Lost a clown to Ich.. what to do

[Jeffd1979]

My 40 gallon tank has been running for about 14 weeks now. tank stock is as follows

2 false percula clowns
1 quarter size blue tang
2 shunk cleaner shrimp
1 blood shrimp
10 lbs of live rock

ammonia 0ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 0ppm
Ph 8.2
kh 200ppm
78 degrees

About 3 weeks ago i saw all 3 fish pop up with a bad case of ich in 1 day.. that morning they were clean, came home from work and they were covered.. wake up the next morning and it is gone off the clowns and about 20% left of the tang.. few days go by and it is completely gone.. Last night it shows up again but just on 1 clown. he was still acting his normal self but was covered in it.. come home today and he is laying on the bottom dead. :( .. I don't have a q tank so that is not an option.. what is the best way with what i have right now to treat this ich? lowerer selinity? if so how low low? are there any meds that i can put in that will not hurt the inverts??

thanks guys

[OrionGirl]

Get a quarantine tank. Doesn't have to be fancy--a rubbermaid tub, a spare heater, a sponge and powerhead will be ample. Tangs are very prone to ich, and until you get it out of the tank, every stress even will bring it out. The tang is going to be stressed out enough by the size of the tank--add a parasite into the mix and it's going to have a very short life. How was the tank cycled?

[Jeffd1979]

Get a quarantine tank. Doesn't have to be fancy--a rubbermaid tub, a spare heater, a sponge and powerhead will be ample. Tangs are very prone to ich, and until you get it out of the tank, every stress even will bring it out. The tang is going to be stressed out enough by the size of the tank--add a parasite into the mix and it's going to have a very short life. How was the tank cycled?

Sigghhhh well i will see what i can do about a q tank but i doubt it.. Even if i do get a small q tank wont the fish be even more stressed then they already are???.. and how is a q tank going to get rid of the ich? do i have to dose it with meds?? do i put all fish and inverts in the qtank

the tank was cycled using pure ammonia.. took about 4 1/2 weeks..

[OrionGirl]

You will have to do water changes to keep the water quality up, raise the temp to at least 86 (and provide lots of surface agitation to prevent low O2). Maintain this for at least 4 weeks from the last visible signs on the fish. Keep them out of the mian tank for at least 6 weeks--this will allow the parasite to die off in there since it won't have a host. The inverts can remain in the main tank, as they are not a reservoir for the parasite.

[Jeffd1979]

ok good news.. i got a qtank from the mother in laws house.. has one of test whisper 2-5 powerfilters with it.. i am getting ready to go to walmart to buy some of the foam filters for it.. what do i need to use for substrate in this thing? anything or just a bare bottom? If so what can i use to buffer my ph? i am clueless here guys.. any info on this q tank will be greatly appreciated.. also do you have to cycle this thing?

[OrionGirl]

The salt mix should buffer the water appropriately. The frequent water changes will be needed to avoid dealing with the cycle (for future use, I keep a sponge sitting in the sump of my tanks so I can use them as needed for quarantine and hospital tanks). Bare bottom is best, easiest to clean. You'll want to put in something for cover--chunks of PVC, fake plants, or bits of terra cotta pot (clean, new) are good, since they are easily removed for cleaning but still make the fish more comfortable.

[Jeffd1979]

i don;t have a sump.. i use an emperor 280 and a skilter 250 for filtration.. could i just cut up one of those foam filters and stick it in the little whisper filter media? would that be sufficient?



The salt mix should buffer the water appropriately. The frequent water changes will be needed to avoid dealing with the cycle (for future use, I keep a sponge sitting in the sump of my tanks so I can use them as needed for quarantine and hospital tanks). Bare bottom is best, easiest to clean. You'll want to put in something for cover--chunks of PVC, fake plants, or bits of terra cotta pot (clean, new) are good, since they are easily removed for cleaning but still make the fish more comfortable.

[OrionGirl]

Is this a foam filter that is currently running in the Emporer? If so, yes, that would be ideal. You'll want to discard it if you use any medications, but otherwise that's great to use.

[Jeffd1979]

Ok i have moved the 2 fish the the Q tank... the clown now has visible signs of ick again.. he must be really stressed.. Should i medicate this Q tank? What can i do to keep the fish alive in this q- tank.. this is really gonna suck if moving them to the q-tank kills them..

I really need to know about medicating this Q-tank.. i have asked a few times but noone seems to answer on this question.. I still am not seeing how switching them to a different tank cures the ick.

[becky_e]

First you can lower the salinity (hyposalinity) as a non-medicinal way to treat your fish. The first link is about ich, the second is about hyposalinity.


http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/marineich.html
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/hyposalinity.html

I've done hyposalinity to treat my new fish in my quarantine tank and so far all are fine. One damsel got a little ichy, but the hyposalinity cleared it up. There are some copper based medicines out there, but I don't have any experience with them. You need to have your fish in a quarantine tank to use hyposalinity or medicine because both are bad for your inverts.

[AlexJ]

I had a bad case of Ich on my large lion fish--the tang and squirrel eye in the same tank showed no signs. The lion had heavy hazing on his eyes--almost opaque--and lots of ich--I used 'Copper Power' (is just a fish tank) and within 4 days all signs of ich were gone and his eyes have cleared right up. He is eating well. I never live feed, but as he was getting a bit listlesss I did try feeder goldfish--- I have since been warned that feeder fish can often be the catalyst for ich--don't have any proof of that--was just advised to stick to frozen food. If you decide to medicate in the quarantine tank I would advise water changes in the main tank with as high salidity safe for the live rock and invertibrates to hopefully remove the ich parasite.

[ChrisB]

it kills ick because ick needs a host. If it doesnt have a host it dies. If it gets in the quarintine and the q tank has no good hiding places it cant multiply and it dies. It goes through like a two week life cycle. But keep them in there (ick free) for about 4 weeks.

[ChrisB]

Dont treat with meds. Copper is almost impossible to clean and also on fish so if you transfer them back to the 40 gallon your inverts have a chance of death. Any other i dont know about so YOYO there. ALWAYS STUDY ON WHAT YOU ADD!