Need Help...

[ogredawg19]

Hello there,

Let me start off by saying thank you to RC. This site especially the forums has given me so much help in the past. I started my hobby by converting my 10 gallon freshwater setup to saltwater. All I wanted to keep was fish (nemo in particular). My hobby would've went so much smoother and cheaper if it wasn't because of the most famous parasite, "ich." I've lost so much money on fish because they kept on dying due to ich. I lost a damsel, 5 ocellaris clowns, tomato clown, cleaner shrimp (although ich didn't kill him the temperature did, i increased my temperature because lfs told me that this would kill the ich which didn't work), and a firefish (which btw i think is one of the most prettiest fish out there). I didn't put all of them the same time, I had a damsel and 2 ocellaris in the beginning that died due to ich. Then I waited couple of weeks because the lfs here told me that 14 days is the magic number and all parasite should be dead by then if there isn't any fish in the tank to host. Another lfs told me to increase the temp to 84 because that would stop the cycling of ich. I shouldn't have done that because that killed my cleaner shrimp. So after 14 days I put 2 more ocellaris in there which died right away, because of ich again. So I waited longer this time, 4 weeks. To make it short, a ocellaris, a tomato, and a firefish died right after. So I was really down and didn't know what else to do. Maybe I'm just not meant to have nemo. So I talked to my friend and he said "why don't you just have a reef tank instead of FOWLR." That way you could just load your tank with corals and later, maybe 3 months later you could start putting fish again. That way ICH would be gone for sure. So I agreed and he gave me couple stack of xenia to start of with and 3 polyps of zoos. I've decided I want a reef tank instead of fish only tank. The first day my xenia opened up I was so excited, same thing for the zoos. Now the only problem is that I don't have anymore money to buy corals, at least for right now. So here is where I need help. I would like to know if there's anyone out there that has any kind of corals (except sps because I don't have much lighting) that they don't want or growing out of control in there tank and wants to give away or donate. I know this sounds pathetic, but only if I knew that fish was just going to die in my tank I would've invest everything on corals instead. I know this post is very long so thank you so much for your time.


BTW: I did qt most of the fish but seemed like when the ich was gone it came right back as soon as i put them back in my main tank.

Here are my parameters:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
PH: 8.0-8.2
Salinity: 1.025
Temp: 78-82

Thank You Again

 

[shilo_1]

Sounds to me like you need to figure out why you can't keep the fish alive.....what is causing your problems before adding more stuff....just my two cents.

 

[tsproul]

I've got no experience but here is what I've thought about if I had troubles like yours:

1. I've read (only heresay since I haven't gone to search for bona fide credible sources) that ich/ick parasites have a 2 MONTH life cycle....so you need to keep the tank free of fish for at least 2 months.

2. Take everything out, throw out any sand/rock or other stuff in the tank and start all over. It would probably be wise to bleach or otherwise sterilize the tank. I would throw everything out or at least sterilize - nets or other implements and foods or whatever. You might have the parasites in some of the stuff you used to use for freshwater....and are continually adding the parasites to the saltwater tank everytime you use them.

Tim

 

[cwolfus]

Hey there and welcome to BAR,

I had a FO for 5 years before going to a reef 7 years ago. I found that ich and other fish diseases are often brought on by stress. So take a look around the forums for recommendations on how to introduse new fish to a tank (theres more to it than just quarantine).

Also, be carefull about how many fish you put in the tank. A 10 gallon saltwater tank can only support 1 fish reliably. This is especially true if you plan to keep corals because the waste created by the fish will become toxic to the corals.

However, I respectfully disagree with tsproul. While Tim's suggestion would likely help, it is way overkill based on my experience. Ich is naturally occurring in tanks. sanitizing your tank doesn't mean that the tank at the LFS or wholesaler doesn't have it. (FWIW you should see how much antibiotics are used by the wholesalers I have visited).

Consider a good UV sterilizer. It will dramatically reduce the rate of infection. And reduce the stress on your animals.

That said, if you still like corals, keep it to softies and zoos for a tank that size. LPS and SPS (as you noted) won't be too happy.

I have some yellow polyps and GSP set aside as freebies for newbies. Here's some pics...

GSP mother colony (it compoletely covered that rock long ago)

Yellow polyp mother colony (Blue bullseye zoos are not included ;-) )

I'm in SF and will be at BACFM this weekend.

-Charles

 

[Sk8r]

Next thing you'll want will be calcium and alkalinity tests to keep those corals healthy. I recommend Salifert tests. Kent products, for ease of use: superbuffer [alk] and turbo calcium [cal], easy to use in a smaller tank.
When you've got those corals doing nicely and the tank healthy, you should be in good shape to try Nemo again. You might get a nice frilly [not elephant-ear! they're huge, and fish-eaters} mushroom, and let him nest in that.

 

[ogredawg19]

hello again and thank you for everyones advice. I`ve tried a lot to get rid of ich from my tank already. I increased the temperature, used stop parasite, freshwater dip all lr and live sand also fish. I used garlic products, bought cleaner shrimp. I left my tank fishless for weeks. I didn`t know what else to do. all my parameters are great and use ocean water and ro water from the beginning. so shilo if you have any more suggestions on why and what causes my fish to die then tell me. because I`ve done a lot of thinkin already and done a lot of things and still don't know what causes my fish to have ich and die.
Charles thanx for your offer and I wish I could go to the meeting this weekend but have to work. is there anyway I can meet you somwhere or I can drive wherever in the city next week if you still have it. I work in berkeley so sf isn't far from me. again thanx again everyone

 

[Psionicdragon]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=282934