What to do...

[Vapour1ze]

Hi all, so new tank has been up about 2 months, I received two clowns from a fellow reefer on here and their anemone and they have been thriving!!! The anemone has already split on me! Anyways, I purchased a Kole tang about a month back from ReefWise, and didn't QT. My fault I know, well the Kole had Ich and brought it in and now the clowns have it. The Kole died, and one of my clowns is looking rough. Not sure what to do. I know most fish should be able to fight it off and live with it. I've even been dosing with Garlic and Vitamin C.

Should I just QT the clowns or sell the clowns off and let the tank fallow for 10 weeks? Or should I keep dosing garlic and vitamin?

I really didn't want to have to leave my tank empty for 10 weeks.

Sheesh....

My luck is if I QT them and then QT new fish, I'll prob reintroduce Ich at some point. Seems like it happens quite often to a lot of reefers... I hate ich. Rant over.

 

[rhymechizel]

The easiest way is to find someone willing to take the clowns. I hate treating ick. This may be hard knowing they have ick though. You'll eventually need a QT tank so maybe now is the time to start one.

 

[Vapour1ze]

I'm thinking of just starting a QT now, getting new fish, and qt them the last 5 weeks before I declare the DT good. Ugh, ich is enough to make me just want to quit. Sucks.

 

[Dgagvgeg]

I'm thinking of just starting a QT now, getting new fish, and qt them the last 5 weeks before I declare the DT good. Ugh, ich is enough to make me just want to quit. Sucks.

I too have learned the hard way, had a bad ich outbreak about 3 months in, lost all but 1 of my fish. Best bet take all out of tank but In QT, keep up with water changes and treat with copper. Let DT stay fishless for 10 weeks. Then QT all new editions. Pain in the butt, but well worth it in the long run! Plus cheaper on your pocket

 

[Bluecorals]

Sorry about your loss and I feel your pain. Many reefers have had the same experience with them, but they say they are updating their systems and should have the best QT system in the midwest, I wont be the one to find out. Set up a QT system if you can, a very good investment. Good Luck !!

 

[neonpoke]

Yep. Ich happens, but don't feel defeated.

Chances are it's too late to setup a QT and treat your fish. I just say let it ride and see what happens.

I have Ich in my tank. I lost a couple fish in the beginning to Ich, but the ones that survived built an immunity. It's been a few years and everything's fine.

 

[cet98]

Set up a QT asap and treat the clowns with Cupramine and save them....
Do not add any new fish to the QT and keep your DT fallow for 8-10 weeks. Theres no reason to quit or give up on saving your clowns...

 

[DgenR8]

Learn from your mistake. Treat your sick clowns, and QT every new purchase before adding it to your tank.
It sucks, but really, it could have been much worse. You could have been lucky until your last addition, and killed a tank full of fish.

 

[Vapour1ze]

I'll get a QT setup this weekend, I already have everything for one. I have cupramine already too.

Will get it started this weekend...

So I can't add more fish to QT with clowns? Say new fish? Then leave them all in QT for the 8-10 weeks that the display is fallow?

 

[Dgagvgeg]

I'll get a QT setup this weekend, I already have everything for one. I have cupramine already too.

Will get it started this weekend...

So I can't add more fish to QT with clowns? Say new fish? Then leave them all in QT for the 8-10 weeks that the display is fallow?

Well, the QT is just a temp home for the clowns and all future fish purchases. More than likely the QT is a smaller tank, and overstocking a smaller tank especially a QT that is not cycled you will have more trouble on your hands than its worth. I would suggest instead of buying more fish while you wait the 10 weeks, is to buy some corals for the DT, the ich wont mess with them. Just my 2 cents

 

[cet98]

I'll get a QT setup this weekend

do it NOW....they may be dead by the weekend....the longer you wait, the more you reduce their chances of recovery...

Please don't wait.....

 

[cet98]

overstocking a smaller tank especially a QT that is not cycled you will have more trouble on your hands than its worth.

this ^^^ :thumbsup:

 

[sonict72]

QT is so much easier if you cycle it. I used to keep some CPR Biobale in the sump just for this purpose. Instant cycle. If you can get that or something similar, I would stick it in the sump for few days and move it to QT. It will save you frequent water changes for 10 weeks...

 

[tassod]

Are you sure this is Ich? How long after you got the kole tang did it die? If it was withing a couple weeks i'm more inclined to say that this may be velvet rather than ich which is much more serious but i hope i'm wrong. As far as adding more coral, i wouldn't as ich or other parasites have been known to come in with corals or inverts as well. Rule of thumb should be anything wet needs to be QT'd for 72 days no exceptions. This is the only way to keep parasites out of the tank. If you do add coral or inverts during your fallow period, you will need to reset the clock back to zero. I know this sucks but i'm also going through the same thing right now and i've learned the hard way loosing over 50% of my fish in just a couple of weeks. Never doing this again.

 

[sonict72]

Rule of thumb should be anything wet needs to be QT'd for 72 days no exceptions. This is the only way to keep parasites out of the tank.

Great idea except that's very difficult to do in many cases. It's hard to keep a fish like Copperband or Mandarin alive in QT for 72 days. Man, I don't think you can even keep snails alive for 72 days in QT. You could alternatively buy from places like Diver's Den where they follow pretty good QT process. Something could still go wrong, but your chances are much better.

 

[tassod]

Great idea except that's very difficult to do in many cases. It's hard to keep a fish like Copperband or Mandarin alive in QT for 72 days. Man, I don't think you can even keep snails alive for 72 days in QT. You could alternatively buy from places like Diver's Den where they follow pretty good QT process. Something could still go wrong, but your chances are much better.

For a normal QT process when acquiring new fish I like to follow snorvich's process which is TTM initially followed by 4-6 weeks of observation in a cycled QT tank with 2 rounds of Prazi pro in case something else more serious than ich should show up like Velvet. For inverts and corals, these should be QT'd in a separate tank and not in your fish QT tank. You can setup a frag tank or something similar to just hold these items for 72 days. Ideally, if you can find an LFS that does not keep fish with their coral and invert tanks, then besides dipping your corals, no other QT would be needed for those.