I think we may have a problem

[hannahstank]

Hello

We have had our tank for about 2 months now....everything seemed to be going well. About 2 weeks ago we added a clown to our tank. Well for about 3 days our yellow goby has been hiding out and not running out to eat as he used to. Last night my husband noticed a few little white spots on him? Is this something to worry about? Could it be Cryptocaryon? Is that the Ich that I have read about here?

Any info would be helpful.

Thanks!
Mindy

 

[reefman23]

I t could be ich...it is generally caused by stressful environments, which it sounds like your goby is going through.

 

[mikeguerrero]

Unfortunately,

It sounds like ich. With the introduction of the new clown fish 2 weeks ago, you might have introduced the ich.

Did you quarantine your fish prior to placing him in, under some coppersafe meds?

What LFS did you purchase him from, hopefully not petco or petsmart.

Ich hides just like the common cold then it runs its course to wipe out your tank of any fish.

The first sign of ich, is white small spots on the body followed by a loss of apetite like you mentioned.

Then as it progresses it attacks the gills; it's here that the damage is down as they go into rapid breathing and cannot take oxygen and quickly perish.

I lost a citron goby the same way as you just mentioned, but I dropped in a pygmy angel and not the clown.

Mike G

 

[hannahstank]

I didn't quaratine the clown as the store said they had been doing for several weeks. I purchased him from a LFS in Milpitas, CA not petsmart or petco.

not too sure how to fix the problem now. I don't have a quaratine tank as I have read about. Should I purchase one or is it too late to save the little guys?

 

[mikeguerrero]

Hannah,

It's not too late to save your fishes. I need to know some questions; how big is your tank? Do you have invertabrates; shrimp, corals, etc?

What is the temp of your tank?

If this is strictly a fish only tank you can dose with meds into this tank, but realize that further down the line, if you wish to add inverts, you will not be able to as copper stays in small traces for a very long time.

There are some reef safe meds that you can purchase, that I have used called No Ich and it works pretty well.

Anyway, let me know the answers so I may help you.

I shop at the LFS in Hayward, Fremont, Oakland and San Lorenzo but have not shopped at the one in Milpitas so I don't know there quality.

Mike

 

[hannahstank]

Well, I got home to find a poor dead yellow goby .....poor guy. So in the tank we also have another goby.....this one has buggy eyes and not too sure what it's name is and the clown fish. That is the only FISH in the tank.

We also have a tiny star fish, 2 shrimp and several crab. The rest is coral and live rock. The tank is the 12 gallon nano cube. Is there any meds safe for everyone?

I'm getting more and more upset with the fish store in Milpitas. We lost 2 brain corals right away when they came to set up the tank as they placed them up high. They have also given me other information that turned out to be incorrect so I'm hesitant to call them with this problem.

Thanks for any help or advice you can give.
Mindy

 

[Anonymous]

1st thing mindy, use the search function on this sight there has been a lot of discussion lately about garlic treatment for ich - all positive.
2nd thing LFS's don't intentionally (imo) give bad advice but you have to realise many of their workers have little to no real experience and their goal is to move product not neccessarily the long term care of these animals. IMO them selling you two brains for a 12 gallon tank was irresponsible. My trachy is so large it wouldn't even fit in a 12 gal tank, let alone placing 2 of them in there and then expecting them to do well in the long term (years i'm talking here) with other corals and stuff.
3rd, i would not add any other fish to this tank. I know there are many out there that will tell you different but 2 fish in a 12 is pushing it. obviously it can and has been done but once again think long term. if you limit the organisms in the tank and choose wisely the tank will be easier to care for and the environment less stressful to your critters. As a beginner listening to this advice will help make your new hobby more enjoyable. stress is imo the greatest contributer to loses in our systems and can come from many things, such as water quality, lighting, and compatability, and researching the needs of our tank inhabitents will help us to meet those needs. sorry for your loss but also remember fish come to us after a long stressful journey and sometimes there isn't much you can do for them, except provide them with a happy healthy home and hope for the best.

 

[aromano]

I am so sorry for your loss hannahstank. :iill

It's really sad when we put so much work and dedication to our tanks and out of the sudden a new sick tank mate or some sort of illness or stress related issue develops and gets out of control.

Unfortunately no matter what LFS the fish came from there is no way to ensure if the fish is sick or not unless if it's monitored in isolation for a little while. Sometimes an inexpensive simple quarantine tank, can be setup to adjust the water parameters to the shipment bag and then treat the fish only as much as necessary in isolation until it has recovered from the stress of transport. There the fish can adjust to prepared foods, the new environment and I can replicate main tank conditions by doing water changes with tank water.

If the fish don't show any visible signs of parasites or illness, you can monitor the fish sometime to be sure that it's not sick . Given good living conditions, and a healthy diet, there is no reason why a fish will not be able fully recover from the stress of transport and be ready to meet it's tank mates within a couple of weeks.

Sometimes I choose to place the new fish in the main display, (especially larger species that need more room to swim) in order to provide a less stressful and more natural environment, but if the fish develops any signs of parasites, illness of severe stress I have the quarantine tank where I can isolate it and treat it.

Yes it can be a hassle to have another setup running constantly only to monitor and treat fish, especially if you don't have the space for it...So I usually keep my quarantine tank empty and only set it up when I need it. By having an extra cycled sponge in the sump to place in the HOB filter of the quarantine tank will provide the necessary biological filtration.

 

[hannahstank]

Thanks for everyone's support. This is so stressful. We LOVE our Nanotank and all of it's inhabitants (NOT the parasites). We are so new to this and have SO many questions.

Unfortunately it's not looking good for the Clown fish or the other goby. We are going to try the garlic treatment and pray for the best.

My NEW question of the day is if all the fish die then will the parasite just die off in about 30 days? Are we safe then to add more fish? We actually really love the coral and live rock, is it OK to not have fish in the tank? They seem like a hassel and the coral is the most fun to watch.

Although my kids would love to see a little fish swimming around we are rethinking that avenue.....any comments?

Thanks,
Mindy

 

[aromano]

The stage where the parasite is attached to a fish will last between three to seven days, depending on the temperature. After that, the parasites leave the fish and travel to the substrate where they attach to a surface and begin to encyst. They divide inside the cyst into hundreds baby parasites. This is a noninfectious stage where the parasite cyst is lying in wait for a host. This stage can last anywhere from three to twenty eight days. After this the parasites hatch and begin swimming around, looking for a fish host. They must find a host within twenty-four hours or they will die. The whole cycle can last up to 40 days.

If you have a severe ich problem and eventually wipes out all the fish, I would leave the tank fishless for at least six weeks to be sure that all the parasites are gone.

I'm so sorry for your loss

 

[hannahstank]

Thanks for the explanation. You know several weeks back we noticed a bunch of little white things on the tank.....at the time we weren't sure what they were.......now we know!

Thanks,
Mindy

 

[r00onmac]

on the tank, like on the glass? most likely those are copopods and are good for the tank... ich goes unseen usually unless its attached to a fish.