Lifelong dream coming true.

[nripkenjr8]

Need Help

Ok guys, and girls, I have some good news and bad news. I'll get the bad news out of the way 1st. I have ich!! It is all over my yellow tang but has not seemed to bother my clownfish. I have done some extensive reading on this and need some opinions from you that have gone through this. The only way I have found to get rid of this properly in a reef tank is to remove the fish for 8 weeks into a quarantine tank and treat with hypo salinity. I will not use copper in my tank! I am currently awaiting a 29 gallon bio cube I will use as my quarantine tank and once I beat this will not add any fish til after 2 weeks of monitoring. Please add any advice.

Ok the good news, water parameters are holding very well and consistant.
PH - 8.4
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 0
Ammonia - 0
Calcium - 410 - 420

 

[zaheda]

You going a bit too fast, let the tank cycle a bit than add slowly. What you doing is making the livestock suffer and will eventually die. A yellow tang sensitive fish which requires perfect living conditions and also the hammer coral.

 

[boring]

you need to slow down. find a LFS thats not going to try and sell you fish the day after you take the tank home. there just there to make a quick buck if your fish and coral die thats just more they can sell you. there are a few products out there that are reef safe and can help with ich. cant think of the names right now but do a google search there out there. also good food with Vitamins well also help i like brightwell stuff but any will do. a tank that new is no where to keep a sick fish, it most likely what stressed out the fish and caused the ich in the first place. trust me i did the same thing and added tang way to fast. the first one jumped after being in my last tank for 4+ months. so i waited a few weeks tried again no luck it got ich didnt make it. i finally waited a little longer and everything has been fine. the clowns should be fine they can handle newer tanks.

one other thing that might help with the tank Brightwell Aquatics MicroBacter 7.

how that helps some

 

[JonnyD91]

From one of my posts in another thread:

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.

 

[Gobie74]

As others have said, too fast. Slow down, if it is in fact your life long dream, don't ruin it by going too fast

 

[nripkenjr8]

Thanks guys for all the advice, I am currently awaiting a used bio cube w/ stand for $200, seems perfect for my QT and may also serve as a dual purpose down the road. As all have you have said hyposalinity seems to be the only way to go. It is going to be a pain getting those fish out with all the rock in there. Any advice on that?

 

[topn0tchlefty]

only bad things happen fast in a reef tank................

 

[nripkenjr8]

I am currently adding garlic to the food and seaweed and adding vitamin C every 2 days, 5 ML to be exact. I waited til 2 days ago to turn on my UV sterlilizer(wish I wouldn't have waited) and also added a cleaner shrimp while I await this bio cube. I will have to say in the last 2 days the fish have started to look alot better. I am still going to put the fish in the QT tank and once this ordeal is over, no fish get added until they get QT'd for 2 weeks.

 

[cmaxwell39]

Congratulations on the new tank. This can be a very rewarding hobby. It can also be very frustrating at times. Sounds like you are learning a couple of lessons the hard way. The good news is that you are learning from your mistakes.

If I could make on suggestion on your planned QT practice in the future. I would extend the quarentine time from a couple of weeks to four or so. Other than that it looks good. Good luck with your fish and your new setup.

 

[dlapere]

Thanks guys for all the advice, I am currently awaiting a used bio cube w/ stand for $200, seems perfect for my QT and may also serve as a dual purpose down the road. As all have you have said hyposalinity seems to be the only way to go. It is going to be a pain getting those fish out with all the rock in there. Any advice on that?

Hopefully things are stabilising. My advice is the as everyone's : slow down. And change LSF to someone who cares about the fish, not his wallet.

As to catching the fish, the fastest & easiest way is to use a fish trap. You can normally get them at your LSF. A lot easier than trying it with a net - and less stressful for your fish, particularly in this initial fase.

Good luck!

 

[Bigfinn4]

some friendly advice...

Go to that LFS and demand a store credit. These bastards knew better and now you have Livestock suffering. Call them out on it. Or let me know and I'll call them out for you.

As stated above...patience. It's the most valuable commodity in our hobby...besides husbandry.

Best of luck. Hopefully everything will make it through...

 

[rpjaws74]

They say when you can master patience in this hobby, only good things come out of it. Specially for your fish and wallett

 

[dlapere]

Any update? Any new pics?

 

[nripkenjr8]

Quick update, all water parameters doing very well. The tang has not shown any signs of ich since I started treating with vitamin C and garlic soaked seaweed. I know it is still in the tank and my biocube will be here on Thurs. No new pics to show, coming soon. I am still taking it slow before adding anything else. I am doing my first water change coming in a few days. The plan is 20 gal(10%) every 2-3 weeks. I have a vat in my attached shed with fresh saltwater ready to go. It has taken some time to get the salinity right. I am trying to stay at 1.024. That's all for now, I will have some new pics in a few days.

 

[dlapere]

I recommend you consider a higher frequency of water changes than 10% every 2-3 weeks. Personally, I feel that waterchanges are the single most effective way you can infuence your water quality and the overall health of the tank. If you change your water frequently, it just makes it so much harder for the "bad stuff" to build up to high levels.

That's why I have spent a lot more money on making water changes easy than on buying additives, chemicals, etc. I change between 20% - 30% every week and it takes about 30 min all up (for 100 to 200L), most of which time is taken for cleaning equipment whilst the water flows out & in. If water changes become a chore, you will start skimping on them. So, make it easy on yourself.

It does help that I can get my water directly from the ocean, but if I couldn't, then the first thing I would invest in would be a couple of 200L vats and a few pumps to make my own.

 

[nripkenjr8]

Ok guys and girls I know it has been a while since I made my last post and wanted to give and update. My water conditions have all stabled out and have no signs of ich in my DT. I know it is still there but the fish have not shown any signs in about 3 weeks. I have increased my water changes to 20% every 2 weeks and that has helped alot. I have added some new corals and thanks to a friend of mine who helped me set up my tank I added even more new corals today. Thanks again Mike you are awesome! Ok here are some new pics:

 

[Jetski]

Hi Nathan, things look to have stabilised. Good recovery!

What kind of livestock are you planning on keeping and have you thought about the sequence? That's pretty important as I personally don't like to see my fishes fighting with one another...