need some help

[buffcole]

Thought I did everything right. Got some fish from someone last weekend, a 6 inch fox face and a 4-5 inch sailfin tang. When they got the fish out they used a net and the fox face was caught on his spiny fins. He was stressed. Before I left I saw a blue hippo come out from a rock and he had ich near his eye. I told them and it seemed as if they didn't know it. At that point the fish were so stressed, I couldn't put them back in. The person was selling his whole tank with fish and wanted it gone, so I knew it wouldn't be treated. I just couldn't let them be put back in and get ich. Only the one fish out of 10 had it.

I have a 120 gallon DT. I brought them home dripped them for 2 hours (their pH was 8.6) put them in my QT. Started feeding them metro so they wouldn't get ich. Everything was fine but the Foxface was not eating. I read an article that said fish do not have ich unless they contract it and just because they are stressed doesn't mean they will get it unless they already have it. When I put them in my QT I looked them over several times and observed several times, no ich. Still fed them the metro as a preventative. My QT all water parameters are fine. I test on a weekly basis because I still have an anemone and a pistol shrimp in there. Was planning on moving them over but haven't had the time, so it still has the rock and sand in it.

I just got the 120, cycled it twice had it up for over a month before putting fish in in. Everything in the 120 is doing great.

I thought I did everything right. QT all water parameters were kept up on a weekly basis, dripped fish, fed metro as a preventative. I didn't take into account that the foxface wouldn't eat. The only thing I can think of is when my husband put the foxface in, he got some water from the other person's tank in mine. I didn't worry because Petco had told me ich lives in the sand, I didn't know it swam around in the water.

Now I've got one fish not eating and obviously need to treat the water. Now they are starting to fight occasionally. I have another tank but don't think I can cycle it in time. What should I do?

Feeding mysis.

 

[kirkplunkett]

I'm currently battling ich my self... I wasn't as prepared as you and lost my Four-Line Wrasse. Apparently, ich lives in the water column for up to 9-12 weeks. It has three stages to complete before completely dying off from the water column. Lucky for me, I have a DT in my bedroom that just finished cycling and will host my remaining fish until the water column in my other DT is cleared.

My advice... Remove all fish (if possible) and let the water column clear it's self. This may require keeping your fish in QT for several weeks. For this reason, I would go ahead and start cycling the other tank. You'll need at least 2 1/2 to 3 months before the water column is clear for sure... Some say it can take less time, but I prefer to err on the side of caution.

 

[jcturner]

I'm going through the ich cycle too. We were told 4-6 weeks and the ich in the DT would clear. 9-12 weeks is longer than I've heard. What have others done??

 

[kirkplunkett]

The reason I lost my Four-Line Wrasse was because I went with the 4-6 week info I heard too. My two Clowns are 7 years old... They've been through a lot and are pretty darn hardy. However, the Wrasse was only a few months old.

I lost the Wrasse in less than 48 hours (after a four week QT with high copper dosing) after being re-introduced into my DT. All the fish looked great and where swimming and eating normal prior to being re-introduced. The following morning, the Wrasse appeared to be out of breath/breathing heavy. I had to go to work, and she was gone by the time I returned.

Again... For these reasons, I like to err on the side of caution. Maybe you'll have better luck. I am by no means an expert. This is just my experience, and every tank is different.

 

[jcturner]

Well I've waited 6 weeks Tuesday! What's 3 more?!!

Edit: I certainly dont want to do this again!!

 

[buffcole]

Moved the sail fin tang to another tank. They were fighting and they both have nicks and I'll have to get something for bacterial infections now. Paraguard is that something good to use. It is from seachem. What does everyone use to get rid of ich and bacterial infections? I'm new to salt water but have done fresh water for over 15 years. So I don't know really what is the tried and true way to do things and don't want my fish to die.

Here's the link where I read the article.

http://joejaworski.wordpress.com/2007/09/28/the-marine-ich-epidemic/">http://joejaworski.wordpress.com/2007/09/28/the-marine-ich-epidemic/</a>

Buffie

 

[kirkplunkett]

DON'T USE IT IN THE DISPLAY!!!!! Sorry for yelling, but I had my wife stop by the LFS to pickup some Ich Attack and they gave her this instead... I didn't check before dosing... Almost killed ALL MY CORAL.

Luckily, I had some extra carbon and a few old filters... I was able to manufacture a small reactor and get the medicine out before it caused too much damage.

After that experience, I contacted a friend who's been doing this for years and he said it's good medicine, but to only use it in a QT. He said he personally uses Cupramine for a high copper dosing... Since it's confined to a QT it's fine and acts faster with more permanent results.

EDIT: After reviewing the webpage, it looks like Cupramine is strictly for Parasitic...

 

[kirkplunkett]

buffcole;793052 wrote: Here's the link where I read the article.

http://joejaworski.wordpress.com/2007/09/28/the-marine-ich-epidemic/">http://joejaworski.wordpress.com/2007/09/28/the-marine-ich-epidemic/</a>[/QUOTE]

That is actually a really good article! :up: