Maroon aquisition

Hello again!

I recently inherited a maroon clownfish from a man I bought a 120+gallon tank from. He said he had had live rock and sand in the tank as well as several corals and other fish which he had gotten rid of.

He ended up keeping the clownfish in a 30 gallon tank (at most) with a dogface puffer, a porcupine puffer, a type of trigger, an emperor angelfish, and 3 other kinds of fish (I wasn't paying close enough attention). He had stated that the tank had been in good condition and that he had had no problems. He also stated the clown was a bit of a jerk and bullied some of the other fish...when I got him I hadn't had a chance to really look at him (as he was a gift with the tank and I was in a hurry to go to work). I ended up setting him up in my 10 gallon quarantine tank until I can get him situated with the other tank...

However, now that I've gotten a closer look at him I'm worried about his condition. He has several ragged fins which could have easily come from him being a bully. But his bottom fin near his tail has a large chunk missing and the actual ragged part of the fin is a blackish color. I'm not sure if that's just his natural fin color or if it's some possible infection. It also appears he might have some form of ick.

So, since I still can't seem to get my camera working so I can't post pictures, is it safe if I medicate him against Ich or possible fin rot in the quarantine tank or should I wait a few more days to see if his health improves? (I've had him for about 2 days) And since I wasn't planning on putting anything in the large tank he came with until it had cycled over about a month's time, should I medicate the tank? (the only thing it has in it right not is water with a low salinity and supposed "live sand" with a few bristle worms.)

 

Good morning Naeusu. I don't have personal experience with salt tanks but many members here do. I'm sure you'll get some responses shortly. Hate to hear your fish isn't quiet up to par. Best of luck!
Ken

 

Good morning to you too He's my first (at least I think it's a he) clown fish and I'm not even sure if his behavior is that of a healthy fish :X he kinda just....sits there...swishing his fins....although he does eat and occasionally swim about the tank so I assume he can't be too ill....I'm just wondering if maybe I'm overracting...I don't want to medicate him needlessly especially if it could harm him.

 

If he's eating and swimming around those are two "good" signs. Try not to worry to much. Just keep your eye on him for a while.

 

If he had all those fish in a 30 gallon it's a wonder they survived at all. That tank was waaaaaay over stocked. I don't believe it's fin rot, more likely battle scares. Watch him closely if you suspect ICH. If it is your looking at maybe 4 to 8 weeks in qt tank with treatment. Lower the salinity to around 1.015 at the same time keeping the temp a little higher 82-84. There are 2 types of meds used for Saltwater ICH as it is very different from FW. Copper is one, however it's pretty harsh and hard to measure. It also stays in the water forever. Then there's Methylene Blue. Remember though both will kill any inverts. Unfortunately I've been having a horrible experience with Saltwater ICH. I've already lost 2 fishes, some think it's pointless to even treat. Not me though, I try to save.
If you already know all this info, sorry. I'm more or less just sharing my own experience about people who don't properly take care of their fishes, including the LFS!!!

 

Thank you MizRamzI for the info! although, if I keep him in a tank with only .o15 salinity, won't that kill him? Also, I'm not sure what kinda of food he was feeding him...he just said flakes :X so I'm trying to feed him the brand I feed my other fish and it's not going over very well....He only eats a very small amount and ignores the rest....I've also tried offering him the frozen Mysis shrimp I feed the other tank as well...

Are clownfish particularly picky or light eaters?

 

What is your salinity now? It won't kill him if you lower it slowly; this is called hyposalinity treatment and is often used for ich.

 

Raising temp is not the good choice in treating s/w Ich. If anything I would chilled down the temp. I would not recommed this for you though.
Raising temp on healthy and/or sick fish will do more harm than good. I don't know how much basic info you have on bio, chem but higher temp will result in higher respiration which will consume more energy which can be used to combat disease.

As far as Hypo, I neven went Hypo that some uses at SG of 1.010 or lower. I never tried such so no comment. I have kept as low as 1.016 but with mixed results which tells me that effectiveness of treatment depends how one correctly diagnose at early stage and apply CORRECT treatment. Try Reefland, Reefcentral or manhattan reef for actual result of their experiences with ich. Dont assume their opinions or their experiences are always correct either but I am sure you will find more veterans at such forum. Use it as guide and reference and along with what you obtained from research, you will learn or develop a method which will work best for you.
Should keep journal of all the behavior changes, symptoms and course of action, water conditions and result, and I am sure this journal will benefit many fish in the future as long as you don't repeat the same error.

I have found many effective ways of treating diffrent fish with different methods on same infestation which I have learned (expensive but worth it since benefitted lot more fish) as I experienced such over many yrs.
One should really do research on diseases and put some common sense behind it, and Most of all Dont jump the Gun. I have seen and heard more death due to such than actual death caused by infection. Well, Just an opinion. I hope you can post pics soon and Hope all is well!

 

After some very extensive research and talking to many different Saltwater keeper I've decided to go this route. It's from the makers of Amquel. Several keepers at our LFS have used this product or are using it and the reviews have been great.
This is the way I'm going. I figure I have nothing left to lose. All but one of my fish are gone to this stuff and I want to give that one a chance.

 

What is your salinity now? It won't kill him if you lower it slowly; this is called hyposalinity treatment and is often used for ich.

I try to keep his salinity between .021 and .022.

thank you all for your advice...I guess I'll watch him for about another 4 or 5 days while I do some more research and if needed start treatment.

 

I'd hold off on any treatment unless he actually shows signs of ich such as white spots.

But I'd agree on the fish just showing signs of fighting. The fins will grow back. You could add some Stress Coat from API as it contains aloe which will help the healing process.

 

Well, he's still pretty much not doing anything.... he waits at the bottom of the tank unless I have the light on (then he seems to get a little lively even tho the tank is at a good temperature) and is eating very sparingly. I've found he refuses flakes and mysis shrimp but will eat a small amount of slow sinking pellets....which he won't eat if on the water's surface or if on the bottom of the tank.


The biggest thing that worries me is that where his fins are torn there are black spots... they don't look like ick described or like fin rot but they don't look like part of his normal coloration either since those areas are mostly transparent. His fins do appear to be healing more tho.