losing hope in the hobby...

[richie822]

i recently set up a 40 gallon tank about 3 months ago. Without even thinking i introduced ick into the tank by using a piece of live rock and filter media to spped up the cycle from my 10 gallon which had ick. i realized that i must have introdcued it to my new tank b/c my dwarf angel died about a week after i put him in and he cuoldnt recover from ick. So i decided to leave the tank fallow with no fish in it for 5 and a half weeks which i thuoght was plenty of time. I bought a small blue tang and quartatined him for about a month and he was dong great eating and everything. so when 5 and a half weeks went by (which was on friday) i decided to put him in the tank. the first few days he seemed to be eating fine but was really shy and scareds in the new tank and rarely ever came out. On the third day, i notcied that he had white spots on him. I am getting so frustrated b/c i never have success with fish. my corals do very well and i change water weekly and test for almost everything. My water is practicaly perfect and i cant seem to get a fish that doesnt die from ick. ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, phospate-0. ph-8.2, alk-9, salinity 1.025 ca-425, mag-1360.....I dont know if it was b/c i just didnt wait long enuogh before i put him in the tank? 5.5 weeks not long enuogh? i know that he was not sick before i put him in the main tank b/c he was in quaratine for a month and was very healthy. what am i doing wrong? i almost feel like giving up but i love the hobby so much. it wuold be practically impossible for me to try to capture him now that he is in the main display b/c he is still always hiding. Is there any reef safe treatment for ick? is my waterflow too much? i have 2 maxi jet 1200's, a return from my rena canister filter, and return from my hang on aqua c remora. i only keep lps and softies..my temprature is also stable at 78-78. never really has too much success with fish in my 10 gallon either. what shuold i do with the tang if anything?

 

[returnofsid]

I know it's easy to get frustrated. I went through a very similar experience with my first reef tank, a 29 gallon. I ended up loosing quite a few fish to Ich. Since I got the problems handled, I've been Ich free and now have 2 much larger tanks. First off, try to not get frustrated and second...realize that you'll have to be a bit more patient with your curing methods this time around.

To start with, no, 5 1/2 weeks was not long enough. Sorry to tell you that. Second, keep in mind that dwarf angels are somewhat known for getting Ich and that Tangs, especially the Blue, Hippo or Regal Tang have a notorious reputation for almost ALWAYS getting Ich. There are a couple treatment options that you have. Both will take longer than 5 1/2 weeks. You'll either need to remove all fish from the tank OR you'll need to leave fish in tank and remove all corals and all inverts. I'll outline both of them for you.

#1. Hyposalinity. This treatment will require you to remove everything from the tank except for fish. Well, you won't need to remove live rock but will need to remove all corals and inverts. After removing everything to a separate tank, you'll slowly (over a period of about a week) lower your salinity to 1.009. You'll need to measure your salinity levels with a Refractometer that's been calibrated. You'll also need to make sure your refractometer is calibrated on a regular basis because it's absolutely vital that your salinity not go above 1.009. This means you'll have to stay on top of topping off your tank so evaporation doesn't cause any rise in salinity. You'll need to keep your tank in a state of hyposalinity for about 8 weeks AFTER all visible signs of Ich are gone from fish. In other words, if you still see Ich for 1 week, your total treatment will take 9 weeks. After the 8 weeks with NO visible signs of Ich, you can slowly raise your levels back to 1.025ish. Then you re-acclimate your corals and inverts back to that tank. Keep in mind that the hyposalinity will cause some die off in your live rock and you may experience a mini-cycle. As long as your salt levels stay at 1.009 for a long enough period, all your Ich will die off. The reasoning behind this is as follows. 1.009 won't kill your fish but will kill any inverts, including Ich. The life cycle of Ich is the reason this takes so long.

#2. Remove all fish from your display tank and QT them. You'll need to keep your display tank free of all fish for approx. 8 weeks. Your display tank will be kept at the salinity it's currently at. Your treatment will take place in the QT tank and will be exactly the same treatment described above. Or you could use a medicated treatment in the QT tank. Keep in mind that if you use a Copper based medication, no equipment, live rock or sand from the QT will ever be able to be used in the display. I only mention this because some people keep live rock or sand in their QT and sometimes move it to their display. You can treat in the QT with the hyposalinity also.

Eventually Steve-S will chime in and he's the resident expert when it comes to fish diseases and treatments. Again, please try not to lose hope. Most of us have been through similar situations. Hang in there and good luck!!

 

[Blood Shrimp]

I always thought blue hippos were really neat but I will NEVER buy one in fear of this.

I heard cleaner shrimps help prevent ich because they eat parasites off the fish. Is this true?

 

[Blazer88]

Not that this helps seeing you already have him in the tank w/Ich but 40G is way too small for a Hippo Tang. He may have been stressed which caused the Ick.

 

[returnofsid]

Cleaner shrimp can help...yes. QT is the best preventative measure though.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Not that this helps seeing you already have him in the tank w/Ich but 40G is way too small for a Hippo Tang. He may have been stressed which caused the Ick.

Think you meant that the stress put the fish at higher risk of getting the ick which was present in the infested tank. Just chiming in to prevent anyone from thinking that stress creates ick, in lieu of it being a parasitic infestation.

 

[Blazer88]

I didn't word that real well. I meant that stress can weaken their immune system which would allow them to be infected by Ick easier.