Poorly Clown Goby

[Redreidy]

 

Any ideas what is up with my clown goby? It's looking pretty battered. It is currently in a QT tank and I am treating it with copper based treatment. 

 

The QT tank also has a royal gramma which is looking better but its fins are looking a little torn. Both a feeding well especially the clown goby. Water Parameters are perfect.

 

Sorry about the poor picks I don't have any other camera than my phone which is turd and the lighting in the qt tank is rubbish. the fish doesn't look as washed out for real. 

 

 

 

[Tired]

Stressed out, and I'd suspect the gramma is probably beating it up. Separate them with a divider, and give the goby more cover. They like overhangs.

 

Where did you get it, and what did it look like when you got it? There's a chance it may just be a very pale goby. I'm intrigued by the patchiness in the last photo, is that what it's like in person? The fact that it's eating is good. Be sure it gets lots of good, nutritious food.

[Humblefish]

Could be a bacterial infection. I'd dose a wide spectrum antibiotic (e.g. Kanaplex) just in case. So long as the fish is in copper, it's immune system will be suppressed.

[Redreidy]

5 hours ago, Humblefish said:

Could be a bacterial infection. I'd dose a wide spectrum antibiotic (e.g. Kanaplex) just in case. So long as the fish is in copper, it's immune system will be suppressed.

Thank you for the advice, am I able to dose the Kanaplex at the same time as the copper or should I stop the Copper?

 

6 hours ago, Tired said:

Stressed out, and I'd suspect the gramma is probably beating it up. Separate them with a divider, and give the goby more cover. They like overhangs.

 

Where did you get it, and what did it look like when you got it? There's a chance it may just be a very pale goby. I'm intrigued by the patchiness in the last photo, is that what it's like in person? The fact that it's eating is good. Be sure it gets lots of good, nutritious food.

I was worried that they might have been fighting but I haven't seen any aggressive behaviour. Tbh the Gramma is pretty timid itself. 

 

I got it from a fish store who looked pretty professional and it looked pretty good at the time, nice and plump, good colouration. Colour wise I dont think the lighting on the photo is doing it any favours it doesn't look quite as pale with he Mark 1 eyeball. I will try and get some better pictures later today. The patchiness is what originally prompted me to move them both to the QT tank. The clown is lumpy, sometimes I think it might have whitespot but the lumps are yellow which is confusing me, I started the copper treatment just in case. the Gramma doesnt have the lumps but is looking a little bedraggled. 

 

I am wondering if i did the right thing moving the fish into the QT tank as neither are as active now. The gramma just hides in the QT so its clearly more stressed than it was in the main tank which cant be helping. 

[Redreidy]

Just realised Kanaplex isnt something that I can buy in the UK.... I guess i'm going to have to stick with the copper, stress free enviroment and perfect water conditions. 

[Ratvan]

3 minutes ago, Redreidy said:

Just realised Kanaplex isnt something that I can buy in the UK.... I guess i'm going to have to stick with the copper, stress free enviroment and perfect water conditions. 

Primafix and Melafix 

[Humblefish]

4 hours ago, Redreidy said:

Just realised Kanaplex isnt something that I can buy in the UK.... I guess i'm going to have to stick with the copper, stress free enviroment and perfect water conditions. 

https://www.ntlabs.co.uk/browse-products/indoor/marine/anti-bacterial/

 

I used to live in the UK. 😉

[Redreidy]

On 10/23/2019 at 6:56 PM, Humblefish said:

https://www.ntlabs.co.uk/browse-products/indoor/marine/anti-bacterial/

 

I used to live in the UK. 😉

 

On 10/23/2019 at 1:51 PM, Ratvan said:

Primafix and Melafix 

 

Thank you both, Can either of these be used with copper treatment? 

 

I am using AquaCare Marine Anti-Parasite. (https://www.fishkeeper.co.uk/aquacare-marine-anti-parasite-100ml?gclid=Cj0KCQjwl8XtBRDAARIsAKfwtxDaqQFgJAlZJ60yyop2kLChSB53vWGNWcB9xHQQBCGFYZtZDfDf4TcaAs2hEALw_wcB)

 

BTW @Humblefish I was just reading your disease guides they are excellent thank you. Do you have a background in this kind of thing or is it time earned experience?

[Ratvan]

5 minutes ago, Redreidy said:

 

 

Thank you both, Can either of these be used with copper treatment? 

 

I am using AquaCare Marine Anti-Parasite. (https://www.fishkeeper.co.uk/aquacare-marine-anti-parasite-100ml?gclid=Cj0KCQjwl8XtBRDAARIsAKfwtxDaqQFgJAlZJ60yyop2kLChSB53vWGNWcB9xHQQBCGFYZtZDfDf4TcaAs2hEALw_wcB)

 

BTW @Humblefish I was just reading your disease guides they are excellent thank you. Do you have a background in this kind of thing or is it time earned experience?

The two I listed can be yes. I used them with CopperSafe

[Redreidy]

8 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

The two I listed can be yes. I used them with CopperSafe

Thanks @Ratvan I will give them a try on Monday (payday). 

[Redreidy]

weirdly found this thing in my QT tank?

 

I am assuming this is a bristle-worm but the curious thing for me is how it got there. The only thing I transferred from my main tank is the fish and some ceramic rings from the filter. I also haven't seen one in the main tank which is expected as I used dry rock and what was described to me as "live sand" which was dry. 

