Ich (White Spot) Killing my fish :-(

[goldfishbowl]

Hi Guys,

I knew it would come at some point, when I would have to treat my fish for a disease. However, I didn't expect it to happen so soon. My tank is only a few months old, have a large Tang, a baby emperor tang and now only 7 common clowns - 4 cleaner shrimp and a pistol thrimp.
I did have a powder blue, but he died and was the one that brought the infection into my tank!

I don't have a quarantine tank. I have tried an off the shelf treatment but that hasn't done a great deal.

I can't use hypo salanity because of the cleaner shrimp and live rock.

I have a UV filter, a HCE9000 skimmer, rowfoss filter, eheim wet n dry big bugger (that's not its actual name lol).

Is there anything I can do?

I've lost 2 clowns and 1 powder blue in the space of 1 week. The baby tang has it now and so do a couple of other clowns.

Please help?

Many thanks

Stu

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

The only thing you can do is purchase a qt and treat with either Hypo or copper...otherwise, more fish will die..A Rubbermaid container will work if money is tight

Also, a couple of questions if you don't mind...
What size is your tank?

I have never heard of an Emperor Tang, what is it?


By common Clown, I assume you mean Ocellaris.
Not a good idea to keep more than a pair in one tank. The fish will start to fight over who becomes the dominant female and who is the mate [most dominant male] I tried keeping four in my 125, two of the fish started fighting furiously..one became more aggressive and would not allow the other to come out of his corner..Once he did come out, he was attacked. Once pinned and scared under a rock, I ran out to buy a 20 gallon to remove two of the Clowns..I have no doubt that the Hiding Clown would have been killed leaving an odd number. And soon the odd Clown out would also be killed..
In our vast oceans , Clowns do live in large groups but there is not enough space in our aquaria to provide each its on safe territory

 

[kraze3]

Do you have any pics? Please test your parameters and list results also.

Im not sure what size tank you have but thats alot of fish. Also diff clowns have agression towards one another of diff species. That many tangs should be housed in a 125 gal at least. I know this isnt the point right now but I want to make sure your fish have ich and arent killing each other.

Here are some links on ich for proper diagnosis

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/marineich.html

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php

This link has pictures of infected fish, scroll down for ich

http://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=127010

Your tank is still very young, you may have too big of a bioload, Please list your test results and any pictures would be very helpful for proper diagnosis

 

[goldfishbowl]

Yes its definatly ich, had it before in fresh water a long time ago. The tank is large is around 220 gal I think. They are certaiinly not killing each other, very friendly towards one another. As for the clowns, they all get on, and have done for months. In fact they seemed stressed to see the two clowns suffer with ich.

A rubbermaid? What is that and how do I use it?

Furthermore, how would I setup a QT? Would I have to do the same as my current and only tank? The reason why I ask, is that I have another small 6 gallon tank for water changes.

Thanks for your help.

Stu

 

[kraze3]

6 gallon would be too small for a QT for all those fish. Rubbermaid makes big tubs. You can find them at your local walmart, kmart, etc, The range from like a shoebox size to 40 or 5 gallons i think, maybe even bigger. With some filtration you could use one as a qt. Yes it would have to be set up and cycled. You could use some of your water from your main display and a piece or 2 of rock to get the cycle going. When ready remove the rock, add the fish and begin hypo