Starting over with my tank!

Ok, I cleaned my skimmer and did a water change. Hopefully that does something.

I got your PM, but there seems to be a problem with the message board. I've never had marine Ich, so really don't know anything about it. I've delt with freshwater ich many times, but have no idea if they're similar at all. My understanding is that none of the medications are safe for corals or inverts, so you'll have to set up a hospital tank to treat the fish in. Good luck, I know the freshwater version can be vicious.

Thank ya Phil, yeah I hope this stuff goes away.

No disrespect at all intended in this post... just going off what I recall as previous posts of yours.

If I remember, you'rea 29 gallon just like myself, but you've also recently set it up... within the past 2-3 months. Ich (or the parasites/fungus/whateverthehellitis at least) are virtually always present, but it's not until the fish are stressed that they lose their slime coating and come down sick. I would be paying very very close attention to the amount of live stock you already have in such a young tank and paying close attention to the parameters. Hell you already have more then mine in it which mine has been running for 5 years now.

Dread240, no disrespect taken friend! You are totally right. I "should" know better. Believe me when I say, because of my actions some of my fish died; I was actually sick to my stomach yesterday, because of my actions lately. I know better, been doing this too long to do what I did. :-(

Hat, I'd like to strongly warn you against putting a tang in your 29g again. Unless you can find one that is a tiny baby (1" in length), and you understand that that fish will need a bigger tank sooner than you might hope. A Powder Blue tang is a beautiful fish, but needs a lot of swimming space.

Ich is a treatable infection, but there really aren't any 100% reef-safe medications you can use. If all of your fish die, you should leave it fallow (fish-less) for six weeks. That way any trophants in the water will die due to no host (fish) to feed upon. All new fish should go in quarantine for 21 days minimum. This allows you to observe the fish closely, deal with any infections that break out, and teach it what foods you offer without any competition from other fish. This time period assures you don't introduce a disease into the tank. Of course, it is really important to do your best not to add any water from another source to your tank, which may contain more waterborne pests.

Freshwater dips are one way to shed the little fleas that are on your fish. What usually kills the fish is that they get into their gills. If you'll look up "hyposalinity" it will help explain how to use lower salinity to rid your fish of any parasites. It too is a slow process. The thing you've got to ask yourself is this: Are all of my fish nice and healthy? Should I risk their health with a new arrival? Try to avoid putting AIDS in your tank, if you know what I mean.

I do Marc, I actually feel real bad right now! I don't know how ich got in the tank, maybe poor water? I don't know, but I do all regular maintenance on the tank. Water is always cystal clear. I'm starting to check my water perimeters everyday. Ich killed the powder blue and both clowns, i'm treating the scopas like she is my baby. I don't want to try and get her out because that will totally stress her out. So, i'm just watching her all the time. She is not as bad as the rest of the fish were. Just a few spots, but i'm worried; if she gets worst I will do what I have to and get her out. I have makeshift hospital ready to go already.

No, i'm going to take it real slow for now on Marc. I had plans for the tangs all alone though. The LFS said they would take them back if I didn't have a bigger tank by the time they got big. I would have done taht or give them to one of y'all. I know that would have been a good home. I love my fish though. I take it personal when something happens. I don't have the best equipment but I do try and give them a good home.

Hey, on a better note: The skimmer is kicking butt! I can't believe how nice its working, after a lot of tweaking!

Hey, I was thing jof keeping lights off for a few days? 1. to try and get rid of algae which is real bad. and 2. less stress on my scopas. What do ya think?

Thanks for all the help everyone,

HAT

Originally Posted by Hat39406

I don't know how ich got in the tank, maybe poor water?

HAT

Ich is a parasite, The only way i can get into a system is on a fish, or in the water with a new fish or coral. Hence the need to quarantine new additions. It'll sneak by even the best LFS at times. having good water quality and otherwise healthy fish just allows them to survive it.

