Ahhh ick overload!!

[wt*jayjay]

so my tang had a little bit of ick so i got some microbe-lift herbana. used the hole bottle over about a week and he seemed to get rid of it for the most part he still had a few flair ups but nothing serious and none of the other fish had any on them. i even fed some of the garlic stuff on top of shrimp a few times.

and now... everything has been fine for a few days. i got up today to see my kole sitting on the sand covered in ick. i pulled him out and put him in my frag tank just so i could keep an eye on him. after seeing how bad he was i looked very closely at all the other fish.... not good.. my adult female clown has a little, purple fairy wrasse has a good bit, and my midus blenny is pretty bad and has been swimming at the top of the water all day and thats not like him at all...



so i need a cure fast!! i know there are a lot of things out there that hurt coral, but if i can find someone to hold all my coral until im done treating im may do that. but would rather not have to.

also if the tank doesnt seem to improve over the next day or so he is free to someone with a hospital tang... something i obviously need......

 

[drnecropolis]

There is no quick fix for ick..
Anything done in haste is going to make matter 10x worse than it is now..

 

[wt*jayjay]

makes since, so how should i go about this? i have a lot of coral so thats an issue

 

[drnecropolis]

Kill the lights to try and calm them down.. soak some good food in selcon and crank the skimmer up to skim wet and feed the tank heavily.. A relaxed fish is able to fight the parasites much easier..

 

[1percula]

I had the same problem. Some in the Reef Club disagree with me but I'll tell you what I did. I pulled all my fish, setup a hospital tank and treated with Paraguard. I lost 2 fish trying to treat them in the tank with coral. I did not lose any fish that I pulled from the tank. Pull 'em and hit 'em with Paraguard ASAP. And get yourself a the properly sized UV ASAP. Get yourself the water treatment kit that Seachem sells. Is has Prime and a coupe of other treatments that will keep the ammonia levels down. There is the possibility of stressing the fish by moving them, but it sounds like you are at the point of no return.

 

[wt*jayjay]

Check, lights off! what is selcon? and my ghetto little seaclone is always on wet skim lol. i had already planned on running to creation tomorrow, so ill pick some stuff up then too.

oh and im going to set up a hospital tank using a large rubbermaid and a canister filter.. do i haveeee to have a skimmer on it??

 

[wt*jayjay]

1PERCULA;457127 wrote: I had the same problem. Some in the Reef Club disagree with me but I'll tell you what I did. I pulled all my fish, setup a hospital tank and treated with Paraguard. I lost 2 fish trying to treat them in the tank with coral. I did not lose any fish that I pulled from the tank. Pull 'em and hit 'em with Paraguard ASAP. And get yourself a the properly sized UV ASAP. Get yourself the water treatment kit that Seachem sells. Is has Prime and a coupe of other treatments that will keep the ammonia levels down. There is the possibility of stressing the fish by moving them, but it sounds like you are at the point of no return.

definitely setting up a hospital tank, but right now i dont have the funds to set up a good biological filter on it.. i do have some large canister filters that i can use though. should i add some of my live rock or sand to the system?? and does it need a skimmer?

 

[wt*jayjay]

ive got a spare heater and some old power heads! looks like i might be setting this up tonight! off to wally world for a decent sized container..

 

[salt reefer]

no lr or sand in my opionion

 

[drnecropolis]

salt reefer;457147 wrote: no lr or sand in my opionion

Agreed.. In a hospital tank I would put anything in there except maybe a few pieces of PVC pipe for the fish to hide in.. That way any kinda meds you add won't stick around in the tank and bind in the sand and rock..

 

[wt*jayjay]

ok thanks guys! and ive got a ton of differnt sized pvc laying around! should i use all of the sponges in the canister filter just as if i were to use it on a fresh tank?? i plan on changing them every few weeks while all my fish are in the tank, just dont want it to turn into a nitrate factory

 

[1percula]

It would help if the canister filter currently in use on a cycled tank. I did not use a skimmer on my hospital tank as a matter of fact it is still setup for use as an intro tank. If you can, pull some filter media from your sump and place it near the return of the filter/canister. That will help with bacteria, but I did not put anything in mine except a section of foam filter from my sump. You are going to have to keep them out of the main tank for a while. I kept mine out for 3 weeks, purchased a good UV and ran it on the main tank a week before I put the fish back in. You have got to stay on top of the hospital tank. It is going to be tough to tell what your ammonia levels are, so be prepared to do a lot of water changes. Paraguard did the trick for me and I only had to dose it once per day. Ich looks a little weird on clowns, I know what you mean, but it has been my experience that when Ich gets to the point on impacting clowns, you have got it full blown and you need to move on it right away. Get a properly sized UV before you put them back or you will be right back to the spot that you are in now. And read this:

 

[wt*jayjay]

ok thanks a lot! i did read that hole article on uv and understood most of it... but would still be great if someone could steer me in the right direction of a decently priced uv for my 75g system.


and only 3 weeks you say? everything ive been reading says treat in the hospital tank for no less than 8 weeks and then watch for another 4 before returning them to the display.... is that just over kill?

 

[1percula]

I can't say that it is overkill, however, I added a 57 watt UV to my system. According to the calculations that Mojo gave (which was supported by a number of articles and Seachem) my UV is running about 120% of the radiation recommended to kill Ich. I have a 100 gallon tank and my UV pump runs at 295 gallons per hour. I figured if I was turning over the tank approx 3 times an hour, running it for a week before putting the fish back should handle the problem. Ich has a incubation period where it is free floating in the water column. I read the issue on the web somewhere I'll try to find it for you.

 

[wt*jayjay]

thanks for all the info guys. ive got everyone (but two guys im still trying to catch) in my hospital tank. got a good sized rubbermaid with about 25 gallons in, 265gph canister filter, sponge out of my sump in the canister filter, heater, and some pvc for hiding.

oh and i lost the kole tang and my midus blenny tonight .


stopped by creation today told them all what was going on and they gave me some seachem para guard.

anyone had good luck when using para guard??