Just lost the battle and soon the war

[jlnielsen13]

Hello,
As a REEF keeper of 20 years I did not expect to face this issue. I decided to set up a 200 gallon fish only tank to complement my reef tank that I have had for around 20 years (Only pics of my reeftank are on www.ratemyfishtank.com under jimreef13 ,

http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/friendemail.php/16851

I only mention that to show that my failure with this new tank is inexcusable.
I recently bought a large queen angel to go along with a large wrasse and four chromis that had been in the tank for 2 months or so. About a week after she was added, the angel and the wrasse were covered in ich. Sadly, the wrasse died yesterday and the angel will be gone by this time tomorrow. I am wondering what I did wrong and how I can prevent this in the future. I decided to try "QUICK CURE" for my tank and followed the directions. The queen got better right away, but because of the cycle of ich I continued to treat the tank. She went through days where she would be covered and then days where she looked perfect.
Now she looks as if she was burned by the medication, no ich but her fins are all red and she is sloughing off a ton of mucous and scales. I quickly added carbon and did a 25% water change. DID I OVERDOSE? Should I just have lowered the salinity? How long should I treat the tank??
Sadly my last question is now what to do with the tank? The chromis are unaffected. Should I take them out and let the tank stay barren for a month?
Thanks for all the advice,
As a biologist I feel sick to my stomach knowing that this fish was taken out of the ocean and died because of me. This hobby sure knows how to make someone who thought they were an expert, feel like a real beginner in a heartbeat.
Thanks,
JIM

 

[jaystampareef]

Quick Cure, Ich Kick, all-of-the-like are terrible, IMO. Next time, quarrantine... 45 days in a QT will prevent ich from getting into your showtank. I would fallow the tank for a couple of months and start over. Put the remaining fish in a hospital tank and treat with copper or hyposalinity.

 

[jaystampareef]

BTW, beautiful reef tank : )

 

[cerianthus]

Why go thru another so called cycling when it is well established. Redoing does not guarantte anything once you introduce livestock.
If you remember little from Bio 101, go online to refresh life cycle of parasites. Once you remember, you will realize your tank w/ livestock will never be free of pathogens. If tank is completely free of bio activities, it can not support life. It's just matter of controlling w/ safe, prophylactic pratices. Q/T for new fish is good way to lowering the possibilities of introducing new pathogenic organisms to your show tank. Do remeber healthiness of fish important issue to fight of infections thru their defense mechanisms. It is as important to acclimate the fish from Q/T to Main tank as you would w/ new fish purchased.
Being chhased in the tank also stress the fish out making them vulnerable to infections.
I used to make my own contraption or modify to separate the new arrival from fishes in show tank. Clear (they must see each other) Plastic Container w/ ha lots of holes (hot screwdriver) for circulation and place the fish in the container (gotta be lot bigger than fish or fish will freak out) for few days in your show tank after acclimation. Along with that, try to release the new arrivals at middle of night when everyone is at sleep. i believe this will give little bit of edge for new arrival.
i know!! you only had chromis in the tank. what I meant is for future references.

Let the tank settle with whatever you have for couple of weeks. May vacuum bottom to remove dormant staged parasite. check your water for MH3, NO2, right after addition of neww arrival to make sure water is not the cause of problems.

In q/t is better but since not much livestock in main tank, you can try applying Bacitracin Ointment on infected area EXCEPT GILLS, repaeat daily, Oil and water don't mix well, any excess will just fall off and pollute the water. Simple smear will work. Don't laugh. It will work better than dosing the water w/ Antibiotic. Hope angel gets better. it may take little time for complete recoop, but should see new transparent tissues of fin regenerating in few days


i hope this helped.

 

[jlnielsen13]

thanks for the replys,
Angel died this morning. Really hard pulling that fish out of the tank, really upset with myself. I cannot decide whether to take the chromis out and let the tank stay dormant for a month or leave them in since they have no ich (noticable)
I also have a couple of very large hermits that are waiting in a bucket to be returned.
Tough decisions!!
Loved the comment about bio 101 since I am a biology teacher- gave me a much needed laugh.
Thanks,
JIM

 

[cerianthus]

Sorry to hear. I just wish he/she gave us little more time.

I'm glad I was able to cheer you up a bit. It's been while since my bio 101 (around 30 yrs).

Personally, I will let the tank as is. If tank is NOT MED, return the hermits. Wait it out. Patience is big part of successful tank, IMHO.

When you are ready to stock up, do so few at a time. Simple
20 G Q/T will serve its purpose and worth down the road.

By the way, did you happen to use snorkeling gear to pulled the fish out? I even remembered how to spell it too!!!LOL. 200 g tank is pretty big tank.

As long as we learn from our mistakes, it is ok, IMHumbleO. Feel better!!
Semibfy.