is this ICH????????

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Raven1770

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Mar 16, 2013
Messages
11
I have had one clown and one shark nose goby just die. My two fire fish are hiding and my other clown looks like this? I have a cardinal and chromis swimming fine and look normal so is my yellow clown goby and green goby. My carbs are fine along with my star. No corals just live rook, tank is about 5 months old. 36 gal
Please help!!!!!!!!!!!
 

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That's really sad :( It looks like it has ich but I seriously doubt that was the cause of death. Both of my clowns have been covered with ich way worse than that and they lived. It might be bacterial if it's killing multiple fish in a small span of time.

What's your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings as well as salinity?
 
My boyfriend has a 90 gallon tank, 15 weeks old. He had a bicolor angel, a black and white angel, two black clown fish, a yellow tang, a powder blue tang, a sea grass wrasse, 5 pajama cardinals, a blue spiny lobster, a sand sifting star fish, a brittle star fish, two black spiny urchins, 4 cleaner shrimp, a peppermint shrimp, 6 emerald crabs, small hermits crabs, some nas snails, a five turbo snails. A week and a half ago his bicolor angel fish died (and of course his blue lobster was snacking on it). Two says later his black and white angel died and his powder blue tang was on the top of the tank covered in what appeared to ick. He went to the fish store and they sold him all natural ick killer and said he should freshwater fish dips. They also said he could treat his tank with the inverts in it no problem... (I was suspicious since I have read this can't be done and also have asked on here for help). Yesterday he lost all but the yellow tang, sea wrasse, two pajama cardinals (although one cardinal looks very sick and his eye turned cloudy grey) and his inverts and lobster. The fish that are left are covered in thick spots! After an emergent trip to the fish store that his brilliant girlfriend uses (me) they told him they didn't know what kind of parasite and now a bacteria he had! The treatment was wrong and the illness was very aggressive. He had to set up a hospital tank and the prognosis is not good. Oddly they said he left his main tank fish less with just the inverts for five weeks the parasite and bacteria will die with no host and he can then just resume building his tank with fish. Crazy thing is the other store told him he can add all the coral and anenomes to the main tank he wants whole waiting. He is also building a 155 gallon tank and they told his he could use the sand and rock from The main tank and even move his inverts and lobster over as long as he wait five weeks for fish! Sort of scares me that he will use the same contaminated water sand rocks ect or even add new things to a sick tank. Any thoughts?
 
What did the test kits show during all of this? No ammonia? A 90 gallon with that many fish and I imagine there was a spike that allowed the Ich to take hold. I imagine he's feeding at least once a day also.
Way overstocked was the problem here IMO, and not ich. Ich was just the symptom of overstocking. That said, if you leave the tank without fish for a period of weeks, you will lose the ich parasite.
 
He, unlike me, did not have his waters professionally tested and did it at home. Also when it started he went to the aquarium store and got all natural ick medication that was "reef safe" so he didn't have to separate his fish from his inverts. He also didn't try to join a group for help and has not been really good about reading the directions. He got a purple tipped anenome that Pet Co told him would do fine when his tank was only 4 weeks old. He then had to touch it and keep moving it where he wanted everyday. Then he said to me it keeps shriveling up... So I tried to tell him ummmm it's starving because your tank isn't established and it hates to be touched which you do everyday... Well it died :-(
I try to read everything I can. I ask tons of questions, I joined a blog. And I am trying sooo hard to get started and do things the right way. I appreciate so much all the things and resources I have found here
 
He is using a master test kit he got at petro with all the tubes. Not the one for reefs though. Would you recommend a different set for both of us?
Do you think I am not getting good results or doing it wrong too? I am sure open to any suggestions :)
 
API doesn't have the most accurate tests in the hobby. I would look into Salifert Or Elos test kits for some things. They are much more expensive, but worth the price difference IMO.
 
Absolutely agree with that tank being overstocked. Too much and too quick. I can't imagine the parameters being okay in there or the fish not being stressed. I would not have two dwarf angels in anything less than a 120 and that is pushing it, IMO. I would not have a yellow tang in a 90g or a Powder Blue (they can be agressive). Its just a recipe for disaster.

The idea of leaving the tank fallow is good. Ich needs a fish to host and survive. Without one, it will die off. Inverts, corals, etc do not host. The rock and water will be fine after. I would not add corals, but there is probably nothing inherently wrong with doing so.

How are the fish being treated in QT? Keep an eye on parameters in there as it is probably not cycled and ammonia and nitrites can hurt the fish even more.
 
I'm going through the QT'ing and fallow process and the biggest thing I'm looking forward to is having an ich free tank enabling me to keep all sorts of fish with a lot less stress!

You have an advantage in which you're tank is still very new so you can learn from others mistakes. Biggest mistake I ever made was not QT'ing!
 
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