Sick Dogface

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
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Read this before posting!!

Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.

1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.

2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.

3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)

4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.

5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.

We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.

While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.

Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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mixmastermike52
Puffer Fry
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Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2007 3:26 pm
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Sick Dogface

Post by mixmastermike52 »

:cry: well my dog face puffer died today. He most likely died of an internal parasite or SW ick. I was wondering what my next steps should be about taking care of my tank. Right now I have a yellow tail Damsel and a Huma... Trigger (baby) in there with about 25 pounds of live rock. I don't plan on putting anything else in there for a while but should I be concerned about the parasites or Ick still in the tank? This is my first large SW tank and I don't want to continue a cycle that would be harmful to it's future inhabitants. More quick questions: Does LR hold disease or parasites? Should I do a water change? If the fish in there show know signs of sickness then should I let the Ick cycle go until it eventually dies off if ever? Oh yeah I don't have any QT to use. I just want to know what I should do to get past this sad period in my saltwater hobby. Any and all help would be appreciated. :|

R.I.P Goodyear
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Pufferpunk
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Post by Pufferpunk »

How many gallons is this tank? 25 lbs of LR is enough for about a 15g tank.
How was the tank cycled?
What makes you think it was ich?
Water parameters?
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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Post by Puffer Queen »

Sorry for your loss.

The "diagnosis" of ich or internal parasites are at "different ends of the spectrum". Both have very different presentation/symptoms. What symptoms was your puffer displaying?

If it was ich - The only way to get rid of ich in the display tank is to remove ALL of the fish and treat them for parasites in a separate tank. The display tank should have no new additions and be fish free (fallow) for a minimum of 6 weeks (8 is best!). Without any fish in the tank, the parasites will die off. Everything wet (rock, algae, inverts, fish, corals, etc) needs to be quarantined or you will continually have problems with diseases.

If it was internal parasites - this usually is not the primary cause of death. Internal parasites (worms) will decrease the fish's immune system and leave the fish vulnerable to secondary infections/infestations.

Again, sorry for your loss.
Kelly
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Post by Paul Fox »

Puffer Queen wrote:If it was internal parasites - this usually is not the primary cause of death. Internal parasites (worms) will decrease the fish's immune system and leave the fish vulnerable to secondary infections/infestations.
Depends on the worms..
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Post by Puffer Queen »

A healthy fish can live years with internal parasites/worms. Cestodes and nematodes can migrate out of the intestine and infest other organs - especially the liver and spleen. On necropsy one will find organs packed with worms but the primary cause of death is usually bacterial or parasites in the gills.

What worms are you referring to - can you share some of your experiences?
Kelly
mixmastermike52
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Post by mixmastermike52 »

Water parameters are fine all zero P.H 8.3. My tank is a fish only with live rock so I don't see why the amount of rock is relevant if I had no rock would it matter? My puffer had white spots all over his body and fins most likely not an internal parasite.The tank I had him in was too small and I was not informed when I bought him about this requirement. I tried to give him the best home possible for the time I had him, and do to the stress he became infected with Ick. I feel bad about not knowing his special requirements,but the amount of knowledge I learned in return makes the loss a bit easier to bear. I am not telling you the tank size because all you will say is that it was to small yes I know. SO lets move on. No I do not have pictures (no digital camera should be getting one soon). And like I said in my first post I do not have any quaratine tanks ( do not have the room/resources to get any). All I want to know is should I do a major water change and should I add any special additives in the process. Sorry about the tone I just want to move on from this episode,and all I seem to be getting in return are more questions.


R.I.P Goodyear
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Pufferpunk
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Posts: 32979
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Greenville, SC
Contact:

Post by Pufferpunk »

It is best to let the tank remain fallow (empty) for a month, so the parasite can die off w/o a host. Then do a major water change & start over with smaller fish.

I asked about the LR, because that is your main source of filtration, other than a good skimmer. Generally it's recommended to keep 1 1/2-2lbs LR/gallon. It is only partially the fault of whoever mis-informed you about the issues you won't speak of. It's your rresponsibility to do reasearh on your own.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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