Need help fast please!!

[Mrsbmckee]

Hello all. I have a serious problem and need some help. We started out trying our hand at saltwater with a reef. We were new to the hobby and did everything wrong and no surprise our tank crashed! We ended up with some hermits, snails, mushrooms, green star polyps, cleaner shrimp, & a cucumber. When we decided to start over we waited 8 weeks ( because we were told ich can't live without a host and it will die off in your tank in 8 weeks.) we finally started over with a new attitude and got into predatory fish. We have a Volitan, snowflake eel, banded cat shark, 2 Niger triggers and a yellow tang. Everything was going fine until we tried to add a Radiata it wasn't doing well and looked as if it wa getting ich so we took it out o our display and ultimately lost it. Now our trigger is showing some signs of ich; still eating well but showing a few white spots. From what I have heard with our fish selection we an only treat with quinine sulfate or quinacrine hydrochloride... The problem I can't find it anywhere!! So my question... Is it true that once the tank is infested your fish will always possibly get ich? Should I take all the fish out except the shark and eel and treat with copper? will the ich still live on our tank with those 2 in the display tank? Is there anything else I can do? Any suggestions would be great!!

Our nitrates are 0 ammonia 0 ph 8.1 nitrites 0 salinity 1.023 currently in an 85 gallon with 2 fluval 405 filters and a dual pump reef octopus skimmer. We will be upgrading soon! Thanks again and sorry for such a long post!

 

[CPL_DSM]

The shark and could die from the copper. I would take all the fish out move them to another tank. Treat the tank is going to be a fight. Also you tube video channel called LA FISH GUY he has a episode that he talks about his battles with ICH in 500gal. It may help you as well.

 

[CPL_DSM]

Also if you turn down the temp it will slow the ich cycle down as well

 

[Mental1]

You have: a Volitan, snowflake eel, banded cat shark, 2 Niger triggers and a yellow tang. in an 85g tank and you tried to add a radiata but it died? What size tank are you upgrading to? If it is not a lot bigger you may need to rehome some of these guys.

You can buy quinine from the Fishy Farmacy:

http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/products.html

 

[namxas]

Your tank is crazy-small for some of the fish you're hoping to keep. For instance, even the smallest shark species needs a minimum of 300 gals with a large footprint and mostly open substrate. P. volitans is best kept in at least 100 gals, and again, I recommend a lot of front to back space (such as 48" x 24" x 20"). Overcrowded tanks are high stress tanks, which greatly impact a fish's immune system.

Altho "crypto" has a life cycle of 6-8 weeks, studies have shown that it can remain dormant on the shells of snails and crustaceans (including "pods") for close to 18 months. However, in fish with healthy immune systems can fight off the occasional cyst. It's when these fish are subjected to stress or poor water conditions (again, stress) it can flare up and take hold.

You could pull all your inverts and run a hyposalinity treatment (SG 1.09 measured with a refractometer, NOT a swing arm "meter") on the entire tank of fish. If you go this route, you need to stay on top of SG and pH (you'll need to buffer the water) as well as large water changes as needed to keep NH3 levels in check.

Finally, repeat after me:

"From now on I will QT all of my new fish."

It's not hard to do and can save you time, money and fish. Here are a couple of articles that may help:

Quarantine! It's a Life Sentence, Not a Death Sentence

Understanding and Treating Cryptocarion irritans AKA "Ich"

HTH

 

[Mrsbmckee]

Thank you for all your input. Yes we are upgrading to a 300 gallon deep demension in about 6 months. I'll keep you posted on what I do and how it works thanks again!