New clowns have ich..

Reefer2727

Reefer2727

New member
Tank is a 75 gallon with a 33 sump. I have about 80 Lbs of live rock that I used in a former set up. I moved and set up my new system. Tank was running for about 3 weeks and looked great.

For the last 2 weeks levels were constantly:

Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 3-5 ppm

So I add my first 2 fish on Saturday. 2 Black and White clowns. I saw some white spots on them on Monday morning. I am wondering if it is my system that would have caused this or they were going to get it anyway. I know they had a stressful couple of days for sure. I should note that those water parameters have not changed.

Anyway, I didn't quarantine them because I have nothing else in the tank and I figured they would be all right. It is so disappointing.

I started in saltwater a couple years ago under terrible LFS advice. Long story short I thought I was doing everything right this time.

I went from an undrilled, sumpless, tap water infested, canister filter nightmare set up to....

I now have a 36" overflow box (Bean Animal Design), sump with refugium and excellent flow in the DT. RODI system set up in basement. Reefkeeper Lite has everything on timers and set points for me. Nice auto top off system. I dont know where I went wrong?

The clowns are eating like crazy and dont seem too bad. They are not covered but even a few white spots are enough to frustrate the sh** out of you.

Any advice or suggestions on where to go from here?
 
As someone who has pulled a tank apart to get fish out to deal with ich, I would strongly recommend you put them into a hospital tank, treat them & let your main display go fallow for 6 weeks. Then start a good QT routine for all other additions. Believe me, you'll regret it one day if you don't.
 
I have a 20 gallon going now. It has simply had a piece of live rock and a powerhead going for about 2 weeks. No idea what the parameters are like. Do I have to wait for a cycle?

What should I treat them with?

During the 6 weeks of the tank having nothing in it...does this include inverts or could I get a clean up crew during this time? What about corals?

Thanks
 
You are fine to add inverts & corals... just keep the tank fish-less. You can treat the clowns with either copper or hypo. I've only ever done hypo, but hopefully someone else will chime in on which would be best for clowns.
 
take the rock out and replace with some pvc.
put the canister filter on your QT tank.

Use the Hypo method. Waterkeeper has a good article on it.
 
freshwater dip should clear up the ich just make sure the fresh (ro) water is the same temp and ph and only leave it in the fresh water for a few minites 2-3 i have cleared up ich and black ich doing this
 
Reefer2727 said:
So I add my first 2 fish on Saturday. 2 Black and White clowns. I saw some white spots on them on Monday morning. I am wondering if it is my system that would have caused this or they were going to get it anyway.
Click to expand...

It would not have been your system,they would have had it before you got them. It was not anything that you did that gave them ich, it was what you didn't do..... QT!!
I made the same mistake when i started except i thought i could help them get better :crazy1: , it didn't work and ended up have to buy 2 QT tanks to hold all my fish as well as losing a few fish.
Now i always QT!

you are lucky that you only have 2 fish to try and catch!:lolspin::lolspin:
 
Reefer2727 said:
If I do a freshwater dip should they still be quarantined for 6 weeks?
Click to expand...
Yes. It is needed to ensure that the fish are rid of the ich and the life cycle is about four weeks. You need to treat for it first before starting the QT period as they will re infest.
 
And the only reason I didn't quarantine was because there was nothing else in the tank. I definitely should have though. I am currently preparing the quarantine tank for visitors.

Something tells me that another move to another tank with slightly different parameters will be extremely hard on the fish.

What a pain in the a$$!
 
If you use water from your main tank to fill the QT tank, the water params will be the same.

Watch closely for ammonia in the QT tank and be prepared to do a large water change if ammonia starts to show. I always put one of those ammonia alert things in my QT tanks, and also test for ammonia daily. There's also a product you can buy that neutralizes the effect of ammonia on fish. It should only be used in emergency situations, but it's handy to have on hand when you're QT'ing, as ammonia can jump rapidly and it can buy you time until you get to do a water change.

That said, with two little clowns you shouldn't see too much ammonia.

Good luck!
 
I am working on the QT tank. As I mentioned, the 20 gallon tank has been set up for 2 weeks with a big piece of live rock in it and just a powerhead. I did some testing. It showed zero's across the board for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Salinity was a little low so I am in the process of mixing/heating some fresh salt water which will bring up the salinity to match the DT. I also put a HOB filter on the tank. So, the hospital will be accepting patients soon.

