clown fish disease

Hi I bout two newly arrived clowns from my fish guy Jack and one of them has most of the top dorsal fin missing and it looks like there is a patch of clear mucous on it's side. I should have quarintined him to begin with last night but was unsure if I should put him in the tank I am quarintining a coral angel, in due to his small size. If it has clown disease what should I do, treat it or try to get Jack to take it back as it was not even out of the shipment bag he received it in the night before, when I brought it home. I'm worried the stress of moving it again could be too much for it. It is in my 45 gallon tank though so I will have to move it to treat it anyway. If I treat it what do I use? Thanks for any help you can give. Vicki :

 

WOw. [smiley=inquisitive.gif]

Vicki I would seriously consider taking them back and see if they will hold on to them for you.

First of all, I would try not to buy fish that haven't even come out of the shipment bag. You really should check them out first, ask them to feed them sometimes so you can see them eat, and just observe their behavior. What I used to do in addition, if I really liked a fish, was put some money down and ask them to put it on hold. Then you can check them out for a while.

Sounds like these clown fish are a little beat up.

Also you mentioned an angel. Isn't your tank new?
Angels are more delicate than other fish and you should only add them to established tanks.

I did the same kind of stuff with my first tank, unfortunately a lot of people do!

I wouldn't add any fish until you are comfortable with your setup and have had the water tested.

How long have you had the tank going and what filters do you have besides the penguin?

matt

 

Clowns ship really hard, one of the harder shippers. Clownfish funk is very very common in newly shipped fish. Buying fish right out of the shipping bag is wrong. Wrong for you to buy it, and not only wrong, but unethicle and wrong for them to sell it to you. I bet it'll be fine if you treat it, probably it'll be fine even if you don't. Don't buy bag sales!!!

 

I agree about never buying from the shipping bag. The reason I did was I had asked him to order them for me. Not only is the clown a mess the two yellowhead sleeper gobies I had ordered and received from him died within a day of me bringing them home. I am beginning to think the guy thinks he knows more than he really does as he also sold me a cleaner goby four days after I set up the tank. It died two days later. He is trying to sell me a harliquin goby that I want real bad but from what I have read it would starve to death in a new tank. He keeps selling me stuff I shouldn't have, even though I ask, "are you sure these will get along, or be ok in such a new setup?" I know he has been in the business for 35 years but I am feeling really unsure about him now. I will answer matt's questions now. I have had the tank going for 20 days. I am using a H.O.T. Magnum 250gph as well as the penguin and ugf with the reverse flow powerhead. My tank is cycled and looking great. Jack told me it would cycle a lot faster if I used a bacteria he sold me and sold me several fish within four days of setting it up to help the cycling. I have a Fastest Kit and am checking the ph, nitrites, nitrates, and amonia regularly. Vicki

 

Ah man. It looks to me like this guy just wants to sell fish Vicki. Just about anyone will say that is WAY to many fish for a tank that probably isn't even done cycling. In fact, if it were me, I probably wouldn't even have fish in it yet.

I know these days a lot of live sand and bacteria is available that will cycle your tank fast, but I have learned from experience it is much better to go slow and be patient. No matter what they say, 'instant' reef tanks usually have casualties associated with them.

Your filters are great for freshwater but not for salt. You should at least consider a good hang on the back skimmer. Maybe a Remora with a maxi-jet pump or a Turbofloater (may be mispelled). And give some thought to removing the UGF and doing a sandbed.

I know you have already spent a bit of money, but it's best to really do your homework at this point and make some good choices.

Try not to buy anymore fish until you have a good plan. That fish guy sounds like a stereotypical fish store guy more interested in selling what he has than making sure the fish live and that you know how to take care of them. It's possible he is just stuck in his ways and doesn't know any better.

Regardless, based on what he has done already, I wouldn't trust him.

 

how long has ur tank been set up it should be totally cycled before you put any fish in it. also what size tank do you have? as far as the clown fish disese i did some reading up on that and every clown fish that is shipped has the potential to break out with this diesease which once it does outbreak can spread to your other fish. usually death occurs 24-36 hrs after activated in the fish. heres a page with some info on it but i had looked it up before because some fish i had originally bought broke out with the same thing. when i started out i had real bad advice given from the lfs also

http://www.wonbrothers.com/product/DrAqua/parasitic_diseases.htm

i had a real good detailed link ill hafta try and find it. i would ask your fish store guy when he gets in the fish to quarenteen them for a bit. both of the places i go to do this for all there fish. just ask them they just might. if they want the business they will.

 

Thank you both very much. I did check out that website Karla and printed out the info as well. It turns out I was worried for nothing as the clown has died in all this time so it's doubtful it was clown disease. I think I was just seeing a place that appeared clear but raised and it most likely was nothing. I thought at one point they had ich only to see the sposts gone half an hour later. It was tiny bubbles on them. Boy did I feel dumb when I took the clowns in to the fish shop to have them looked at to discover the spots weren't there anymore. Better that than have them die though. Jack or his partner are going to compensate me for the lost fish. Yeah! The Partner didn't even know that there was a orange skunk clown and told me the white stripe along the gill that's found on pink skunks would appear as the fish matured. I showed her the two pictures of the orange and pink skunk fish in the identification book she uses all the time and she said she had no idea there was an orange skunk anemonie fish. That didn't instill a lot of confidence in me. I don't think she knew whether the stripe was something that came with maturity and just grasped at straws for an answer, which made me wonder how much other info was a grasp in the dark. Oops that sounds kinda suggestive. Hehe. Vicki

 

nahh.. not suggestive at all. ;D