Solving Ich - fish keep dying

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stan450z

Aquarium Advice Freak
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Jan 19, 2009
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Have had a tank for 8 years or so, in the last year or two I have fish that dont seem to last too long. Just had a juvinile koran angel die after 2 weeks (i thought this was bc it was harassed by tankmates), and a kole tang for after 2 months. It was doing fine eating every day but had a little color loss and eractic behavior. Noticed a few white dots on its fins before death. My perameters are all 0. I use petco real ocean water when I do my PWC and keep salinity around 1.022-3 and chiller to 78.

Only had issues recently keeping fish alive for the last 2 years or so, before that I would have the same fish and would live for years, now they barely stay alive for a few months.

I still have an ocelaris clownfish in my tank, with a few white spots on its body towards the top of its body. Nothing on the fins.

What can I do to alleviate this? I hear lowering salinity may help too, or does this go away by itself? Maybe a large water change like 50%? I dont want to use copper and kill all my inverts and crabs.
 
You do not want to do any type of treatment in the display.
What size tank are we talking about? Was there aggression in the system? How long has this tank been up and running? How old are your test kits?
 
I have a 75g the aggressor was the Kole tang but he died. He picked on the baby Koran which didn't last long. Tank has been up and running for about 8 years. Test kits are a couple months old.
 
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This is my experience


An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: A Quarantine Tank for Everything by Steven Pro

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part II by Steven Pro
 
I have a 75g the aggressor was the Kole tang but he died. He picked on the baby Koran which didn't last long. Tank has been up and running for about 8 years. Test kits are a couple months old.

What is the maintenance on the system like?
What happened to the fish that were in there before?
 
Thanks for the read. Btw here's a pic of a the clown. Does this look like ich or something else? Almost looks like a coating at this point. Not sure if shows up well in the photo. IMG_1743.jpg
 
Can't really see anything.
Is that the only fish in the system currently? Have all the fish come from the same store? What is the maintenance on the system look like?
If you are doing large water changes with ro/di water, things will get to where they need to be. Even if the tests aren't showing something being wrong, the solution is always dilution.
 
Ok well I found my clownfish passed away. All I have left is one dispar Anthias in the tank for 1 month and a yellow tail damsel I had for 8 years. Pretty much everything is gone. :-( should I just drain my tank 100% and fill with new salt water start from scratch? This is really upsetting.
 
I'd just keep an eye on things. I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bath water. If those fish show no signs of issues, I'd stay the course. If they do, I'd want to put into a QT tank and treat for brook like bandit said.
 
Obviously there is an issue with my water If nearly my entire tank dies
 
So I've done quite a bit of reading and research... I did come to the conclusion that this was a Brooklynella outbreak. Not sure how this started although my baby Koran Angel was the first to go.

All that remains is my 8 year old damsel, one dispar anthais and my inverts.

As far as my display tank how should I proceed? I want to add some sand and do a 50% water change later this week(maybe a couple times), and make sure parameters remain safe before beginning to introduce new fish.. maybe 1-2 months from now. I want to make sure this Brooklynella is completely removed from my tank...
 
How are the fish doing currently? How are the parameters? If it is brook, then it will kill quickly. Sounds like it most likely came in on the angel if it was first to go.

In terms of adding sand to the system, then you can get a piece of PVC so you can add sand to the system. This will prevent a sandstorm, which can be stressful...something your system doesn't need any more of.

If your parameters need some tweaking, then do a water change. Keep an eye on things for a couple of weeks before any additions as we are simply going by the assumption that the two fish in the system are healthy enough to fight off the issues.
 
How are the fish doing currently? How are the parameters? If it is brook, then it will kill quickly. Sounds like it most likely came in on the angel if it was first to go.

In terms of adding sand to the system, then you can get a piece of PVC so you can add sand to the system. This will prevent a sandstorm, which can be stressful...something your system doesn't need any more of.

If your parameters need some tweaking, then do a water change. Keep an eye on things for a couple of weeks before any additions as we are simply going by the assumption that the two fish in the system are healthy enough to fight off the issues.


So I have been keeping an eye on the water and fish. The single anthias and the damsel is ok no issues. There was an ammonia spike to maybe 0.2 ppm - probably from the mass death (even after removed fish immediately - some of the small anthias were never found)

Ammonia down to 0 and things looking ok. I hope to add new fish soon slowly - just 1 per month - or 3/4 anthais for my first addition to add to the solo anthias I have). Can I suspect any ich or brooklynella is gone? Should I maybe do a 50% water change to be safe?
 
Ich has a long life cycle, most of which you can't even see it with the naked eye. It can live 6 weeks without a host fish, if I remember correctly.
50% water changes are doable, I've done them before. You don't want to do much larger than that under normal situations.
 
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