Sick NGT

[shookONES]

So I made the amateur mistake of buying a freshly imported NGT last weekend. He's constantly scratching himself on the sand and driftwood, white spots on his face, and has shown no interest in food whatsoever. What can I do? Medicating the tank isn't an option, so whatever treatment will have to be done in a dip fashion.

I did a QuickCure dip in tank water at the rate of 2 drops per gallon for 20min. I had an air stone running the entire time and following treatment, he's definitely scratching less.

Is there anything else I should be or could be doing? I hate to lose such a nice fish...

 

[predatorkeeper87]

I'd go with a MB dipbath too. couldn't hurt. do you have rays in the other tank?

 

[shookONES]

MB? And no, no rays. But a lot of the fish in there are very sensitive or intolerant to meds altogether.

I'd go with a MB dipbath too. couldn't hurt. do you have rays in the other tank?

 

[predatorkeeper87]

MB? And no, no rays. But a lot of the fish in there are very sensitive or intolerant to meds altogether.

methylene blue, sorry haha. ohhh ok I got ya. I figured it was a ray/med issue haha. I'd almost bet methylene blue would do him a world of good.

 

[shookONES]

I've got Mardel's QuICK Cure on hand...a formalin/malachite green mixture. First dose was mild and seemed to remedy some of the scratching. I'm going to treat again tomorrow a little more aggressively and see what happens.

I think I'm going to bite the bullet and feed live fish tonight...

 

[shookONES]

An update...

Much to my dismay, I offered live minnows last night. NGT had steep competition, but was able to eat a few. Now that he eats I can breath a sigh of relief. I'm going to pull him out of the tank again tonight for another round of dips just to make sure he's cleaned up.

First dose was 2 drops Mardel's QuICK Cure per gallon of tank water in a 5g bucket with air pump for 20min. For the next dose, I'm going to slightly increase both the dose and duration of the treatment.

After that, I'm going to treat him like a healthy fish that is a stubborn feeder HAHA. Wish me luck!

 

[predatorkeeper87]

good luck. If the quick cure is helping you may be looking at ich or flukes but I'm sure you already knew that. be careful with quickcure...I've killed a few fish with it doing dips.

 

[shookONES]

good luck. If the quick cure is helping you may be looking at ich or flukes but I'm sure you already knew that. be careful with quickcure...I've killed a few fish with it doing dips.

Yeah I think the white spots on his face were ick. They disappeared immediately after the first treatment of QC. I don't really notice him scratching at all anymore, so this next round of dips is more for my own peace of mind.