Yeah, I recently got some frags, ich came right after. Thanks for the info Phil!

Look, ich isn't mysterious. It's a parasite. It can exist in a tank that for all appearances looks perfectly healthy. However, the day all hell breaks loose and the system gets out of whack, your fish may almost immediately thereafter 'develop ich' on their skin. What has happened is the fish becomes stressed and their defenses are down. It doesn't take much, sadly.

Whenever you get a new fish or coral, it is best to dump out all the water and only move the livestock to the tank (qt or display). This lessens the risk significantly. Certain corals won't tolerate air at all, like starfish or sponges. In those cases, it's all about massive amounts of water acclimation to dilute the risk. Best to put either in quarantine for the 21 day period, then transfer it over fully submerged into the display with the least amount of water possible.

Yeah, i'm doing 5 gallon water a day changes for a week. And i'm going to get one of them all in one small tank setups from wal-mart for a quarantine tank; I'll get it before next livestock purchase. Thanks for the info Marc!

For MI (Marine Ich) there are only (2) acceptable treatments and both take a long time (in Aquarium terms) to complete but must be COMPLETED or it's a futile attempt. As already mentioned MI is common today in our systems and many of us have to deal with it at one time or another. Most of the time once you deal with it you'll take ALL the needed precautions to not go through it again.

First I didn't see this noted but it must be understood that a "Cleaner" organism (fish, shrimp etc) does NOT cure your system of MI. It merely cleans the surface of the fish where the MI is apparent. More correctly they clean the WOUND/SKIN where one of the parasites has made a sore. It's like picking the SCAB off of a cut and thinking you're cut is gone. Not the case unfortunately. It's a very common misconception (I used to believe this as well) that a Cleaner Shrimp/Fish will actually cure the fish of MI. WRONG!!

Also understand that even though you don't SEE any symptoms of MI it's possible your system is still infected with it. Often times people get a sudden out-break of MI after months of NO new additions at all. This is merely a case of the system being in "Equilibrium" and the fish are able to "Handle" the parasite until some "stressor" is introduced (usually water parameter issue in this instance) and the fish's immune system is compromised. Then the parasite is better able to reproduce and the VISIBLE signs are apparent. Take the time to learn about the full Life-Cycle of this animal and you'll be much better prepared in how to treat and WIN over this problem.

Marc I hope this doesn't violate any TOS here but here is a link to an EXCELLENT write up about MI and the whole curing process from a well known person (Leebca)

Curing Fish of Marine Ich by leebca



As noted putting a tang (IMHO) any tang into a 29g system is literally begging for problems as they need a lot of lateral swim room even at the smaller size. I'd consider anything smaller than a 75 to be a mere QT/HT for a tang and suggest it only be in there for Observation (3-4 weeks) or Treatment (8weeks).

Hat good luck. Regardless of how you treat it... ICH SUCKS! Just stick with the basics and follow the treatment to it's completion. Short-cuts only get you back to where you are quicker!!

Allen

Thanks for the info Allen! ;-). Going to take it slow. I 'm still taking readings every day. All reading are where they should be, but I need to lower Nitrates a little and raise my PH a little. How would you do this?

Water Changes are your friend. When "Things" are out of whack I do large and often water changes to help get them back in order.

Nitrates (NO3) are exported in direct proportion to percentage of water change. If you do a 50% water change then your NO3 reduction is roughly 50%. Keep this in mind when trying to figure how MUCH water to change. In a healthy tank I like to see an average of 10% a week.

Yeah, I'm doing a third (really closer to 1/4 now) of a water change every day now till my readings get right. Then I'm going to take Phils advice on dosing the tank when I need to do so. My tank is doing good, but I'm still fighting algae. My corals are growing nicely.

Hat, isn't it a little early to be drinking? LOL

ROFL! I just skipped over that thinking it was something "I" was missing

Hahaha, I don't know what happened...lol.