I have Problem

atrain5851

In Memoriam
So it looks like both of my skunk clowns have ich...non of the other fish look like they have it so i think it also might be clown disease. This really ****es me off as i just got them like 3 days ago. I started using pimafix but i have heard bad things... I also heard of a freshwater dip, i know the ph needs to be the same in the dip as in the tank but is there anything else i would need to do for it... or any other suggestions on what do!?!? HELP. haha.
 
Does anybody else have any other suggestions i really dont want to have these fish die and want to get it taken care asap???
 
Is it possible that the tank is two small for them and are stressed for that reason or another... they eat well and are very active. PLEASE HELP!
 
Say it with me now.. "In the future I will quarantine anything before it goes in my tank." :) ok so you've infected your main display tank wich ich and the fish are currently healthy. How many fish do you have in your display and what size is it? Your best bet now would be to gather an inexpensive hospital tank and treat ALL your fish with a copper medicine or hypo. Usually a cheap 10G tank, a heater, a small powerhead / bio-wheel / sponge filter is what you'll need, also toss in some PVC pipe or something for the fish to hide in. You could probably have all this for less that $40. Now fill her up with water from your display and put a piece of live rock in the hospital tank. turn on the bio-wheel / sponge filter and powerhead, maybe add a touch of flake food or something. Monitor nitrites and Nitrates for 3 to 5 days and once it's ready, transfer in your fish for treatment. The main tank should stay fishless for 6 weeks I believe to allow time for any ick parasites to complete their lifecycle and be unable to find a host. You'll want to monitor Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate very closely in the hospital tank!! Follow the directions for the medicine or look up how to carry out a hypo treatment.

There is a side chance that what they have is not Ick however. While getting the QT tank ready you should grab a picture of them and post it.
 
my main display tank is a 20 gallon reef... i have a toby puffer, bar goby, scooter blenny, few inverts and the skunks? too many? And if i do this do i have to take out the corals do i refill the main display tank? Are there any other solutions?
 
one of the infected fish jumped out of the tank while i was sleeping last nite i discovered :( i have not had very much luck with clown fish... shoul di still treat the tank/fish for ick? what opinions are there on what i should add to my tank if anything?
 
its looks like the other fish that was affected is cured! no more spots like he had last nite... ick? cured but down one of the pair.
 
NO!!!^^^^^

You're fish are not cured, The Ick has just moved on to the next phase of it's life cycle. Right now it's on the bottom of you're tank laying eggs in the substrate and rock, in a few weeks/days it will hatch and you will be worse off than in the first place.
You need to remove ALL fish from the DT and put them in a hypo QT theave you're main tank fishless for two months, this will break the life cycle in you're tank. All inverts and coral can stay in the DT as they cann/t get ICK.
Dont be fooled!
And you work at the LFS???????????????
geez.....
Cope
 
what kind of water should i use? i am sry if i sound ignorant but like i said before i have never had a problem with ick and am still new to the hobby
 
I get it i am freaking sry i didnt have a qt tank!!! god but by all you just coming in here and saying that doesnt really help i think 1 of my questions have actually been answered... so how about when you come into the "new to the hobby" forum you come in with helpful advice instead of criticism we are all here for similar reasons right? thank you and sry but its very frustrating coming to a place where there is suppose to be help and all you get are stupid comments... thank you to those whole actually responded and if you dont have anything helpful to say keep your comments to yourself please
 
Its always best to use RO water.

Get a 10 gallon tank w/heater, biowheel, and powerhead.

I would use hyposalinity as the method of curing the ich.

Ich cant survive without a fish to host it. This means your display tank will have to have no fish in for 6-8. Now for that same 6-8 weeks you fish need to be in a hopital tank undergoing hyposalinity. Your tank salinity needs to be brought down to 1.009 over a 36 hour period. When it is at 1.009 the 6-8 week period starts.

You will want to do this with a refractometer. It is imperitive that the measurement is accurate. You can not use a swing arm device.

Start by doing water changes and replacing the water with fresh water NOT salt water. This will drop the salinity.

Your starting point should be between 1.025 and 1.027. Replace about one fifth of the volume with RO, RO/DI or aged freshwater that has been well aerated. Repeat this 12, 24 and 36 hours later, monitoring the specific gravity along the way. After the fourth water change the specific gravity should be 1.010 or pretty close. Wait a few hours to make the final adjustment to get down to 1.009. Note that you can estimate the resulting specific gravity. If you are changing one fifth of the water and the current specific gravity is 1.025 the result will be:

((1.025*4)+1.000)/5 = 1.020 approx.
Then, after 12 hours:
((1.020*4)+1.000)/5 = 1.016 approx.
After 24 hours:
((1.016*4)+1.000)/5 = 1.013 approx.
After the 4th change:
((1.013*4)+1.000)/5 = 1.010 approx.
 
Hello atrain, Jonny's comments are right on the money. His method of hypo will work and is the one I used as well, though I took 48 hours to lower my selenity.

Be sure that you ether run the hospital tank for a few days with live rock ( TAKE IT OUT BEFORE STARTING COPPER OR HYPO ) so you can build up bacteria in the tank. Or run a sponge / wheel in your sump for a few days first. You don't want to just drop 4 fish in a 10 gallon tank with no bacteria built up. The ammonia will spike and you'll kill all your fish faster than the ick.

Corals and Shimp don't carry the parasite and it will run its course in about 6 weeks ( depending on temperature ) The higher the temp the faster the cycle runs.

Take your time. Set up the hospital tank right, and above all. Don't feel too bad, your not the first one to make this mistake ( I did as well ) and you won't be the last. O' and don't be tempted in those reef safe 'medicines' for ick, there is no quick fix for this.
 
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