white spots on flame angel
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Topic: white spots on flame angel
Posted By: Davidwillis
Subject: white spots on flame angel
Date Posted: December 03 2010 at 9:10pm
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Well my flame angel that has been fighting HLLE now has white spots on him. They are very small, and at first I thought they were little micro air bubbles. Then I thought maybe ICK, but since I have not added any fish for a 2 months, and since he already has problems, I am thinking it may be something else.... I tried taking a picture, but I can't get the focus good enough to see them. I am debating on taking him out of the tank and putting him in a quarantine tank, I have a 10 gal tank that I could take the sand out of my sump and put in, and fill it with LW. I don't want all my fish to get sick. I will work on getting a picture.
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Replies:
Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: December 03 2010 at 9:19pm
This is about the best picture I can get. |
Posted By: jmtreml
Date Posted: December 03 2010 at 9:33pm
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If the fish is stressed at all, it could still be ick. If I was you I would start feeding him garlic and see if that helps at all. I have a hippo tang that gets ick really easy. Even if I move some of my Live Rock around it gets stressed and gets it. Since I have started to feed it garlic, I havent seen the Ick. I have also been running my UV sterilizer 24-7 to. Hope this helps a little. ------------- 34 Gallon Red Sea Max 29 gallon Bio cube |
Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: December 03 2010 at 9:53pm
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I have been feeding garlic to help with the HLLE.... I wish I had a UV sterilizer, but I don't, and can't afford to buy one right now. I have a peppermint shrimp, but I don't know if they will help at all, I got some cleaner shrimp when I had problems with ick in my 55 gal. I don't know if they helped or not, but it went away.
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Posted By: Luckedout
Date Posted: December 03 2010 at 10:02pm
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keep up with the garlic and hope for the best. I think taking him out would stress him even more and you want to avoid that right now. Bummer, this guy is a beautiful fish.
------------- -Ben 90g Mixed reef www.body-balancechiropractic.com |
Posted By: SGH360
Date Posted: December 03 2010 at 10:04pm
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If that fish is sick is highly likely the others are infected but are healthy enough to fight it off. Putting it in QT will probably cause more stress than it already is. Feed Garlic and see if it improves.
What are your water parameters?
Can you provide a full picture of your tank?
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Posted By: bur01014
Date Posted: December 03 2010 at 11:02pm
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If the fish is still eating and your tank is stable enough to handle this (good skimmer, lots LR, perhaps a fuge), overfeed that guy.....small feedings 5-6 times a day with a good quality frozen and pellet....I swear New Life Spectrum Thera A pellets w/ garlic has done wonders on the fish that have gotten ich in my tank....once I see ich I feed those fish until they are so full they can't stand to look at more food....usually kicks the ich! (make sure your tank can handle feeding more though, otherwise it will worsen water quality and cause the fish to stress more, just try and find the balance between overfeeding and nutrient export for your system) Good Luck and let us know how it goes! |
Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: December 03 2010 at 11:32pm
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Water parameters Temp: 76 ph: 8.1 salinity: 1.025 ammonia: 0 nitrite: 0 nitrate:0 phosphate: 0.5 (this is the only parameter I am worried about) calcium: 440 alk: 9 dkh I have been over feeding (and I think that is why my phosphates are up), but the problem is he loves my flake food, and won't touch the pellets or frozen food. He does eat the flakes with garlic though, so maybe that will make up for the poor food quality? I have mostly been feeding him flakes soaked in amino acids (I heard that helps HLLE), and once a week soaking in garlic. Do you think I should soak in garlic every day? Here is a full tank pic.... it was taken a few weeks ago.  |
Posted By: BobC63
Date Posted: December 03 2010 at 11:37pm
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I don't see much algae in that tan kfor him to graze on.
Have you tried feeding Nori? ------------- - My Current Tank: 50g Starfire Cube Reef * Marine & Reef tanks since 1977 * |
Posted By: SGH360
Date Posted: December 03 2010 at 11:37pm
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Have you been feeding him with Dried Algae? They are omnivore, they require algae in their diet. How long do you have you Angel?
