What's wrong with my Coral Beauty Angelfish?

[mandarin11]

Maybe a water change if you're up to it and can manage it with out stressing him further. What are the params?

[JasonSquared]

Rid ich won't work at all... Copper and hyposalinity are the only proven methods of treating Ich. Unfortunately I think that it's probably already too late as it sounds like it's in his gills...

[mandarin11]

unfortunately I have to agree with you Jason.

[Bogie]

well then i bought a bad fish on Saturday.

Status: still alive, breathing but lying on his side in the bucket - water from the tank (slightly blue from the Rid-Ich+), being heated with incandescent lamp and aluminum foil "hood". this Rid-Ich+ is made by Kordon which says produces a concentration of 0.05 mg/L malachite green and 15 mg/L formalin. says fresh or salt water on the bottle.
Water conditions were checked today at the LFS, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate under 20ppm. They said it was pretty good.

all other fish, snails and hermit crabs are o.k.

The only place still open that might have other medications would be Walmart, like 30 minutes away, and they carry mostly only fresh water foods and meds anyway. If the CB is going to die tonight without the Rid-Ich, then it's worth a shot with it, right? I just don't get how 5 hours ago it was swimming ok, and now it's on it's side. I know the lips and white areas aren't normal, but is that just how some angelfish sleep, on their side? It doesn't look right to me and every fish I have seen lying like that is a dying fish.

[phoenixhieghts]

I think the mouth thing is fluke - he needs treating as opposed to a cleaner shrimp! thats if he's still alive, if not then sorry for your loss!
Angel fish, like tangs contract illness really easy in my experience! I think the best thing i ever did was put a uv sterilizer on my tank! never had anything since!

[Bogie]

well, I woke up at 6:30 this morning and the CB was OPD. At least he didn't die in the tank. I'll call the lfs where i bought him and see if any other fish in that tank had any problems. Maybe I'll get a refund/exchange, since most likely he had the disease when I bought him?
The rest of the fish (2 clowns and 2 damsels) still looked good this morning. I couldn't find my blue tang, though. Usually he doesn't come out of hiding until after the lights have been on for a while.

[aquaboy]

I had a chromis die that way even though the water was perfect quality, wish i had seen this thread before. I learned that a FW dip is great for flukes. Sorry for loss. Stress of intoduction to new tank weakens fish and gives the parasite eggs that are on fish (they are almost always there unless LFS has the ability to maintain Ich-Less and Fluke-Less tanks, which is nearly impossibe as certain parasites are always in tank just not on fish ATM) a chance to attack and breed. the fish are then stressed from the current parasites and the newly hatched parasites add to the anguish till death. it sucks.

[Bogie]

So my cousin highly recommended that I put in some API Melafix, just in case the tank and other fish became contaminated. Does anyone have any experience using Melafix - my cousin uses it b/c it is supposedly all natural and will not harm any inverts or corals. The rest of the fish still look and behave great, with no signs of illness. Any recommendations?

I'm not going to add any more fish for a little while, but I am planning on adding a bubble tip anemone for the 2 clowns.

[missionsix66]

Acclimation is the key ingredient besides proper selection. I have learned the hard way losing a purple tang which I grieved about on 3reef. I HATE WAITING TO ACCLIMATE! But, have learned it is very important to any species that you are adding to your tank. I don't know if this is the case with you but, sounds horribly familiar.

[clownfish]

Bogie....you got a sick fish from your LFS, no doubt about it. Get him to refund your money or take your biz elsewhere bro.

A cleaner shrimp will do fine in a reef tank. Cleaner shrimps will prevent deseases,not cure them. Also, it's all up to the fish if he wants to get a rub down by a cleaner shrimp...I have noticed one of my cleaner shrimps trying to sneak in from behind one my clowns to give him a sneak attack cleaning...but the clown quickly gets away from the shrimp....so, like I said, it's all up to the fish.

Another way to keep your fish healthy is by adding garlic solution to their food...Seachem's Garlic is great and cheap, add a few drops and your fish will not only be healthy, they'll love the taste, even those picky eaters won't resist the smell....also, if your ever get another angel or tang, they love algae...if they keep eating it off the LR, they will eventually deplete it, so get yourself some seaweed salad and hang it with a vegie clip...your fish will get their nutrients and stay healthy....hope this helps.

btw...a UV sterelizer will kill most of the free floating bacteria and desease causing organisms.