clown fish having whitish film

[hondaker]

hi mentors, i've noticed a whitish film over the skin of my 2 clown fish these few days, and i don't know what diesease it is. they seemed to be constrained by this film and not swimming around a lot

anyone can advise me on what to do?

i've tried to look through the forum but no info on this since i do not know the exact term of the illness

thanks

[nakazoru]

hi mentors, i've noticed a whitish film over the skin of my 2 clown fish these few days, and i don't know what diesease it is. they seemed to be constrained by this film and not swimming around a lot

anyone can advise me on what to do?

i've tried to look through the forum but no info on this since i do not know the exact term of the illness

thanks

You clown is having weak resistance due to most probably water parameters. Check water but chances is that it too late now. Only possible way is get some well establish water to nurse it back to health.

If it is not eating for 1 week, he is a goner.

White film most of the time happens to tang as parasites. Clowns are much more hardy than tang, but when they show this symtoms, already quite weak..

Happens to me some 5 yrs back.

[hondaker]

dear all, my 2 clowns just died

after picking up their corpse, i discovered the white film actually is little white spots, so after a few more research, discovered that they might be the dreaded ICK/ICH. i can even see the white spots floating around in the water now

after looking through much postings, come to conclusion that 3 methods were effective in curing them

1) Waiting 6-8 weeks without any fishes so that the ICK/ICH will die out since there's no hosts for them to feed on

2) Copper treatment

3) Hypo treatment

copper is out of the question for now since i have no idea how to use this med. So i will keep the tank fishless and at the same time reduce the SG to 1.009 hoping to kill off these ICK/ICH

hopefully my tank will be ready by end of the 8 week isolation

by the way, will skimmer aid in reducing these ICK/ICH, i've just bought a 2nd hand Weipro SA-2013 skimmer powered by a 2500L/Hr pump(however my tank is only 40G/120L 2.5ft)

thanks guys

[hondaker]

You clown is having weak resistance due to most probably water parameters. Check water but chances is that it too late now. Only possible way is get some well establish water to nurse it back to health.

If it is not eating for 1 week, he is a goner.

White film most of the time happens to tang as parasites. Clowns are much more hardy than tang, but when they show this symtoms, already quite weak..

Happens to me some 5 yrs back.

hi bro nakazoru, what do u mean by water parameters? any specific indication?

i've check my nitrite levels, it is light yellow(on the scale provided by the kit, it is the 2nd safest grade), pH levels show levels of ~8

what other parameters should i take note?

thanks!

[nakazoru]

For fishes, 3 very important:

Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite. The rest is overdose of additive...

Bad Water just make parasite bring death to the fish. If water is stable, the fish will survive the ich and you can react to it. Fishes have almost 100% chance of surviving ich if treated properly.

Clown's first syntom of ich is rubbing of body on rocks. You have to watch...

[jem]

hi bro..

its good that u have read up alot on this dreaded parasite..

u can help the fish too by adding "garlic" (the additives) to your fish's food to help it boost its immune system to help it fight against diseases..

HTH

[nakazoru]

hi bro..

its good that u have read up alot on this dreaded parasite..

u can help the fish too by adding "garlic" (the additives) to your fish's food to help it boost its immune system to help it fight against diseases..

HTH

If you need garlic mix, I can share mine with you. Can never finish as I onlu use when fish is in QT.

[hammy]

hi bro nakazoru, what do u mean by water parameters? any specific indication?

i've check my nitrite levels, it is light yellow(on the scale provided by the kit, it is the 2nd safest grade), pH levels show levels of ~8

what other parameters should i take note?

thanks!

basic parameter like ammonia and nitrite should be zero to complete cycling process .

when fishes are infected with parasite , normally their first reaction to the parasite is to form a layer of white film to counteract the parasite . with that that , normally the fish will scratch themselves against the rock or tank surface to get rid of the parasite . symptom like white spot is almost a confirm indication of the dreadful ich.

i will not recommend copper if u intend to have coral in the later stage .

skimmer IMO , does not help to eradicate ich.

if ur tank right now is fishless or coralless , i will advice to leave it fishless for 6 weeks to 8 weeks to totally eradicate the parasite's cycle.

hypo is not necessary if there is no life form in ur tank because with hypo in the main tank , pH , KH may be unstable . some invertebrate on the live rock will die off too if u perform hypo to 1.008.

and , set up a QT tank ya

just some suggestion .

enjoy reefing

[hondaker]

thanks guys for the comments!

regarding the QT, can i use a styrofoam box with air pump providing air? or do i need another filtering system(if need filters, think i do not have the means to do a QT in this case)

i just saw what is meant by garlic additive when i visited irwana today, i have been giving cube shrimps to my fishes before, guess i'll switched over to the powder food(dont know what it's called, but reccomended by irwana) added with garlic in future.

thanks again

[nakazoru]

thanks guys for the comments!

regarding the QT, can i use a styrofoam box with air pump providing air? or do i need another filtering system(if need filters, think i do not have the means to do a QT in this case)

i just saw what is meant by garlic additive when i visited irwana today, i have been giving cube shrimps to my fishes before, guess i'll switched over to the powder food(dont know what it's called, but reccomended by irwana) added with garlic in future.

thanks again

QT using styrofoam box can, but not recommended. Difficult to monitor fishes you know. No filter also can but need to labourously change with with good established water.

You can always use a 1-2 ft tank with a small hang on filter. my recommendation. No need air pump. I dun even use air pump in my main tank. Water comes from the main tank but never goes back to the main tank.

Only can use establish water.

[hondaker]

bro, established waters means bacteria ready water(means cycled water) or those bags of water usually sold at LFS?

[nakazoru]

bro, established waters means bacteria ready water(means cycled water) or those bags of water usually sold at LFS?

Fully Recycled water with good water parameters.

Definitely not LFS water as they may be infested.

[hondaker]

the LFS water have chance of being infested?

oh no, guess i shouldnt buy them in future, by the way, what is the actual way of changing water if not using water from LFS?

pre-mix salt with water in a seperate pail, then when it is to the correct SG, then pour the water in?

or add normal water to the tank, then add in salt slowly and moniter the SG from there?

[nakazoru]

the LFS water have chance of being infested?

oh no, guess i shouldnt buy them in future, by the way, what is the actual way of changing water if not using water from LFS?

pre-mix salt with water in a seperate pail, then when it is to the correct SG, then pour the water in?

or add normal water to the tank, then add in salt slowly and moniter the SG from there?

Dun say that you will not buy from LFS, but buy from one that is reputable. Anyway, I never buy water from them before.

For a new tank, I'll do in the tank itself. No LS, LR etc. Cycling lah

Water change, I do in pail. I prepare 1 week in advance, KS mah.

[hondaker]

do u filter the prepared water?

i've noticed quite a few impurities once i added in the salt

[nakazoru]

do u filter the prepared water?

i've noticed quite a few impurities once i added in the salt

I dun bother with those impurities, the main filter will do the job for it.