As for treatment. What is the easiest and safest way to treat? Is it the hypo route or chemically? Sounds like a FW dip may be a good idea in either case.
 
PRDubois said:
take the rock out and replace with some pvc.
put the canister filter on your QT tank.

Use the Hypo method. Waterkeeper has a good article on it.
Click to expand...

-and-

Seventy said:
+1

No substrate, no rock. Great article too. :)
Click to expand...

-you-

Reefer2727 said:
I am working on the QT tank. As I mentioned, the 20 gallon tank has been set up for 2 weeks with a big piece of live rock in it and just a powerhead.
Click to expand...


Take the rock out. the medicines will kill the organisms on it and your chem levels will go crazy.

GL with your clowns
 
Hi everyone, new to this forum - but been in the hobby about a year....which makes me very new - but I've had my fair share of trouble with ich and clowns - so I thought I would share....

Reefer, I adopted 3 snowflake oscellaris/percula about 6 months ago when they were 6 months old. I had just moved and set my tank back up, so my ammonia was a bit high but not too bad as I had about 70 lbs of live rock at the time. The fish were raised in a hypo environment - which I guess is normal for raising clowns - but as soon as I put them in they all 3 got bad cases of ich at different times. I quarantined all 3 in a refugium but this just made it worse. In the end I transferred them back to the display and increased salinity of the tank. I also mixed garlic with their food to keep them eating and treated with a coral-safe ich treatment - Ich Attach. After 2 weeks all were healthy and have had no outbreaks since

Remember ich is a disease brought out by stress - I'm not sure if a fresh water dip would do more harm than good as far as stress is concerned. In my experience its a tossup at best. Whoever told you moving the fish would be hard on the fish is right - its extremely stressful. Remember clowns are hardy fish though, and if you just go hypo and keep them eating they will recover.

Good Luck
 
But doesn't that mean that the ich will continue to populate my aquarium? Won't everything I bring in have a good chance of getting it?

I have had ich before and it seemed to magically disappear but I want to be 100% sure that my DT is and will be ich free.
 
You're absolutely right.. if you don't pull the fish for 6 weeks, ich will continue to live in your tank. It may not show it's face again for a while, but it'll always be there.

While it's very difficult to be 100% sure you're ich free, by starting out ich free and QT'ing all new additions you're giving your tank the best shot at it.
 
Reefer2727 said:
Tank is a 75 gallon with a 33 sump. I have about 80 Lbs of live rock that I used in a former set up. I moved and set up my new system. Tank was running for about 3 weeks and looked great.

For the last 2 weeks levels were constantly:

Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 3-5 ppm

So I add my first 2 fish on Saturday. 2 Black and White clowns. I saw some white spots on them on Monday morning. I am wondering if it is my system that would have caused this or they were going to get it anyway. I know they had a stressful couple of days for sure. I should note that those water parameters have not changed.

Anyway, I didn't quarantine them because I have nothing else in the tank and I figured they would be all right. It is so disappointing.

I started in saltwater a couple years ago under terrible LFS advice. Long story short I thought I was doing everything right this time.

I went from an undrilled, sumpless, tap water infested, canister filter nightmare set up to....

I now have a 36" overflow box (Bean Animal Design), sump with refugium and excellent flow in the DT. RODI system set up in basement. Reefkeeper Lite has everything on timers and set points for me. Nice auto top off system. I dont know where I went wrong?

The clowns are eating like crazy and dont seem too bad. They are not covered but even a few white spots are enough to frustrate the sh** out of you.

Any advice or suggestions on where to go from here?
Click to expand...

The degree of difficulty you face depends on whether your tank is/will remain FO, and if your LR has growth on it other than just bacteria. I think your LR is mature (established) so you likely cannot treat in DT even if it is FO.

To eradicate ich requires about eight weeks of treatment of fish in QT and same period of fishlessness in DT. You can change water in QT frequently and/or use Amquel. It is not a plan that I prefer, but if you only have a couple of small clowns it may be just bearable.

Better, for this instance and also for future addition of more fish, is to start to cycle the filter medium for your QT now. If you use the seed and waste method, (better still is a simple wet-dry setup by driping water onto the medium), your will get a very well cycled medium. After cycling, you no longer have to rely on water change/Amquel in QT. If you start cycling and use wet-dry now, your cycle will take only about three weeks. So, you will need to do WC/Amquel for three weeks, not eight weeks.

For future addition of fish, you use the same medium in QT and likely won't have to change water frequently in QT.
 
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