I think i have a problem. But i'm not sure.

rxheaven13b · 06-29-2008, 12:30 AM

First off over the past week i have noticed white spots on all 3 of my fish, i have 2 skunk shrimp, one day i saw the spots, the next day they went away. this happened every other day for the past week.

As of tonight all 3 of the fish have white spots, they eat just fine, two of them are the very small clown fish and the other is a royal gramma, the royal gramma is the only one scratching it's self on rocks and sand bed. The two clown fish are as usual acting strange with there silly swimming methods.

What is confusing me is the smaller of the two clown fish is twitching irraticly while the larger fish stays still and watches. The larger fish seems to have been getting a large belly. Could the smaller fi8sh be showing off his moves to the larger fish or is the dance his way of scratching his itch because of the white spots? this irratic twitching only lasts a few seconds every once in a while.

I guess i'm asking if i'm about to have a dead clown fish or 200 smaller ones?

tsouth · 06-29-2008, 12:38 AM

Hmm the clownfish behavior sounds like the mating dance to me but it also sounds like your fishes are infected with ich at the same time. Over the next few days, watch the clownfish and see if they guard a certain spot and do not leave it. If so then you've succesfully mated the two but unfortunately they may not last due to ich. Take action and treat the fish asap! Good luck

rxheaven13b · 06-29-2008, 03:18 AM

They are hosting my power head. I have done the fresh water dip and it looks like it helps. But it keeps coming back. And they are afraid of the shrimp, they wont let the shrimp get anywhere close to them. I have a 10 gal QT tank almost done with it's cycle. Hopefully i can learn how to pull through this.

tsouth · 06-29-2008, 03:36 AM

Hopefully so. Ich will not leave your tank for a period of 4+ weeks with no fish present in the tank. Ich requires a host and without a host in the main tank it will die off, but it takes a long time. It's the only sure fire way of removing ich. Your fish will keep receiving it as long as they are in the main tank.

Seamore · 06-29-2008, 03:54 AM

Does sound like a mating dance by the male, hope the QT cycles fast, and the pair hang in!

rxheaven13b · 06-30-2008, 03:10 PM

All of the spots are gone today on all of the fish. But now there are tons of little organisms all over the glass. I saw these little things in the past but not this many and i don't know what they are.

rxheaven13b · 06-30-2008, 03:12 PM

I'm leaving right now to get a uv sterilizer. I hope it will help me with some of my problems.

Jay45 · 07-01-2008, 05:17 PM

I have had simular experiences in my 120g FOWLR. I think I brought it home with a Powder Blue Tang I bought that broke out with ich heavily the 2nd day I had him. Be careful of where you're buying your fish from. Some LFS run a low salinity to keep the illness down but once you bring them home and let them acclimate a couple days, if they're ill you'll notice it. Luckily, I didn't loose anything but that Tang. My Yellow Tang showed signs of ich for a couple days but he has been with me for about 2 years. His immune system fought it off and haven't seen it again. syphoning the sand along with water changes will work miracles for you. Hope that was some help...

Jay45 · 07-01-2008, 05:19 PM

I have had simular experiences in my 120g FOWLR. I think I brought it home with a Powder Blue Tang I bought that broke out with ich heavily the 2nd day I had him. Be careful of where you're buying your fish from. Some LFS run a low salinity to keep the illness down but once you bring them home and let them acclimate a couple days, if they're ill you'll notice it. Luckily, I didn't loose anything but that Tang. My Yellow Tang showed signs of ich for a couple days but he has been with me for about 2 years. His immune system fought it off and haven't seen it again. syphoning the sand along with water changes will work miracles for you. Hope that was some help. I have pair of mated Perc's and never experienced a "dance" but have seen them guarding their litter.

rxheaven13b · 07-02-2008, 09:14 PM

do you really think syphoning the sand will help? Keep in mind i'm new to this hobby, but i have been told a few times not to syphon the sand in a salt tank.

Jadinop · 07-02-2008, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rxheaven13b

do you really think syphoning the sand will help? Keep in mind i'm new to this hobby, but i have been told a few times not to syphon the sand in a salt tank.

I wouldn't recomend it. Other than lightly stirring the top it's not usually suggested to disturb the layers of a sandbed. Crushed coral is a different story and would require heavy routine syphoning to remove detritus. Maybe some others will chime in with their thoughts on this.

Kimberfish · 07-03-2008, 07:15 AM

my pair of clowns twitched like that - like one was having a seizure almost!

I do vacuum just the very top layer of my sand - but I don't stir it or anything and have been fine

I love my uv sterilizer - I'm not trying to support pods for food or anything so for me I think it was a good decision

Bennihanna · 07-03-2008, 08:03 AM

All that I see is lots of diatom algae, what are you using for source water?

rxheaven13b · 07-04-2008, 03:13 AM

ro water from publix, the $1.50 machine

Seamore · 07-04-2008, 05:45 AM

Sounds like ich, and mating dance, the stuff on the glass may be pods and usualy thats a good sign, do you see them on the glass more when there is some algae on it? Usualy the stuff you can see is not a problem (fresh live food for the fish) except for the ich, it's the stuff you don't see that is. I never syphon the sand on my tanks, lots of live stuff sifting that for me, check the water you are using, not sure how often the filters at publix are changed, or how good they are. I get mine from LFS .30/gal and it's testing clean. Clean water is the critical starting point. Good luck.