waltersizzle
New Member
Hello all,
I am new to reef2reef. I set up a 20g tank a couple of months ago. It has a yellow tail damsel, clownfish and flame hawk fish. They are all about 1.5-2 inches long and get along pretty well. The damsel gets upset when the clownfish goes near his rocks but everyone generally gets along.
The hawk fish was added two weeks ago and he was doing very well at first. Eating a lot, perching on everything, vibrant colors. But two days ago he got sick. In the morning he was fine but at night I noticed he was slightly discolored and did not want to eat. I checked up on him again the next morning and he was a little more discolored and still wouldn’t eat. Also looked like he had kind of like white mark on his back. So I freaked out and put the damsel in a breeder box because I thought maybe he was being bullied. Upon closer look I noticed that the hawk fish and the damsel were both breathing heavy. I concluded that they weren’t fighting and that the hawkfish was definitely sick and the damsel might be too.
After a lot of research I decided to treat as if they have marine velvet. I am not sure if that’s correct because they don’t really have white specs or a white coat. But the heavy breathing lack of appetite and reclusiveness led me to think it was velvet and if it was then I knew I had to make a decision and treat it asap. Also the clownfish is doing just fine and I read they are less susceptible to velvet so that kinda adds up to.
Last night I gave the damsel and hawk fish 30 minute hydrogen peroxide baths at 150 ppm. Removed most of my rocks and put them back in the main tank. Treating it with copper safe now at about 2.00 ppm but I’m not 100% sure because my test strips haven’t come in the mail yet. This is just based on the directions on the bottle.
Quarantine tank was not an option yesterday. I don’t have any corals yet and just a few hermit crabs so I decided to treat the whole water column.
This morning i noticed the hawk fish looked worse. This like white mark on the top of him has gotten bigger and it almost looks like he is swollen around the spine/forehead area, could this be dropsy? He still wouldn’t eat but the damsel and clownfish are eating. I gave him another hydrogen peroxide bath this morning and put him back in the tank.
What now? What do you think he has? My plan now is in a few hours to go and get a 5 gallon tank and heater and set up a quarantine tank just for the hawk fish so that he can be in completely new water. I’m going to give him another hydrogen peroxide bath then put him in the five gallon tank and treat it with copper safe. At that point I will take pictures and post them. I attached a video and picture although they are not great. It really looks like his body is swelling up under and around his dorsal fin.
I’ve kept the lights off and have been heavily aerating the water.
I realize that the fish is probably going to die. But I really like him and am willing to keep trying things within reason.
Don’t flame me about the tank size. They are going into a bigger tank within a year.
Any advice here is appreciated as time is running out for my fish. His name is Big Sauce btw
I am new to reef2reef. I set up a 20g tank a couple of months ago. It has a yellow tail damsel, clownfish and flame hawk fish. They are all about 1.5-2 inches long and get along pretty well. The damsel gets upset when the clownfish goes near his rocks but everyone generally gets along.
The hawk fish was added two weeks ago and he was doing very well at first. Eating a lot, perching on everything, vibrant colors. But two days ago he got sick. In the morning he was fine but at night I noticed he was slightly discolored and did not want to eat. I checked up on him again the next morning and he was a little more discolored and still wouldn’t eat. Also looked like he had kind of like white mark on his back. So I freaked out and put the damsel in a breeder box because I thought maybe he was being bullied. Upon closer look I noticed that the hawk fish and the damsel were both breathing heavy. I concluded that they weren’t fighting and that the hawkfish was definitely sick and the damsel might be too.
After a lot of research I decided to treat as if they have marine velvet. I am not sure if that’s correct because they don’t really have white specs or a white coat. But the heavy breathing lack of appetite and reclusiveness led me to think it was velvet and if it was then I knew I had to make a decision and treat it asap. Also the clownfish is doing just fine and I read they are less susceptible to velvet so that kinda adds up to.
Last night I gave the damsel and hawk fish 30 minute hydrogen peroxide baths at 150 ppm. Removed most of my rocks and put them back in the main tank. Treating it with copper safe now at about 2.00 ppm but I’m not 100% sure because my test strips haven’t come in the mail yet. This is just based on the directions on the bottle.
Quarantine tank was not an option yesterday. I don’t have any corals yet and just a few hermit crabs so I decided to treat the whole water column.
This morning i noticed the hawk fish looked worse. This like white mark on the top of him has gotten bigger and it almost looks like he is swollen around the spine/forehead area, could this be dropsy? He still wouldn’t eat but the damsel and clownfish are eating. I gave him another hydrogen peroxide bath this morning and put him back in the tank.
What now? What do you think he has? My plan now is in a few hours to go and get a 5 gallon tank and heater and set up a quarantine tank just for the hawk fish so that he can be in completely new water. I’m going to give him another hydrogen peroxide bath then put him in the five gallon tank and treat it with copper safe. At that point I will take pictures and post them. I attached a video and picture although they are not great. It really looks like his body is swelling up under and around his dorsal fin.
I’ve kept the lights off and have been heavily aerating the water.
I realize that the fish is probably going to die. But I really like him and am willing to keep trying things within reason.
Don’t flame me about the tank size. They are going into a bigger tank within a year.
Any advice here is appreciated as time is running out for my fish. His name is Big Sauce btw
