Hospital tank help

Jdavis8824

New member
I recently purchased a Pygmy angel and bicolor dottyback and added them to my 20g reef. The Pygmy angel got beat up, most likely from the dottyback and now has ick all over him. There are also two clowns in the tank as well. I'm setting up a hospital 10g tank but my question is do I put all fish in there? The dotty back has one spot and clowns look healthy. All fish are eating. I'm worried about putting so many fish in the QT. What should I do? There are little white specks on the glass I can see now.
 
I recently purchased a Pygmy angel and bicolor dottyback and added them to my 20g reef. The Pygmy angel got beat up, most likely from the dottyback and now has ick all over him. There are also two clowns in the tank as well. I'm setting up a hospital 10g tank but my question is do I put all fish in there? The dotty back has one spot and clowns look healthy. All fish are eating. I'm worried about putting so many fish in the QT. What should I do? There are little white specks on the glass I can see now.

You'll need to remove all fish from your reef tank to treat them. Otherwise there is no way to eradicate ich from your reef tank and it will be a recurring problem. You'll need to remove any possible host for the ich (your fish) for about a month. That will allow time for the ich to die off in the reef tank, and time for you to treat the fish in the qt. Here is an article I've found helpful on QT's.

http://www.reefaquarium.com/2012/quarantining-new-additions/
 
Thanks for the link. Won't the meds kill the bacteria? And can I premix coral pro salt? And can I add all fish at once or just a couple at a time? Will it matter if there is no bacteria? And exactly how long do I keep them in there for? 4 weeks or 6?
 
I've kept that many fish (or more) successfully in a 10g qt tank. Of course, if you're having problems with aggression from the dotty, that could get worse in a smaller environment. But from a biological standpoint, it shouldn't be an issue. I usually start the QT tank by siphoning water off of my DT and run a well cycled sponge filter from my sump. Just make sure you don't put the sponge filter back in the sump if it has been exposed to copper meds. The meds will affect the biological filtration. You have to monitor ammonia and nitrate levels. Make sure to siphon out any uneaten food (which is easy with a turkey baster in a bare bottom tank. Also, you'll have to do frequent water changes. I usually change 1/3 of the water per week and replace it with water from the DT.
 
You are possibly going to get all kinds of holy moly what were you thinking comments. My first suggestion would be to possibly take one of the recent additions back. The angel says it requires a 55 gallon volume and the dottyback a 30 gallon. Then compile that with the two additional clowns in there already, there is very little chance you will be able to reintroduce them without issues of aggression. Most fish do start out small and have tank requirements that match their potential; however, 20 gallons is not much space for those four considering they types they are. I would highly suggest finding a home for at LEAST one of them (and that is me being nice, not critical).

Considering you are having issues in a 20 gallon, putting the fish under stress and then reducing the size even more will likely cause even more issues. I have a clown and Royal Gramma in a TTM schedule at the moment that I started to have issues with having them together in a 10 gallon (and they are both very small).

One more note- only waiting 4 weeks of the tank being fallow will barely take the risk out of the action so one has to question if it is really worth even taking the action at all? Various people on this site will tell you in order to know with almost 100% certainty that your tank is ICH free you need to wait between 72 and 76 with no fish in the system. Below that there is a curve to represent the likelihood the ICH has been killed due to no host. Obviously you can pull the fish and hold them for 4 weeks but keep in mind there is a rather decent chance you will put them back into a system with ICH still hidden within. Also, if you plan to treat with a copper based medication (which I assume since you did not mention the tank transfer approach) you absolutely can not put Prime type products in right before or during the copper treatment. There is a very good sticky on that in the New to the Hobby as well as different sticky posts about ICH.

Personally, I would return the angel fish unless you have a larger tank once treatment is complete. I would leave the 20 gallon fallow for the absolute longest time possible (I would hold out for the 72-76 days to avoid ICH still being present) and I would utilize the tank transfer method for all the fish keeping.

Again, you will get a full spectrum of responses to this post and this is simply what I have compiled since frequenting this site from some very well educated people on this site. Many will share the risks they are willing to take but they all seem to be agreed in regards to 70+ fallow period as well as the TTM for treatment. And this is all hinged on the fact it is actually ICH and not velvet or something else.

One more thing, if you follow the tank transfer you won't have to worry about ammonia and stuff until after the last transfer because they are in each tank for less than 72 hours. After that you can use the Prime type products or other biofiltration type approaches NOT from your tank and do water changes.
 
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Yea I was thinking about taking back the Angel. He is the worst with the ick so finding a home for him will be a problem
 
Hopefully you have a store owner that respects you understand your purchase a little better and is willing to help out with taking the angel. 20 gallon is a hard tank simply because you are limited into what can go in it responsibly. If there is one thing I have found with this hobby it is no matter the upgrade I always find something else I want but need another tank for. Hope everything works out and you end up with healthy fish to put back in an ICH free environment.
 
I really don't want to do the tank transfer method though. That adds a lot of stress to the fish. And I heard about the 72 days before as the ick can stay dormant for up to 72 days. I have cupamine and prazipro which I was told can be used safely together and are among the best for treating ick as well as many other diseases. Guess I'm just being hard headed by thinking my dottyback and clowns are very healthy since they show no signs of illness. I will be getting rid of the angel but I got rid of a neon dottyback to get him which was now pointless. Should of just kept the dotty back and not added the others. My phosphates and nitrates both stay at zero I was trying to get them up alittle
 
I just never QT any fish and now I'm nervous and don't want to mess it up or forget about it. My clowns are davinci clowns which cost 250 for the pair. I got them a year and a half ago and they are huge now and like members of my family. There well being is above all others to me. My tank requires little maintance bc of the way I set it up so almost 3 months in a QT tank is very nerve racking!...
 
I was hesitant to do the TTM but I did one attempt with Cupramine and will never do it again, especially in a small tank! The headache of keeping the levels at the needed amount and factoring in evaporation and water changes in addition to the effect on the fish I simply will never do it again. I have been using the TTM and as long as you have the water to the same salinity and the temp the same there is little to no stress as long as you are careful when transferring them. I set the tank up exactly the same and they go in and don't even hide. Again, your call, just speaking from experience after going through both routes. You can use the Prazi with the TTM still also. Just be very, very careful when using the Cupramine and make sure you have the correct test to actually test the levels.
 
Mixing up 1-3G of salt water everyday or two is gonna be difficult for me. I would like to know if I can premix Red Sea pro salt every few days. Think I heard it wasn't a great idea somewhere
 
Yea I'm worried about the copper levels and keeping them within acceptable levels as well. I have a API copper kit. I shouldn't have to do it but for a couple of weeks though. And they don't even have signs of ick yet so I was thinking about waiting to medicate and not putting the angel in with them.
 
I have my salt water sitting in a brute with a powerhead and heater ready to go all the time so I don't see why it would be an issue as long as you have it moving in the container that it is safe to be in.
 

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