My First Quarantine: Everyone Help

[rajfish]

Hey guys,

I bought a 10g hospital/quarantine tank today. I started it running, temp and salinity are fine. Put PVC pipe in there as hiding places. I have five fish I am transferring to it in the near future because my tank has ich. I need your help veterans.

First the fish are: 2 Clarkii clowns, 1 Caudern, 1 Flame Angel, 1 Lawnmower Blenny. The Flame Angel was a gift I didn't tell you guys about. She is gorgeous. Luckily, the ich outbreak proper has not occured yet. There is one spot on the flame angel (who continues to graze on my live rock). The only other clear sign of ich is my one clown that glances. That is it. I caught it early.

So, here are my questions.

(1) Do I need a new bucket, hose and everything for the quarantine tank (I assume I do and will buy assuming everything is new).
(2) How do I acclimate my fish to this new tank? It has not cycled. I can't put my second filter from my 29g on it because the main tank has ich.
(3) I don't have bags. How do I "float" these fish in that tank?
(4) I bought Rid-Ich (a formalin malachite green blend). Any advice (I have read the awesome article on Ich posted on this site.
(5) My plan is to get the fish in there, follow prescribed medication guidelines and then wait 6 weeks. 6 weeks should ensure that the main tank fallows long enough right? Ich doesn't go dormant right?

Wish my luck fellas. I am proud to be in the minority that has a
QT. I am putting the sump/refugium on hold right now because there is no sense in infecting it too.

 

[skriz]

I like to keep the salinity in the qt/hispital tank much lower (1.008), this will help rid the ich. It will be fine for the fish, they will aclimate easily.

When you aclimate back up, however, you should go very slowly (few days).

zip-lock bags will work. if you dont have those, go to wally world.

you should use some water from the display. the fish already have ich, so it wont make a difference with the water. This will help the cycle issue.

i've has good sucess with rid-ich. just follow instructions.

if you are going to hospitalize them all at once, they will be pretty pissed in a 10g. this may be an issue...added stress

 

[skriz]

if everything already has ich, why not treat your display? rid-ich is invert safe, right?

you can lower the salinity easily (drain some h20 and add ro)

when treated, do a good water change.

if one fish is particularly bad, you can treat him seperately?

what do you think guys?

 

[blind1993]

yea not point in puting them all in a tiny aquarium and treating them the same as the aquarium. you could also just put all your inverts in the qt incase if rid ich does anything.

 

[rajfish]

Hey guys

I just read up on an idea you just mentioned. What if I evacuate my gigantic army of inverts to the quarantine tank? The only problem is that the tank has not cycled. Can live rock survive a treatment by Rid-Ich (formalin and malachite green). If I recall correctly, it says it is NOT invert safe.

Let me know, as it is MUCH easier to move my snails, crabs, and peppermint shrimp then to chase down my fish.

 

[rajfish]

Also, I want to hear what Brandon(?) who wrote that awesome article thinks before I move the inverts.

 

[rajfish]

So what do I do then? My options are pretty small. Only two of the fish (well three since I can't figure out if the Blenny is glancing or he is kicking up gravel) have signs of ick. Should I just move them for now? Darn this ich thing.

 

[rajfish]

My concern is if I put my fish in the tank (which has been running a few hours) they die immediately. Plus, 5 fish in a 10g is probably too small for a hospital.

What about this idea: (1) Move the inverts to the 10g hospital. Then, add Rid Ich to the main tank. I have live rock in there, but won't some of it survive?

rajfish

 

[linda lee]

rajfish;72600 wrote: My concern is if I put my fish in the tank (which has been running a few hours) they die immediately. Plus, 5 fish in a 10g is probably too small for a hospital.

What about this idea: (1) Move the inverts to the 10g hospital. Then, add Rid Ich to the main tank. I have live rock in there, but won't some of it survive?

rajfish

If all of your fish are reef safe, you might want to get a

 

[rajfish]

I found a small white abrasion on the flame angel, but he is eating, happy, healthy. Could it be a scratch from rubbing against live rock (I have a lot of it and he goes through tights spaces)? He is very active otherwise.

The only other fish doing anything suspicious is a clown. He is only scratching on one of the filters, same spot everytime. Could it be a territory thing?

The other Clarkii clown is not glancing at all. The Caudern and the Blenny are fine.

What bothers me is that the Clarkii has been glancing for 7+ days. The temp of the tank is like 82 during the day, so theoretically, the life cycle of Ich should be speeded up.

I'll keep monitoring.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

I agree with Dawgdude, My research on Kick Ich is that it does not kick anything!!! Listen Raj, i will PM you my phone number. If you read the article in full, you will have a good idea of what I am going to tell you to do. To give you the Cliff's Notes Ver, NEVER treat the main tank!!! That is, if you want to be sure of the outcome! Kick Ich IS NOT reef safe for the most part. Larget inverts may be able to survive it in small doses but smaller inverts are toast. It is not as bad about leaching as copper but still not to be trusted.

If you are looking to medicate, which I only suggest with some illnesses and in extream cases, with the fish you have, formalin would be your best bet.

Anyways, PM sent with my number.

 

[skriz]

Listen to Brandon, he knows what he'd doing.

Another thing, you need to change your name. Very confusing see my name ona post, and it's not reffering to me.

 

[rajfish]

Hey guys. My tank is doing great. Thanks to Brandon, I got some great frags (anthia, polyps, mushrooms, etc.). I am taking Brandon's advice and taking a wait and see approach to see if this is ich I am dealing with or a reaction to something else. Copper irriates inverts and fish right?
It is listed as a trace element in the Marine Trace by Seachem. However, I can't imagine Seachem would include it if it would hurt fish and inverts.

That one clown still glances on stuff. I have some edible erythromycin which can be used for gill diseases. Since there are NO white spots, I figure it must be in the gills. What if I mix the edible erythromycin drops with brine shrimp?

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Raj, It was great to meet ya today too. Glat you got to hack a bit at my corals and take home a sample!

No Erythromycin!!! A different treatment for a different illness (and one not too common in SW).

Copper is bad for inverts but is used in small doses by some things in your tank. That is why it is in TRACE elements within some products.