Saltwater reef tank fish with ick

[CarolD]

I have a reef tank with fish and some of my fish have ick. I originally thought it was a bacterial infection and treated the tank with E.M. tablets. No luck.

Now that the disease has progressed, I can see the white spots on the fish and think it's ick. I'm unable to get my Convict Blenney out of the tank because he hides in the bottom of the tank under all the rocks and corals. Also have a maroon clown and mandarin goby who have spots. My LFS told me I could use Formalin 3 at a doulbe dose, when I did most of my mushrooms shriveled up. Have I totally killed my tank?

Any comments are welcome.

Thanks in advance, CarolD

 

[arizona tech]

afraid so, does the bottle say reef safe?your lfs is wrong formalin is toxic the best thing to do is water changes to get the formalin out, do you have another tank to treat the fish with meds with?

 

[CarolD]

I have another small tank, not enough to hold all the corals and I can't get my gobies and blennies out. I'll put some carbon in and see if that pulls out some of the meds. I've had this tank for 4 years and now I'm heartbroken in CT. :-(

Thanks Arizona, appreciate the time and reply. My schedule's been heavy and I was unable to use the search function on this forum last night to find a previous post.

Any suggestions on what can be used in a reef tank for ick?

Again thanks very much, Carol D

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

there isn't much in the way of a proven treatment to cure ick in the main tank. the only proven methods to cure ick are hypo and copper and both of those need to be done in a hospital tank or it will kill everything in the main tank, which i am afraid sounds like you may have already done with the other treatments.

sorry for your loss and hope this helps

 

[CarolD]

Thanks Sam. I also did a water change before I came to work today. Guess I should tear apart my tank to separate my fish and save whatever I can. I just read Ruby Reef Kick Ick is reef safe, has anyone had luck with that? Will ick kill whatever corals I have left? I also removed some of my corals and put them in the smaller tank to save some. I will set up a larger quarantine tank tongiht. And, I will NEVER EVER put anything in my tank without quarantining first. It was so very beautiful. Hard lesson learned, the tank was 4 years old and has been problem free until then.

I will start over again!!!

 

[andrewsmart]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9689707#post9689707 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CarolD
Thanks Sam. I also did a water change before I came to work today. Guess I should tear apart my tank to separate my fish and save whatever I can. I just read Ruby Reef Kick Ick is reef safe, has anyone had luck with that? Will ick kill whatever corals I have left? I also removed some of my corals and put them in the smaller tank to save some. I will set up a larger quarantine tank tongiht. And, I will NEVER EVER put anything in my tank without quarantining first. It was so very beautiful. Hard lesson learned, the tank was 4 years old and has been problem free until then.

I will start over again!!!

ick will not afect corals only fish.

if you leave your display with no fish in it for 6 -8 weeks you will get rid of the ich from the display.

treat the fish in a hospital tank using hypo or copper better with hypo.

monitor the ph in hypo and buffer it up when required check it every day.

read aboy ich here www.marineaquariumadvice.com

 

[CarolD]

Thanks Andrew. I only have a 10 gallon quarantine tank, I need to buy a bigger one tonight on my way home from work. My Convict Blenny is 12 inches long! Can I keep my cleaner shrimp and peppermint shrimp and crabs/snails in with the corals? Wondering if the ick will get them.

Thanks again, everyone has been helpful. And, thanks for the link

 

[andrewsmart]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9690798#post9690798 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CarolD
Thanks Andrew. I only have a 10 gallon quarantine tank, I need to buy a bigger one tonight on my way home from work. My Convict Blenny is 12 inches long! Can I keep my cleaner shrimp and peppermint shrimp and crabs/snails in with the corals? Wondering if the ick will get them.

Thanks again, everyone has been helpful. And, thanks for the link

they will be fine in your display ich has a part of it's life cycle where it needs fish.

no fish = no ich. after 8 weeks any way.

you should leave the q/t set up for ant new fish and q/t them for 3 weeks at least as well. i do about 6.