 

[Tired]

Bristleworm, all right. Harmless/beneficial detritivore that your copper will kill. Pop it in your display tank, you want those guys. 

 

Is any of your equipment second-hand? Or it's possible your live sand had a wet spot it was living in.

[Humblefish]

I checked with my UK compadres, and apparently Myxazin is the weapon of choice for fighting bacterial diseases over there. It contains Malachite Green, Acriflavine Hydrochloride, and a small amount of formalin. The latter is probably just used as an activator.

[Redreidy]

Just wanted to quickly update on the clown goby. I hated the fact that nobody ever had a debrief on how treatment went when I was looking for other people’s solutions to treating this problem. Anyway  I pulled both the clown goby and it’s buddy royal gramma out of the main tank and treated with copper treatment In a QT tank. That was two weeks ago. 

 

 

Anyway it’s looking much better now, colour has come back, lumps have gone. It also had a quite black looking insides at one point and that’s gone also. The only thing is it’s fins are looking a little ragged but no significant loss. I’m going to start some antibacterial today which should sort that out. Anyway my main tanks going to stay empty of fish now until the end of Jan to make sure anything that was in it is well and truely gone. I may add a new light and my first coral in the meantime though 👿.

 

I have livened up my QT tank as the two fish are going to be resident for a few months.

 

 

 

[Tamberav]

Glad they seem to be recovering.

 

My fish seem to be more at ease when my QT tank as more than just clay pots or PVC. I add fake plants now and a little plastic log thing. I also had some sand in mine.

 

I wish they made fake live rock that perfectly resembled live rock and was easily to sterilize and didn't absorb meds..... to trick my fish into thinking they are in a natural environment and not a hospital tank.

[Tired]

That's great news! I think I'd hold off on the antibacterial, though. They need their gut bacteria, and you need the biological filtration. Probably the fins will recover with just nice, clean water.

 

Live rock is by definition full of holes and will absorb things. It's not what fish need, anyway- they don't look at a decoration and go "oh, this doesn't belong on a reef". They just need cover. It could be a pink princess castle if that's what you had on hand.

[Humblefish]

That's the prettiest QT I've ever seen! 😉

[Tamberav]

On 11/3/2019 at 9:37 AM, Tired said:

That's great news! I think I'd hold off on the antibacterial, though. They need their gut bacteria, and you need the biological filtration. Probably the fins will recover with just nice, clean water.

 

Live rock is by definition full of holes and will absorb things. It's not what fish need, anyway- they don't look at a decoration and go "oh, this doesn't belong on a reef". They just need cover. It could be a pink princess castle if that's what you had on hand.

 

In my experience, there is definitely a big difference in fish behavior in a more natural state then just PVC and bare bottom. If nothing else, they are tricked into spending more time foraging and performing natural behaviors instead of hiding. At least early on. 

 

It could just be a problem with pvc itself, perhaps its bright white and light reflects off it, maybe it doesn't feel very 'hidden' vs the tiny crevices fish usually wedge themselves into. When I QT smaller fish with pvc, they sometimes try and wedge themselves under it instead of chilling inside it. I probably need some much smaller diameter pipes for them.

 

I also noticed if I put my fake rock and log in there with pvc, the fish always... always choose the rock or log hideout and the pvc is ignored. Many even rather hide under the black sponge filter. Maybe the problem would be solved it I switched to dark grey pvc? 

 

Ofc this is just my small scale QT/conditioning tanks and is hardly enough for proof. 

 

The downside is its hard to observe fish for illness if you make their hiding spots too good. 

 

 

[Tired]

Well, yeah, PVC isn't exactly ideal. A lump of PVC plastic (preferably something a bit less shiny, maybe painted) in a more rock-like shape, with nooks and crannies, would work just fine. It's the shapes and crannies they like, not necessarily the rocks. And now that I think about it, a model princess castle actually would have a bunch of crannies! Not sure what they'd think of the pink, and it'd be hard to look inside, but they might like it.

 

One thing you could do is create a number of hiding places up against one wall of the tank, and cover that wall with cardboard or such. That way, they think it's a place they're invisible, but you can peek behind the cardboard as needed. It may also help to enclose the tank at least partially, and keep the light dim, so they don't feel as exposed. 

[Redreidy]

Soo bad news, after all my worry about the clown goby, the royal gramma has died.... I hadn’t seen it for 2 days so I went looking for it and upon moving the decor it came floating out very much dead. No idea what had killed it, the last time I saw it it’s fins looked a little ragged but not to any major degree. 

 

Just tested the the water and there’s no ammonia, nitrite and >5ppm nitrate. Copper treatment was reading at >0.2ppm and I followed the dosing instructions of that exactly. Just done a 25% water change just in case. 

 

Clown goby tank mate seems to be doing ok, attacking food like a shark. Fins are still a little ragged. I have Myxazin on hand so I’m thinking of starting this now just in case the gramma died of fugal/bacterial disease as the treatment with copper is complete. Do I have to remove the copper from the tank before starting the myxaxin? 

 

I have got to admit pretty down about this if the clown goby dies that might signal the end of my saltwater foray. 

[Humblefish]

4 hours ago, Redreidy said:

Do I have to remove the copper from the tank before starting the myxaxin? 

They can be mixed together. Sorry for your loss. ☹️