regret not quarantining... ich questions...

[DiViNeLeFT]

i have a 29g reef with 2 false percs, a lawnmower blenny, a cleaner shrimp, an emerald crab, a few soft corals, zoas, and mushrooms. cleanup crew consiting of cerith and nassarius snails and blue leg hermits. all water parameters seem to be fine. i do believe i have some phosphates present because of hair algae but currently dont have test kits for phos or a method of removal.

now for the ich. my clowns definitly have ich and i am putting together a quarantine tank to treat with hypo for 6 weeks while my tank is allowed to go through the ich cycle. since the clowns are easy to catch i have no problem with that. now the blenny on the other hand can hide in cracks i cant even see and is very fast. the blenny does frequently allow the cleaner shrimp to pick at him. if i treat the clowns and leave the blenny in will the ich still remain in the tank?? i do not see any visible ich on the blenny. or is it a good idea to just rip apart the tank to get the blenny out and treat all fish??

 

[kevin2000]

Catching the lawnmower is nothing short of a major PIA .. but if you want to gaurantee that you eliminate ich then thats what your going to have to do.

Ich is one of those parasites that you have to kill each and every one to insure you have an ich free tank. The lawnmower may have some resistance/immunity to ich .. but unless that resistance it total/absolute then ich may continue to live in the ST .

I found that my lawnmower would take up residence in an old large barnacle cluster - often sold as decorator aquarium pieces at Petco's etc ..... you might give that a try because once they start using the barnacle as home base you can toss a net over the barnacle and remove barnacle with fish inside.

Good luck.

 

[DiViNeLeFT]

yeah... thats what i figured but wanted to verify. the blenny would perhaps be a "carrier" of ich even though he shows no symptons. i have a plan to get the blenny out. he sometimes perches on top of my skimmer pump. if i can get a net in the tank and under the pump i know what crevice in the rocks he darts to when scared so i can make sure the net is in between him and the rockwork. he is so quick though i have a feeling im going to have to take all the rocks out to get to him. thank for your reply.

 

[DiViNeLeFT]

another thing i got to thinking about. what will the blenny eat while in quarantine? im going to use a 5 gallon acrylic tank with a whisper 30 powerfilter that is currently running on my reef. it has a sponge for biological filtration and a slot for carbon. some hair algae is on the intake of the powerfilter... think this will spread enough in the QT to feed the blenny for 6 weeks? after that the main tank is going to be a feast for the blenny.

 

[kevin2000]

My 02

You can purchase a ten gallon glass tank at any Petco/Petsmart for $10 and a ten gallon tank is a much better QT tank than a 5 gallon.

Lawnmowers are not like mandarins and there diet isn't primarily pods ... most eat just about anything but some are finicky and stick to greens. No big deal either way. I start off all my fish in QT with live brine shrimp and the few lawnmowers I have owned all have taken to LBS with no problem.

 

[DiViNeLeFT]

i have a ten gallon tank that my dog urinated on while in storage. it had bleach in it because of that event... think if i rinse it really good it is usable or should i get something new?

 

[kevin2000]

S/B no problem to clean a glass tank ... btw your fish are going to pee in the tank as well

 

[DiViNeLeFT]

ok... thanks for all the help. i wasnt to pleased when i came home that day to find my 10 gallon tank about 1/5th of the way filled with dog urine. ive yet to see a fish put that much of a "bioload" in a tank!

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7573535#post7573535 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DiViNeLeFT
ok... thanks for all the help. i wasnt to pleased when i came home that day to find my 10 gallon tank about 1/5th of the way filled with dog urine. ive yet to see a fish put that much of a "bioload" in a tank!

:lol: Sounds like you could possibly 'potty train' your dog if he will actually use a tank!



Wanted to add, my Lawnmower Blenny would eat Algae strips just like the Tangs! Worth a try