help with ich and qt tank!

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KatyKat

KatyKat

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jul 22, 2012
Messages
111
Location
Geneva, Il
Okay so a few weeks ago i decided it would be wise to invest in a qt tank for those emergency situations. Well go figure...tonight (for the first time)i notice tiny white dots on my clown fish under the blue setting, so i turn on the normal leds and sure enough still dots, so i figure ich right ? Well here is my issue, when i bought my qt tank i got a 1.5 gallon, i has a filter and a normal light bulb with hood. I put a heater in it and added some algae and sand from my dt. Im worried that this tank is too small to qt my clown in for 6 weeks? Do i rush a new qt tank that isnt established at all? Or use a small qt tank that has at least been running for two weeks? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
Taking the clown out will cause stress. Putting him in a 1.5 gallon tank will probably be even more stressful. The latter will aggravate its Ich. So if you are going to take your clown out put him in a larger QT.
Don't worry about the QT not being established. Check out a video on youtube made by Vividaquariums about QTs. They say not to worry about cycling because you will be relying on water taken from your main aquarium when you do a water change. So 100% of your QT water will be good water from your main tank. Every week water from your old aquarium goes in your QT while the main tank gets clean saltwater.

I personally like to cut a little piece of sponge from my main tank and put it in QT. I use Coppersafe for Ich treatment and it's supposed to preserve beneficial bacteria. If it really does that, great! If not, no big deal because QT gets water from main tank every week. People say copper kills beneficial bacteria while Coppersafe is supposed to be just that..."safe". Anyway, I put it just in case.
In terms of QT, try to get at least a 5-6 gallon kit that comes with light and filtration. I think Petsmart has some 5 gallon Marineland kits for sale under $50. I got lucky and picked up Aqueon Evolve 8 gallons for $39. I had two onyx clowns in it and their Ich was gone in 6 days using Coppersafe. If you are going to use copper for treatment make sure you get a copper test kit. If i did not have it I would not have saved my clownfish. Even if you follow the instructions of medication the dosage might not be enough...or could be too much. No way to tell until you test. Some people here prefer hypo-salinity treatment but Coppersafe worked just fine for me. Good luck. Just know it WILL go away if you do it right.
 
Thank you so much for the help! I have a few questions, if you dont mind :)

1) my dt is a 5 gal nano reef, obviously i cant take much of the water out and im worried the frequent water changes will harm my corals?

2)i also have a small bangaii cardinal who is showing no signs of ich, i should include him in the qt correct?

3) snails and hermits are okay to stay in dt?

4)ive read mixed reviews on temp in qt, im guessing i should just match it to the dt rather than raising it?

5) do i need to worry about the lighting in one of these cheap tanks? Does it matter? Also does a certain light schedule help?

Sorry for all of the questions i just love my fish!!

So i need:
Ten gallon tank with filter, heater, and light.
Somewhere for fish to hide
Medicine you reccomended.
 
1) you won't need frequent water changes in the DT...maybe less than normal due to less waste being added (as fish are in QT now). Corals shod be fine.

2) The Cardinal can host Ich, so QT it too.

3) Yes, they can stay.

4) Correct. Raising temp is a freshwater trick. It does not do much to help saltwater.

5) Lighting is really more for us than the fish. As long as they can see their good, they are fine with whatever.

For hiding...just buy a couple pieces pvc elbows or connectors from somewhere like Home Depot...you want large enough that they can get into, obviously.
 
I agree with the post above. However, you will probably end up back to square one after treating your fish in QT. Your tank does not have enough space to accommodate your clown and cardinal. They need more space. Now, I am no tang police and the reason I am saying this to you is: you will have a never ending cycle of sick fish where they spend more time treating in your QT with copper than in your main tank. It's no fun for you as a hobbyist and not good for fish either. Not to mention how time consuming it will get dealing with sick fish on a regular basis. So what would I suggest?
Option 1:
Take your current fish to your LFS. Do not expect store credit as the store will have to treat the fish.
Run your aquarium fishless 2-5 weeks.
Buy one or two of the following fish: Trimma Goby, Panda Goby or Possibly a Yellow Clown goby.
Option 2:
Upgrade your tank to 20+ gallons.
Transfer corals and other inverts to new tank.
Use your current 5 gallon as QT.

Wish you best of luck!
 
Just got a ten gallon qt, ich attatck, a heater, and enough salt for the tank. Wish me luck!
 
I did not see the 5g nano as I was reading over this...I agree with the idea that neither fish is going to thrive in a 5g, especially the clown. 5g really limits your choices with fish. Very few will work in that small of a nano. Check out places like Liveaquaria for recommended tank sizes.
 
Okay just picked up the pvc pipe. Also im considering leaving the cardinal in the qt tank after the time is up. And making it a fish only tank, so he has more room. Thanks for input. Ill update photos soon.
 
Have them both in qt tabnk, cardinal is breathing heavily but he pit up quite the fight getting in, i hope they will do well in there :-/
 
So far so good :) eating like pigs, thank you so much for youe advice and instructions !

ForumRunner_20131016_101246.jpg
 
That's great news, and it sounds like you did everything right,

However- the above posters are right, the 5 gallon isn't enough room. I looked it up, to be sure before I went and rained on your parade- and minimum tank size is 20 gallons all over the board.

Fish are prone to ich infections when they are stressed. Your fish are stressed because they don't have enough room. Without upgrading them, you'll just go right back to an ich infestation in no time.

I'm sorry I know that sucks to hear, because it seems like you care for them very well.

Maybe this is an opportunity to upgrade yourself? Get a bigger reef set up, and maybe even another fish! I'm sure you can find a tank on Craigslist for cheap- or free. I've found several tanks for free on C-list myself.

Anyways, sorry, but your fish will thank you, be happier, and live twice as long! Good luck!
 
Agreed.... you've done good by your fish so far, but you need to do your research on their particular requirements. Clowns require min of 20g for a single, and 30g for a pair. The cardinals require min of 30g, and are schooling fish.... they might do OK by themselves, but thrive better in small groups.
 
Just an update both fish are doing great, and are in a new 50gallon now!
 
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