fish problems I think ich

[Sundiego]

I have 4 fish in a fully cycled quarantine tank (30 gallon):

2 perc clowns, lawnmower blenny, and a six line.

My large tank is cycling.

The clowns showed signs of ich. They have the white spots, and are breathing heavily all water parameters are perfect.

I first moved the clowns to my hospital tank and are now treating. The blenny, and six line now are showing small white spots as well, so they are now in the hospital tank with the clowns.

I had LR in the tainted quarantine tank that are fully cured. I am assuming I need to completely drain the quarantine tank. Is the live rock no good now?

How can I salvage the LR? I hope my fish pull through.

Mark

[Aquarist007]

how are you treating them for ich in the quarantine tank?

[Sundiego]

I am using a solution called quICK cure made by AP.

[Aquarist007]

I'm not sure what is in that----the preferred treatment for ich is hyposalinty (.012 salinity) the bacteria in the live rock adapt to that and are ok.
You need to check what is in quick cure--if it is not copper based then you probably can put that live rock directly into the other tank

[Sundiego]

The active ingredients are formalin, and malachite green.

How do I do the hyposalinity treatment?

The solution said it is not good for LR.

I'm worried about my levels in the hospital tank, there is only a sponge filter in there. What about ammonia spikes and nitrites? Should I just keep and eye on the nlevers, and do water changes as needed.

Thx Mark

[rcerulli]

actually the preferred salinity level is 1.009 for hypo 1.012 is too high, scientific studies have show cryp can live down to 1.013 and unless you use a refractometer there is a good chance your results will be off.


I have just suffered through a ich attack. I used a 20 gallon tank with a spong filter and i took my canister filter off my display (display has inverts + a bunch of live rock) and put it on the tank. When nitrites came into play i dosed amquel for approximately a week till the bacteria caught up. Everything is great, i have been doing hypo @ 1.009 for the last 4 weeks and the fish are spot free healthy and starting to breath normal again. It has been real stressful on me and the fish and taking care of 2 tanks doesn't help. Not everyone has the luxary of cycled bio-balls to use in a QT tank.

[Sundiego]

OK. I will do the hypo salinity treatment. I will use the hob filter from my quarantine tank, it has bio-media. I do have a refractometer, so will change out the water and use 1.009.

Thanks so much guys. Can I put the LR in the hospital tank to add to the bio-media?

Mark

[Sundiego]

Ok I did it and there in. I have the salinity at 1.010. I have the lr in there also with my HOB filter. Hopefully they will make it.

Mark

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10520513#post10520513 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sundiego
Ok I did it and there in. I have the salinity at 1.010. I have the lr in there also with my HOB filter. Hopefully they will make it.

Mark

I hope I am reading this incorrectly---but you didn't bring the salt down from 1.026 to 1.010 immediately???
This has to be a slow change so you don't stress the fish out--like over a week gradually bring it down.

[Sundiego]

Well I f'ed up I guess. I feel horrible. I am new to this and I thought since the salinity was going down not up I did a short acclimation. I lost a clown this morning, the other clown, blenny, and 6 line are doing ok.

You live you learn. This will teach me a lesson the hard way.

[cobra2326]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10521661#post10521661 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by capn_hylinur
I hope I am reading this incorrectly---but you didn't bring the salt down from 1.026 to 1.010 immediately???
This has to be a slow change so you don't stress the fish out--like over a week gradually bring it down.

That's incorrect, it should be somewhat slow, but not THAT slow. The clowns will probably be OK.

From this thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=288805

It is important to note that clownfish can tolerate a rapidly dropping salinity much better than they can a rising salinity. When I lower the SG to 1.009 I need to dip about 3.5 gallons of RO water into the QT tank. I do this over the course of about 8 hours. If the fish show any signs of distress I stop the dip and allow the fish more time to adjust.

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10523446#post10523446 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sundiego
Well I f'ed up I guess. I feel horrible. I am new to this and I thought since the salinity was going down not up I did a short acclimation. I lost a clown this morning, the other clown, blenny, and 6 line are doing ok.

You live you learn. This will teach me a lesson the hard way.

consider the cost of this lesson real cheap----I still am under a year in saltwater experience--but have had the benifit of good support by these web sites. Out of $1500 in coral I have lost about 150 dollars. Out of 700 $ in fish I have lost more--about 200dollars--I've been told that is still a great percentage for the tank under a year.

For the time being don't make a move till you check it out
observe--ask---reask--then react---and do things very slowly, being aware that change must occur slowly.
The more you are proactive here the more you learn

[Aquarist007]

by the way if I had used a quarantine tank by fish loses would have been zero :)
None of my loses were do to disease rather trying to get difficult eaters to eat--having them in the quarantine tank would have allowed more experimentation, less stress of others etc etc

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10523589#post10523589 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cobra2326
That's incorrect, it should be somewhat slow, but not THAT slow. The clowns will probably be OK.

From this thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=288805

oops Cobra I think you spoke too soon.

[ahullsb]

I think that was a little fast but they might be o.k. I've read that you can lower salinity faster than you should increase it. But yes, for future information, almost everything you do in a tank should be done gradually. When you are ready to bring it back up, increase the salinity over a few days. If you ever have to run qt again, it helped me to drain half the water out of my qt container. Then I would add a few gallons of ro/di water at a time, over 24-48 hours.

[Aquarist007]

I agree 100 per cent

[Sundiego]

Clown #2 is gone today. The six line and blenny are doing fine, and are now eating. How long should I use hypo on them? I think I read like 6 weeks or so.

Thx Mark

[Aquarist007]

you are correct ----6 weeks

[Sundiego]

Thx Capn. I appreciate all of your help. I have LR in the quarantine as well. The bacteria will adapt to this yes?

The tank is 29gallons
I have a hob filter in it as well as 25lbs live rock.

The six line is eating frozen brine shriimp fortified with omega 3's, will the lawnmower blenny eat this as well, or should I give him something else to eat?

I currently have the sg at 1.009-1.010.

Mark

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10528133#post10528133 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sundiego
Thx Capn. I appreciate all of your help. I have LR in the quarantine as well. The bacteria will adapt to this yes?

The tank is 29gallons
I have a hob filter in it as well as 25lbs live rock.

The six line is eating frozen brine shriimp fortified with omega 3's, will the lawnmower blenny eat this as well, or should I give him something else to eat?

I currently have the sg at 1.009-1.010.

Mark

yes the bacteria will adapt--there could be some cyling so watch the ammonia levels carefully over the next week or two.
It's split down the middle but if you soak the flakes in garlic guard that entices fish to eat plus over time alot of reefers feel it fortifies there immunity system so as to survive(NOT PREVENT) another case of ich etc.

Buy a small brime shrimp net(6 dollars) and rinse with r/0 water the frozen brine mysis etc that you get---there is a small amt of phosphates etc from some die off in packaging--this will help prevent them from entering the tank.

Mysis shrimp is generally more nutrious then brine shrimp--then again that depends how well the brime shrimp have been fortified.

Because the fish are in the quarantiine tank it gives you an opportunity to experiment with a variety of food---but just a little at a time. :)