Hospital tank

[wkjames]

I have heard a number of you discuss these, and I seem to have a sick yellow clown. She is quite large, (nearly 4 1/2") and I have had her for almost 2 years. What is their lifespan? The symptoms are a sudden lack of appetite, laying on the bottom of the tank while resting, and lethargy. Gills look clean. Should I wait it out, try something different? If the advice is to set up a hospital tank, please give detailed advice, as I have never had to do that. The other fish seem fine.

[stuckey_t]

I have heard a number of you discuss these, and I seem to have a sick yellow clown. She is quite large, (nearly 4 1/2") and I have had her for almost 2 years. What is their lifespan? The symptoms are a sudden lack of appetite, laying on the bottom of the tank while resting, and lethargy. Gills look clean. Should I wait it out, try something different? If the advice is to set up a hospital tank, please give detailed advice, as I have never had to do that. The other fish seem fine.

Those symptoms don't sound real great. If a fish isn't eating that doesn't bode well. I would double check all your tank param's first and then (consider/ mull over) looking into a freshwater dip. Moving her into a hospital tank at this point is only going to put a nail in the coffin. Not that the hospital tank is not a good idea just that setting up a new one is adding stress...

[wkjames]

How long for a dip? How many times? Just straight ro/di water?


Another question: I seem to recall something about adding copper to my tank for ailing fish. Is this good? Bad? What brand? Follow directions on bottle?

[mtfatwork]

Cant put copper based treatments in a reef tank, so you would need a quarantine tank to do copper. FW dip- make sure the dip water is the same temp, and the ph is close to that of the tank. IIRC It is anywhere from 5-15 minutes, but I have only done it with clams where it is 20 minutes, so dont quote me on the length of time.

[johnzillmer]

There are hundreds of pages of fantastic info (much more than can be given in a discussion forum) here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/mardisindex.htm

You will want to read up on the pros and cons of copper use before trying it (I try hard to avoid using it). Freshwater dipping, in brief, involves matching the dip water temp and pH to that of your display tank, placing the fish into the dip water for roughly 3-4 minutes (opinions vary on the duration -- oh, see above message), while watching the fish for excessive stress.

BTW, sounds like your fish might have velvet (Cryptocaryon).

[mtfatwork]

see, I was waaayyy off on length of time... :)

[wkjames]

There are hundreds of pages of fantastic info (much more than can be given in a discussion forum) here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/mardisindex.htm

You will want to read up on the pros and cons of copper use before trying it (I try hard to avoid using it). Freshwater dipping, in brief, involves matching the dip water temp and pH to that of your display tank, placing the fish into the dip water for roughly 3-4 minutes (opinions vary on the duration -- oh, see above message), while watching the fish for excessive stress.

BTW, sounds like your fish might have velvet (Cryptocaryon).

Having read about the diseases and observed my fish, I'm not sure that is the answer. (velvet or ich) The gills look clean, as does the rest of the fish, no excess mucous is present. Thanks for the link. I think I'll look into a sterilizer, and maybe letting the tank fallow.

[johnzillmer]

Crypt can be pretty hard to spot, IME. The symptoms you listed are entirely consistent with velvet, and unless you scrape the gills and scope what you find, you might not be able to spot it. But, this is equally just a shot in the dark...