Any Help.

[780Matt]

Hey fellow reefers,,


I was wondering if someone can shed some light. I have been into saltwater aquariums for about 9 months now. My water conditions were PERFECT. I even had an experienced store check it out for me. I had a clownfish with what looked like Ick. As per one store they told me to use Formalin. I followed the directions to a "T" I explained exactly what livestock and corals I had in the tank to make sure everything was good. I treated the tank last night with 2 drops per gallon as it indicates on the bottle. When I woke up my clownfish " the reason for treating the tank" had died and my scopas tang is now looking like its been bleached but yet he acting normal etc. my anenome was about 7-8 inches across and it shrunk to about 2. my xenia looks like it survived a fire. the only resource i had at 5am was to do a water change of 25% which i did. are my fish gonna die and are my anenome and xenia dead? Any advise would be great.

if they die its my 3rd crash in 9 months. maybe i should quit lol

thanks for your help

[christyf5]

Did they tell you to treat the entire tank or just the fish. Formalin is a pretty nasty chemical and crosslinks proteins permanently (ie, kills the outer layer of tissue as far as it can penetrate). It is also extremely harsh on fish gills and that is likely why your fish are struggling. Granted only 2 drops per gallon isn't that much but most corals and anemones won't tolerate any chemicals at all.

A better recommendation would have been to remove the fish and treat in a separate tank.

Your scopas tang is probably ok but stressed, they often get a very dull washed out coloration after the lights are out (ie when they're "sleeping")and when they're stressed out.

What to do now? Run carbon (not sure if carbon gets out formalin but it will help clear the water). See how things go and possibly do another water change later on today. Make sure there is plenty of surface agitation.

In the future for treating ick you might want to use something that is "reef safe" (ie, can treat the whole tank) or get yourself a 10 gallon tank to treat fish separately.

Good luck!!

[whatcaneyedo]

I've always caused more harm that good by treating a tank for a minor parasite or problems. Tearing everything apart to catch a fish and remove it to a QT tank seems to stess everything out even worse as well. I've found that if I just leave everything alone but maybe improve my fishes diet for a few days they can get over Ick on their own if they were healthy to begin with.

Just this last week someone gave me a Vagabond butterfly to store in my massive sump because it was eating all of their coral. Within a day or two of adding it to my tank my purple tang got ick. So all I did was feed it a little more often than I normally do and slowly the little white spots have disapeard. Maybe I'm just lucky, I dont know.

[Ryan Joel Smith]

I'd have to agree with "Whatcaneyedo". Try your hardest to keep your water quality in check and never use chemicals to try and correct nature because generally whatever problem you address by using chemicals will only be side tracked and often come back; a lot of times even worse than the first time. Some fish are just weaker than other others (immune system is not as strong) but it's safe to say if all parameters are in check and fish aren't stressing eachother out most sicknesses will just run their course similar to the swine flu :S (No need to spend millions on vaccines). Another good asset is a gang of cleaner shrimp and a cleaner wrasse.

[Delphinus]

I've never heard of using Formalin in anything but a temporary dip. I beleive formalin is basically "formaldehyde" so I'm afraid this could have a very bad outcome. Run large amounts of carbon, continue to do water changes maybe.

It might even be better to remove the livestock to a new system. See if the store that sold you the formalin can help out with that, at least with the fish and anemone.

Good luck.

[naesco]

Formalin will kill everything in your tank except the fish. Run carbon, do huge water changes and check to see if your tank is going to recycle again.

When you use formalin, which you should use only in a separate tank for medicating the fish, it depletes the oxygen which is probably why your fish died.
Put a air diffuser in the tank to bring up the oxygen levels.

Good Luck