Help... :(

[krosebush]

My tank is being treated with copper right now and I don't know what's happening to my fish. They look like their lips are deteriorating. Does anyone know what's happening?

 

[SkiFletch]

Hope you're treating the FOWLR not the reef in your sig. Why are they being treated with copper. Deteriorating lips osunds like a bacterium...

 

[krosebush]

The FOWLR is being treated with copper because I'm having difficulties with ich in the tank. I thought it might have been from the copper but there is only .5mg/L of copper in my tank, and that's not an outrageous amount. My first guess was some sort of bacteria but I wasn't sure at all.

 

[jenbertoni]

My tank is being treated with copper right now and I don't know what's happening to my fish. They look like their lips are deteriorating. Does anyone know what's happening?

hopefully you took out your live rock and any inverts cuz the copper treatment would ruin them...but other than that, i dont know why your fishs lips are doing that, but i had a similar problem. i too was getting ich and then the mouth fungus started. we moved the fish to a quarantine tank with copper, but that didnt help and they (my coral beauty and square anthias) ended up dying. my suggestion to you as far as what to do now is to check your water. if everything looks good there, make sure your temp is correct, no higher than 79. since its summer, your water may be too hot or the temp may be changing throughout the day. this causes stress on the fish, thus ich and other bacteria thrive. a chiller would help this. if this is not an issue, then i really dont know what the problem could be. perhaps you should quarantine the fish and let the ich cycle out of your main tank for a couple weeks.

 

[Navarre]

Even the smallest amount of copper will kill inverts and corals outright. The liverock you have in the tank now probably has an enormous amount of dead or dying inverts/bristleworms etc. watch water quality closely as the liverock will now have no life on it (no worms inside to burrow means the liverock can now become clogged and not filter as well over time).

As for the lip injuries. It sounds like a bacterial infection, however i dont recomend you start a new treatment for this until you have finished the treatment for the ich. When (and only when) you are satisfied that the ich is gone) should you do a large water change and then start treatment once more.


You could try dipping the fish in a bacterial dip. this could work but sadly the chances of catching them whilst the rock is in the system will be difficult.