Sick clown-- need advice!

[tankedchemist]

Well, I noticed today that my clown has a vaguely fuzzy appearance to her and she's scraping on the sand. Also swimming funny (even for a clown!) and not moving around as much as normal. SO, I'm pretty sure she's got velvet or clown fish disease. I went to the LFS and got the appropriate chelated copper treatment & test kit. I was going to convert my 10gallon copepod culture tank into a hospital tank because I haven't seen much growing in there lately. However, when I got home and looked at it, I saw billions of pods. which is good, but.... unfavorable timing for me. :P

SO, my question is, if I go ahead and convert my culture tank into a hospital tank and dose the copper, will it kill all my hard-earned pods?

 

[Smitty]

YES it will...copper will wipe them out instantly...you could go buy another 10gal tank for about 10.00, and use that as a hospital tank...but I would not put copper in with the pods.

 

[tankedchemist]

Dangit. Ok, back to the LFS! Thanks Smitty.

 

[mng777777]

+1 Smitty! Fortunately those 10's are cheap!

 

[yote]

+2 Smitty

 

[Bifferwine]

Yep, luckily quarantine tanks are cheap and easy to set up. Don't forget a small heater and powerhead, but you really don't need anything else (take care of filtration by doing more frequent water changes instead).

 

[mng777777]

What do you do for lighting on a QT? Ambient? CFL? Reef?

 

[RyanG]

No need for lighting in a QT. A small sponge filter can also be used

 

[tankedchemist]

OKie, so I've got the 10gallon QT set up... used a new HOB aquaclear filter to hold the sponge from my DT (Though that sponge was out of my DT for most of a week, I put it back in to perhaps catch some bacteria to add to the QT... duno if it will do any good or not). My extra powerhead has died, so until I can get to the LFS tomorrow, the HOB will have to do. I set the tank up about 4 hrs ago, and it's got about 11lbs of well cured LR in it for hiding spots and some filtration... oh, and there's a heater in there too.

So about an hour after I got it going, I tested params and there's no ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate. How long should I wait before moving the clown fish and starting copper treatment?

 

[yote]

Put the rock back where you got it.
Use either some plastic decorations or PVC pipe instead.Once you add the copper,that piece of rock will be useless for anything else,because you wont be able to add it back to your display.
Then go ahead with the treatment of your clown.

 

[tankedchemist]

hmm.... yessir, Mr. Yote. :D That's a good point & I hadn't thought about it.

So, to prevent ammonia and such, how often do I need to change the QT water?

 

[yote]

Most of the time,if you set the QT up with water from the display,there wont be any ammonia.Notice I said MOST of the time.
So you'll have to keep a close eye on it,and be ready for a waterchange if you see any ammonia at all.

 

[dcantucson]

Yote's right and the HOB filter should be enough. Sounds like you've got everything under control. Good luck with the little fellow.

 

[tankedchemist]

thanks... It took me about 30-40 minutes to catch the little bugger out of my DT... there was a point where it was tempting to give up and leave the sucker there... til my son started bawling about it. eventually caught her and put her in the QT, but I'm pretty sure she's exhausted now :( hopefully it works out anyway

 

[dcantucson]

Well... if she doesn't there always those new $350-$450 ones you could get!

 

[tankedchemist]

ugh, they're way too hideous. even lawnmower blennies are cuter.

 

[dcantucson]

ugh, they're way too hideous. even lawnmower blennies are cuter.

Haha. Agreed! :bounce:

 

[mblack]

hi, copper isn't the best treatment for either clownfish disease or velvet. For the first it is unlikely to work and for velvet you need to use a higher dose for a longer period of time.

I would recommend using a combination of freshwater dips and formalin to treat, both are effective at killing both diseases. If you want any help on dosing etc. just ask.

HTH

 

[yote]

ugh, they're way too hideous. even lawnmower blennies are cuter.

Dont be dissin lawnmower blennies now:mrgreen:
They may be ugly,but they sure work algae over:D

 

[tankedchemist]

hi, copper isn't the best treatment for either clownfish disease or velvet. For the first it is unlikely to work and for velvet you need to use a higher dose for a longer period of time.

I would recommend using a combination of freshwater dips and formalin to treat, both are effective at killing both diseases. If you want any help on dosing etc. just ask.

HTH

I don't know what parasite it is with any certainty, but he's already looking better and breathing easier. The idea of dipping my clown in freshwater gives me the willies. As for formalin, due to an insanely high exposure (some dummy spilled about 500gallons of it in a lab I worked in) about 6 years ago, I can't be around it without drastically increasing my risk of respiratory problems and cancer. SOoooo, that's out for my little guy. But thanks for the suggestion :)