Need help/advice on QT 6 Fish...

[dynagirl]

Here is my story...
I have planned several times to make it to the reef club meeting but I have 2 small children and something ALWAYS comes up. I am going to try to make it to the meeting on Monday.
When I started my tank in Feb, my chromis came down with ick. My lfs said that ick is always present and that a fishes immune system would fight it off and they would recover. They did and I carried on adding a fish here and there. I now have a bad ick out break. My black and white ocellaris is very sick. I do not have a quarintine tank set up. I have read on another message board that I need to qt all my fish in order to get rid of ick and need to leave my DT fishless for at least 6 weeks.
I question my ability to maintain all my fish in a quickly set up QT tank.
I have 3 chromis, 1 flame angel, 1 clown, and 1 yellow wrasse.
I have posted on another board that I am willing to give all the fish to someone who wants them and is willing to QT.

It is my understanding that ick will keep coming back and kill off my fish one by one?
I don't know what to do.

 

[rkelman]

I had the same situation.. Basically you have no choice but to QT in my opinion. Your LFS is wrong ick is not always present. It is always present in the ocean (obviously) but we can stop it from being present in our tanks. If you don't get rid of it you will have outbreaks from time to time. I would get it out now. Can you take some filter foam or something like that out of your display to help jumpstart the QT? I would fill the QT with water from the display. Don't put any substrate in the QT. Get some big pvc elbows for the fish to hide in. Don't use rock any rock / sand will absorb the copper from the QT and you won't be able to keep it at a usefull level. Keep checking your ammonia and nitrite and do water changes as required. (don't keep using your display tank water I'd just use it once) Be very carefull with the copper if that's what your going to treat with as Flame Angels have low tolerance to it. Good luck I hope you don't loose any fish. Hey its my 100th post woohoo.