Semi-urgent question... sick clown

[cr500_af]

One of my clowns has approximately 10 specks on the fins... ich, I'm sure. The other clown has maybe two. Both are acting normal as of now, though the smaller one hasn't eaten well since I've had it.

I had put off setting up a QT, because I hadn't needed one until now (the fish I have came from the same tank, and I had nothing else in the tank to protect by quarantining).

So, tonight I scrambled and got everything put together... but I had to mix some water, so it's only a couple of hours old.

Which is the lesser of two evils... leave them unmedicated until tomorrow, or go ahead and put them in tonight (with 50% "new" water)?

 

[cr500_af]

Barbara,
It's a 75g FOWLR, approx 60 pounds of rock and 20 pounds of sand. The only other things in the tank are some CUC, and one Bangaii Cardinal which looks fine... he stays a long way from the clowns virtually all the time. I've had the clowns about two weeks. The smaller one (with less visible specks) has never eaten well, but he does eat. No matter what I feed (I use a mixture of frozen, flake and pellet) he just barely touches it. That concerns me because he looks skinnier than I'd like.

They are very comfortble with my hands in there, so I think catching them would be very easy, for what it's worth.

 

[dakota9]

My Onyx percs were covered in white spots when I brought them home, but think it was just stress, almost a week later, they are happy, healthy and hosting a big blob of reef epoxy.......... Nevermind that they have an RBTA just inches away.....

Go figure!

Otherwise....... Yeah, what Barbara said

 

[rostato]

Leave em in there. Less stress. Just feed with garlic enrighed foods. Not a cure, but it helps.

 

[cr500_af]

Thanks. I'll take the group advice. What would be an indicator that it's time to intervene... just significant worsening? Lack of improvement in xxxx time frame?

 

[cr500_af]

Thanks Barbara. I've seen no evidence of any problems with him. I would be willing to medicate "in case" if there aren't significant risks with it. He seems active; he swims against the current a lot and is not lethargic... but none of the three go after the food with any gusto. The small one, though, I have to watch closely to see that he's eating at all.

I'll pick up some new food items tomorrow. Can you suggest a home run food product? Right now they get Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef Flakes, and also their Formula One Pellets (which have garlic). I also give a small piece (about 1/4 cube) of frozen food... SF Bay Saltwater multi-pack to be exact. The four types are two blends (both include brine shrimp and krill), one all-brine shrimp and one squid.

Thank you, and I really appreciate your attention!

 

[cr500_af]

Thanks, I'll try anything. I do NOT want to lose a fish! If you remember the name of the med, would you please post it? Or better yet, email it (so that I'll see it on my phone and can pick it up on the way home). mailto:cr500_af@yahoo.com">cr500_af@yahoo.com</a>
Thanks again.

 

[cr500_af]

I hope so too. I've never actually had to deal with a sick fish before, FW or SW. I'm almost as nervous as I was when my daughter was an infant and would... oh, say, cough.

 

[cr500_af]

I'd be happy to give any more detailed info to anybody, including posting a pic of the fish in question (to get an idea just how "thin" he is instead of relying on my perception). I don't know if I can really capture that in a pic, though.

 

[coolsurf]

You can also pick up Garlic Xtreme at almost all marine LFS. You can soak any of the frozen foods you have in it for about 15-20 minutes prior to feeding. Just don't try it on flakes!! I use garlic everyday just as a preventative. It's good for their immune system.

 

[fish scales2]

Feed very small amounts often. You are way overfeeding your fish, or I am underfeeding because that is more than I feed 17 fish. I also feed that amount sporatically over a 12-14 hour period. You might try live brine as well. Good luck.

 

[cr500_af]

Barbara;315895 wrote: You know what will cure that??? Have another one! My husband and I laugh about how, with the first one we carefully boiled all the bottles and nipples each time, and how we put the pacifier through the dishwasher if it fell on the floor for even the most brief time. By the time we had the fourth one we were picking the cat hairs off the pacifier and sticking it back in the kid's mouth without even blinking!

Been there. I remember thinking, "how many hours has this bottle been out? Eh, it'll be OK"!

I'd love to have another one but my wife had near-fatal complications during delivery, and she was too scared to have another baby (understandably). Plus, I'm about to be 39 and she's 42. We waited quite a long time to have the one we have (she's 4).

 

[cr500_af]

Fish Scales2;315898 wrote: Feed very small amounts often. You are way overfeeding your fish, or I am underfeeding because that is more than I feed 17 fish. I also feed that amount sporatically over a 12-14 hour period. You might try live brine as well. Good luck.

I feed VERY small amounts of these, but I alternate types to give variety. I will admit that I have to battle temptation to feed often, because I just want the little guy to eat. I have this hope that the NEXT time I feed, he'll go after it.

 

[cr500_af]

cr500_af;315902 wrote: I feed VERY small amounts of these, but I alternate types to give variety. I will admit that I have to battle temptation to feed often, because I just want the little guy to eat. I have this hope that the NEXT time I feed, he'll go after it.

Just to clarify, if you add up the entire daily food I use, between the three types it would total less than 1/8 teaspoon... probably far less. It's hard to put a measurement on that small an amount, but I'm being careful not to overfeed. It's possible that I still am, but if I am it's not by much.
Thanks for your input!

 

[fish scales2]

Perfect, just little bity amounts and you have a better chance. Use garlic, even real garlic if have some in the kitchen, soak thier food overnite or even a couple of hours. You can look for entice at your lfs as well. It is just an attractant but the only shot you got of getting him healthy is get him eating.
Try not to worry too much, she will start eating.

 

[fish scales2]

Sorry I thought you were saying that you feed a total of 1 cube of frozen dialy as well as flake and pellets.

 

[cr500_af]

Fish Scales2;315914 wrote: Sorry I thought you were saying that you feed a total of 1 cube of frozen dialy as well as flake and pellets.

I see how I could have given that impression. I feed a little bit of flake and maybe 6 pellets (they pretty much ignore the pellets, but according to the LFS they were fed these there) in the morning, and the evening is maybe 1/6 or so of a cube. I first thought 1/4 but it's less than that.

 

[fish scales2]

Sounds about perfect to me. Any garlic in the house?

 

[skriz]

I would use that 25g that you just mixed to do a water change. Take the "Waste water" and use that for your Qt tank. Keep the fish fed and happy. You may want to give a day without lights to keep the stress levels down. The fish can beat ich on it's own and won't need medicating. You just have to make sure your water chemistry is good, there's food available and he's not being bullied. Also make sure the temp isn't fluctuating.

G'luck!

 

[jesspete]

I'm with Barb. Never lost a fish to ich, I'd be much more worried about little guy not eating.