Cali Kid Corals

petco rescue

so 2 weeks or so ago I made the mistake of walking down Petco's fish aisle and found a coral beauty angel (one of my favorite fish) with bad flukes, a bacteria infection and half of its upper lip missing. so I did the only thing I could do, I bought it. they did not even give me a discount so I paid 29.00 dollars for a dying fish. as soon as I got it home I gave it a 3:00 freshwater dip and promptly put it in one of my QT tanks. I then dosed the tank with Melifix for 7 days. then after that, I started the full dosage course for Ich-X. at this point, there are no signs of any problems other than the wounded lip which is healing. she is happily swimming around and eating anything I put in the tank. I currently have no tank without another coral beauty in it, I am somewhat interested in trying to breed them however I have no clue on how to sex them. I also don't think it is possible to have 2 in the same tank so if there is a way please tell me. after I finish the QT if nothing works out I will give it away to however takes it first. I mean it is, after all, a well QT healthy fish ready to be put in your tank. also, I am fully aware that buying this fish helps Petco and allows them to keep on mistreating fish but I just could not help this one. hopefully, a newbie sees this and does not shop there to make my purchase negatively affect their overall fish department.

thanks for the replies
-Ged
 
I would really put the breeding thoughts out of your mind, very doubtful you'll successfully get them in the home aquaria.

That said, I wouldn't put it on Petco for mistreating the fish, they simply got a fish from their wholesaler that was very sickly, just like any other store would, maybe they don't have the know how, or space to try and treat the fish, kind of like any store.
 
I was recommended it from a few people on reef2reef. It is just a mixture of malachite green, formaldehyde, and methanol. I have used it on all my QT tanks and I haven’t had ich or any fish disease in a display since my fresh water days. I dosed it because I saw another fish in the system with ich so I thought there was a good chance that my fish had it.
 
I would really put the breeding thoughts out of your mind, very doubtful you'll successfully get them in the home aquaria.

That said, I wouldn't put it on Petco for mistreating the fish, they simply got a fish from their wholesaler that was very sickly, just like any other store would, maybe they don't have the know how, or space to try and treat the fish, kind of like any store.

I don’t think they have a single treatment tank or anything. The freshwater tanks where even worse with one tank having more dead parrot fish than alive ones.
 
Biota captive breeds coral beauty angels so there is hope. Keep us posted if you really put in the time and effort in to it. I would like to learn more about it.
 
If you can get Chloroquine phosphate that's a good "all in one" treatment for a QT, the product Ich Shield has it, but I'm unsure of the concentration. You can find it online at various places too but the purity is always going to be questionable.
 
so I did some research and talked to a few people and found that they can change sex. so even though I have 2 bigger ones if put in the same tank one will become dominant and the other will change sex. however it is likely one will die from stress so I need to make sure both are in great health and well fed. I will first try to pair them with a large acclimation box and then after a week or so introduce them to each other in a nearly empty 40 breeder where it will be easy to pull one out if things go south. and if things do I'm sure someone would like to have her/him.
any other advice is appreciated.
 
My oldest fish in my tank is a Coral Beaty. Great fish. Hope you can breed them.

Interestingly, he is the only one that is individually named. Called "Indy"
My kid used to name the fish when he was young, and that is the only one left from those days.
So a bit of a sentimental favorite.

Our Petco (Union City) actually seems better than many true fish stores.
Except for the goldfish feeder tank - but that is no surprise.
And thinking way back, I used to buy most of my fish there also, and I rather think Indy might be an old Petco fish.

Interesting mix of poisons : (malachite green, formaldehyde, and methanol)
I had always heard that mixing things was a big no-no, as it makes things more toxic in unexpected ways.
Although I guess those "unexpected ways" could be good.
I think I will stick with tank transfer method for ich though.
 
I'm not sure that the above chemicals at the levels that we use in a marine tank will kill the cyst or Tomont form of the Ich parasite. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
I'm not sure that the above chemicals at the levels that we use in a marine tank will kill the cyst or Tomont form of the Ich parasite. Good luck and keep us posted.

Agree, standard chemicals like that, at a level that will not kill corals, will just tickle ich a little.
And as yet, there is no ich-specific toxin.

But it sounds like that was done in QT, so you can reach theraputic levels.
The problem of course, is that rather narrow boundary between killing ich, and not killing the fish.
 
I’d put at least a couple of pvc elbows in with them so they have the feeling of some protection. If you need to catch one it’s still super easy to pull the pvc out. It may even help with catching them. I’ve placed one end right up against the glass and then when he goes in, cover the other end with a net.
 
I always put in a few bits of PVC. also I'm not sure if everyone understood that the chemicals listed above where just the chemicals in the medication (ich-x) and where not bieng dosed individually by me. I am simply dosing the recommended dose. also, I did not know it was possible to kill the non free swimming stage of ich without killing the fish. if you can a link to article would be great.
thanks for all the comments, everyone.
 
I always put in a few bits of PVC. also I'm not sure if everyone understood that the chemicals listed above where just the chemicals in the medication (ich-x) and where not bieng dosed individually by me. I am simply dosing the recommended dose. also, I did not know it was possible to kill the non free swimming stage of ich without killing the fish. if you can a link to article would be great.
thanks for all the comments, everyone.

Pretty sure there is no way to kill the cysts without also killing the fish.

With tank transfer, you can kill cysts with bleach, since bucket is empty.

Copper/hyposalinity work (in QT only) by killing ich before it encysts or after it hatches.
 
So I just finished the ich and bacterial treatment and I decided not to try and pair the angle fish and instead just sell one. The forum wont let me post in the buy sell trade section. I’m asking for $50 as this is a healthy fish that has gone through extensive quarantine and treatment. This means that you can be sure that you won’t get your other fish sick and also that you won’t have to spend weeks QT it yourself. Pm me for questions and offers.
Thanks
 
You need to be a supporting member to post in the for sale part of the forum.

So did the fish’s upper lip heal, and no more flukes or infection?
 
Sorry for the late response. The lip is much better and not visible bothering the fish. There are no flukes or ich on the fish. As soon as I finished the ich treatment the fish was put in a freshwater dip and then transferred to a satanized tank.
 
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