HELP ME!!!

[seacat]

Ok I get a call this morning from my girl friend that her fish are doing terrible well i get over here and theres one dead clown and the other is as we speak being read his final rights. THe thing is the tnak has been up and running for about 3-5 months and not a problem...We added a peppermint shrimp about 4 days ago to help with aptasia and then all of a sudden things start to dissapear. We had a pink psuedochromis and he dissapeared 3 days ago and now there is a filmy white thing on all of the live rock. Any help is greatly appreatiated!! Prey for my last clown and 2 damsels

 

[klam]

Start testing your water

 

[evenings]

we will need additional information about your setup.. tank size and equipment

 

[mattmku]

seacat is taking care of the tank at my house. I'm 5 hours away at college right not but from my converstaions with him and my sister here
is what i've taken from the whole thing.

What it sounds like to me is ick. We had two clown fish, both of which are dead now. From what my sister said, it sounds like they had white stuff all over them. There is still a damsel and chromis alive but one of them has white spots forming on it too. The Peppermint shrimp is fine, and the two snails we had have died.

If it is ick what should be done? Is copper ok to use with the peppermint shrimp in there, or is there a better medication?

Tank specs
20 gal tank
3 Stage wet dry filter
20 lbs live rock
green chromis - living with spots
blue damsel - living
peppermint shrimp - living
2 clownfish - dead
1 pink pseudo - dead
2 snails - dead

As for water levels everything seems to be great. Nitrates are at about 10 ppm but everthing else is perfect. Water temp is at 76 C

Any help is appreciated

 

[ChrisB]

copper kills invertebrates, live rock, and almost everything else that isnt a fish.
also the ick may have come from the shrimp, even though they cant get ick their water can and so can they
and all this i said is only true if you have ick

 

[Atari]

Could be ich or a velvet outbreak. As already said you cant treat the main tank anyway.. you would need to setup a hospital tank for the fish.

 

[mattmku]

Even if we did set up a hospital tank, doesn't the ich remain in the main tank? How do i get rid of that?

 

[Atari]

It will die out on its own if there aren't any fish in the tank for 4-6 weeks.

 

[seacat]

I just went to the store and bought some Wardleys ICK AWAY but on the bottle it says for "Tropical Aquariums"...does this mean i can use it in my tank...in the ingredients it says it contains malachite green. Can i use this in my regular tank or do i have to set up a hosipital tank? Thanks for the help!

 

[Atari]

Malachite green is nasty stuff.. definitely set up a hospital tank.

Remember that you will still need to leave the main tank fallow for 4-6 weeks before you can return the fish to it. Otherwise they will just get infected again.

 

[seacat]

thanks alot, i was also wondering what i should do with the crab and the shrimp while i am using the hospital tank. should i put them in the hospital or just use the regular tank too. and do i need to keep my regular tank filtered and lighted, and also my LR

 

[quarryshark]

You can and should leave them where they are, in the main. They are not hosts for parasites.
Just "feed" the main tank a couple times a week, for the inverts and the biological filters. Keep your routine water changes and normal lighting schedule.

 

[mattmku]

Would this procedure get rid of the ich?:
1. remove all inhabitants and live rock into seperate tank
2. lower salinity in main tank to kill ich
3. do a freshwater dip with 2 invertabrates to remove ich and place back into main tank
4. dose fish with ich medication and once cured replace fish back in main tank

This is just my idea of how to shorten the cure time. Is it ok to freshwater dip an invert? How long will it take for the medication to cure the fish?

 

[steve-s]

Would this procedure get rid of the ich?:
1. remove all inhabitants and live rock into seperate tank

You could but it would be much easier to remove just the fish and treat them seperately. You would also still need to leave anything with a hard surface QT'd for 4-6 weeks to ensure there are no reproductive cysts (tomonts). Not really easier when you consider all the angles.

2. lower salinity in main tank to kill ich

Lowering the salinity to 14 ppt will be a very effective treatment against C.irritans but it also kills everything else. The only thing that should survive hyposalinity when properly performed is the fish and bacteria. All other "critters" that may be living in the substrate would also perish.

3. do a freshwater dip with 2 invertabrates to remove ich and place back into main tank

FW dips will kill mobile inverts. They cannot feed the parasite and are therefore not a concern in the treatment scheme. Leave the main tank as is and just remove the fish. Leaving the tank fallow for 4-6 weeks is the easiest and safest way to rid the display tank of this parasite.

4. dose fish with ich medication and once cured replace fish back in main tank

You're better off with >>hyposalinity<< than the product you've purchased. Even in a QT environment it's effectiveness against C. irritans is limited.

This is just my idea of how to shorten the cure time.

Taking short cuts is very risky and increases the possibility the fish will not be properly rid of the parasite.

How long will it take for the medication to cure the fish?

The one you have may never cure the problem. Hyposalinity takes about the same amount of time as the fallow period and Cupramine takes 2-3 weeks but the fallow period must still be observed.

Cheers
Steve