treat open soars and bacterial infections. I noticed the yellow tang do the exact same thing today. Any diagnosis'? Treatments? and p.s there are inverts in the tank so Im trying to stay away from copper based treatments.
thanks
Jon

[fishguy_8]

anyone at all?

[Ninong]

Jon,

It's really hard to say without seeing the fish but "white spots" could be either Cryptocaryon irritans or Amyloodinium ocellatum depending on the size of the "white spots" and their overall appearance and location.

If you see a fish scratching against the substrate and you don't notice any "white spots" on it, it might be monogenetic flukes. They are hard to detect but sometimes you will notice small opaque bumps on the fish.

You really can't treat any of those conditions effectively in a display tank that contains invertebrates. You need to remove the fish to a separate hospital tank for treatment. If you don't have a separate hospital tank, you could try doing freshwater dips but those are not usually effective. One of the best treatments for all three above conditions is hyposaline therapy, which would require a separate tank.

It is now important that you identify your problem(s) so that you will know what, if anything, needs to be done to eradicate this problem from your display tank. It may be necessary to remove all of the fish to a separate hospital tank (somewhere) for a few weeks for treatment while you allow the display tank to remain fallow (fishless) during that period. If you choose to go the hyposaline route, remove all of the fish to a separate tank. Gradually reduce the salinity in that tank all the way down to 1.009 specific gravity over a period of 24 to 36 hours and then keep it there for at least two weeks. Then gradually raise the specific gravity back up to the same as the display tank over a period of at least two to three days. You may as well let this treatment drag out for at least four weeks because that's how long you will need to keep the main display tank fishless anyway.

[fishguy_8]

Well the spots on the puffer I saw were small tiny ones the size of a sand granule. The koran however is a different story. The koran is showing a raw surface. It looks like if a person had a scab and was picking at it in some spots. That red irritation youd get is what I see on each side of the angel. He seems other wise happy and healthy. He eats as good as ever he doesnt seem to be breathing heavy or acting odd. The rubs seem to have halted for the time being. The tank is cloudy due to the Pimafix Im assuming but the directions say that it may do that and to do a h20 change if it does. So im going to give it a go w/ this pimafix and see if it goes away or looks better this week and if it doesnt I may have to take a different approach.