ich and hospital tank advice

[lewk]

Hello, I posted this same topic in the reef keeping forum, but thought I would look here for advice.

I recently introduced a tang to a 135 and since then, every fish in my tank has ich. I've already lost a randalls goby, mandarin, and a tailspot blenny in addition to the tang.

The remaining 5 fish are all showing signs of ich, and I have a spare 55 gallon tank to use as a hospital tank. Would it be best to remove the fish ASAP and start treating, or do I run the risk of killing all the fish since they're already fighting off ich?

I do not have an established bio filter to use in the 55 gallon, I was planning on picking up a sponge filter today and tossing it in my display sump to start seeding it.

What is the best course of action here? Thanks in advance.

 

[skibum9884]

I would recommend getting the 55 gallon up and going. Throw the sponge filter in the display for a few days, then put it in the QT. At that point I would let it cycle, or if you're in a big rush, you could use water changes and Prodibio BioDigest to keep nutrients in check in the QT.

The biggest risk in moving them to the QT will be the stress of the move, and also any potential ammonia build up. So, I'd recommend feeding them good garlic enriched foods frequently, and cycling the QT. Hopefully they can fight it off on their own with good food and water quality, but get the QT going just in case.