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Posted By: Luckedout
Date Posted: December 03 2010 at 11:40pm
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Yep. Everyday, every feeding. Do you feed nori? If not, grab some from the chinese food section at the grocery store or I have some you can come grab for free. These guys like to graze algae and your tank is still a little bit new for him to get what he needs. Make sure all those damsels aren't picking on him either. Let me know if you need the nori. I'll be around a bit tomorrow. ------------- -Ben 90g Mixed reef www.body-balancechiropractic.com |
Posted By: Luckedout
Date Posted: December 03 2010 at 11:41pm
lol. 3 similar posts all at once 
------------- -Ben 90g Mixed reef www.body-balancechiropractic.com |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: December 04 2010 at 1:10am
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I have told you this before. Too little algae in the tank for a Pygmy Angel. I would turn off the Hiatt system for a while, allowing more soft algae to grow to feed the fish. I would not worry about the PO4 level. It's nothing. I agree with what was said about trashing the idea of a QT and about feeding well and using Garlic Oil once each day. This is very important: Garlic Oil must be fed daily to help kick the Ich and if one type of Garlic doesn't do the job in 2-3 days, switch to another Garlic Oil. ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: December 04 2010 at 9:03am
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I have omega one dried seaweed, but the only thing that will eat it are the hermit crabs. I left it in on a clip until it roted (not really rotted, but fell apart) away, and nothing touched it. I also put some chaeto in the tank, but nothing ate it. I can pick up some nori today, but I have my doubts on him eating it. Even though you can't see it, there is a lot of algae growing on the pipes, and glass where I cannot get my scrapper to. So there is a little.... < ="-" ="text/; =utf-8">but the flame angel does not eat it (at least that I can see). The coral beauty (that I gave away) always ate it very well, but I can't get the flame angel to eat anything but flakes... Mark, If I shut off the hiatt system, all the bacteria in there will die, so I don't think I can just shut it off for a while, and turn it back on without problems.... plus I may get a big tank cycle since most of my bacterial surface area is in the hiatt system, and I am feeding more than normal. For now my plan is to soak the food in garlic every day, get some nori stips (maybe he will eat them), and see how it goes. Thanks all !! |
Posted By: Tresa
Date Posted: December 04 2010 at 9:16am
| Flame angels can be prone to ich.... I agree with the above - feed garlic everyday. There are also different types of flake food..it is not the same as nori but if it is all he will eat, I would try a couple different types to keep his diet varied. Also... are the damsels picking on him? If they bother him that will raise his stress level.... |
Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: December 04 2010 at 9:22am
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The damsels leave him alone... He used to chase the damsels when the came around, but now they stay away from him. |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: December 04 2010 at 9:25am
Ahhh, yes I think that sounds like a reasonable course of action. It is difficult to see that algae in the pic.  Yes, if the FA is not eating the algae growing on surfaces that is a small problem. Some would say that the fish is just like that. I take a different perspective. My viewpoint is that it has become so accustomed to eating sweet dry prepared foods, that it has moved away from eating like it did in the wild. Like a child that has been fed junk food and candy and not trained to eat a balanced diet this fish is becoming less healthy with each meal. It can be difficult to change but it can be done. The key is for the hobbyist to be the parent.  As a footnote, that tank is large enough to support those fish. The problem inherent with an external filter is becoming very evident in this situation. But it can be changed. It is possible to slowly wean the tank of the need for the Hiatt filter. If you do this, the tank will change. More organisms will take up residence in the tank, but this may not be what you want.  ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: December 04 2010 at 10:14am
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I just checked my tank this morning, and there is a noticeable difference just from last night I can only find a couple white dots now. Can it be due to the one heavy feeding of garlic? Anyway, I know I am not out of the woods with this thing, so I will keep feeding garlic every day (maybe forever)...
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Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: December 04 2010 at 11:01am
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That's the Miracle of Garlic.  ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: bur01014
Date Posted: December 04 2010 at 11:43am
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Not to discourage you...but maybe to prepare you... When my fish have gotten ich, spots were always considerably less in the morning to late afternoon hours...evening is when they started to show more.....so keep up with the garlic, if the fish rebounds like it has a little, this is a good sign and it should make it just fine. |
Posted By: swiftra
Date Posted: December 05 2010 at 2:53pm
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I have a Tang that won't touch the fish company produced seaweed but for some reason devours nori like it's going out of style. Have you tried it yet? Make sure to soak it in garlic before putting it in your tank. That seems to do the trick for my tang. Good luck little guy is too good looking not to survive.
------------- If you make it idiot proof, someone will find a better idiot! Well 100g crashed when I moved it. Starting a 50g cube now. |
Posted By: MadReefer
Date Posted: December 05 2010 at 3:10pm
| I will only ever buy nori for my fish. The stuff they sell at fish stores is always stale. And if I buy nori for my fish I can eat it myself as well. |
Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: December 05 2010 at 4:28pm
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I bought some Nori Yesterday, but only the hermit crabs will eat it. I didn't soak it in garlic though, and I fed them a lot yesterday, so I will try again tonight when they are hungry again. It seems like spots appear later in the evening, then go away in the morning, but they are getting less each day. I don't see any spots on my clown fish, but they are rubbing themselves in the sand like they have ich on them. Also, both the clown fish and the flame angel hover around my peppermint shrimp, but I haven't seen the shrimp clean them.... maybe I should get a cleaner shrimp.
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Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: December 10 2010 at 5:20pm
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I was just looking through my foster and smith magazine, and saw Probiotic marine formula. And it reminded me of about 6-8 years ago when I had my last problems with ich. I had been lost a few fish when Tom Miller (some of you on here might remember him) told me that he had used probiotic to get rid of ich. I tried it, and the ich went away, and I never had it again. I kept the tank for a few more years, then sold it. Anyway, that was a long story, but I was wondering if that was just luck, or what everyone thought. I think I will order me a bottle, it is only 12.99
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Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: December 10 2010 at 10:48pm
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Yes, a cleaner shrimp could be useful. Interesting about Probiotic Marine Formula. I wonder if Tom still uses it and if he has used Garlic Oil. I have not spoken with Tom for years. I wonder if he visits here? I need to find his # and call that old man.  ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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