Tang has ick (I think) and I have anemones - what do i do?

[mardeebo]

Yeah - another ick question! Sorry!

Background: Bought established 72gal tank 2 weeks ago containing 2 large bubble tips and a large Maroon clown, crabs,snails etc. I traded the clown for a yellow tang a week ago and also added a small O clown and a firefish.

Water is testing great - 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 7 nitrates, PH = 8.4, sg = 1.024, temp 78.

I didn't QT the new fish. *yeah, I know, and now I know better*

So last night I see 4 tiny white spots on the tang, he's swimming slower, and not spreading his fins out like usual. Still eating great. No other fish have spots (but firefish hides so can't find him).

I'm setting up a QT tank tonight.

I've read I should move ALL fish to QT tank for 6 weeks.

QUESTION:
What do I do about the anemones? Are they affected by ick?

I also have a sea cucumber & brittle star - do I do anything with them?

How do I time the addition of the fish back into the main tank?

sorry so long...

Thanks!

 

[tripper]

Sorry to hear about your ich problem, i've been in the same situation.

You will need to get all your fish into QT and treat with either hypo or cuppramine. You will leave your main tank fallow for 6-8 weeks, 6 being the minimum. This will allow the parasite to go through its life cycle and die off. At that point you can introduce your fish back into the main.

All inverts can stay in the main during this process. They are not hosts to the parasite and will be unaffected.

One piece of advice. Add a small amount of food to the main tank every 2-3 days so that the bio-filter stays at the appropriate level. That way you will be able to introduce your fish back at the same time.

Keep an eye on your water parameters in the QT and have plenty of aged/aerated SW on hand to do water changes.

Good luck!

tripper

 

[steve-s]

None of the inverts can feed the parasite so they can stay in the tank, only the fish need to be removed. QT, treat, leave the main fallow for 6-8 weeks and then re-acclimate the fish back as you would any new animal.

Cheers
Steve

 

[austinsdad]

So.... gonna consider a small QT tank now? Treating the current fish and avoiding headache in the future for new additions will be well worth it IMO.

Good luck. PM Mister, Master, Sir Quarryshark for more details. He's real good at this kinda stuff. I think he's accepting donations for his kid's college fund and I get a percentage for administering the fund.

Just kidding. He'll help you if you get in a bind.

 

[mardeebo]

Guess I have a new use for the 20 gallon tank instead of a sump! I'm not sure how to go about setting up the QT tank in such short notice. I'll check the archives as I'm sure it's been discussed before. "m concerned about ammonia since it's a new tank.

Thanks for the clarification regarding the anemone

 

[steve-s]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=17

Cheers
Steve

 

[mardeebo]

Quote from the article (thanks for the link, Steve)

Quarantine is probably one of the single most responsible things we as fish keepers can do for our fish.

I pray my fishies will forgive me!

 

[oyf709]

just wondering, isn't cleaner shrimp do "clean" ich sometimes? oh as for the anemone problem, there is a medication out there is clearly state reef safe, and i tried it before for my 20g with a BTA in it also, didn't arm them at all, but the thing is u need to take all the carbon base sponge out to ensure it works

 

[steve-s]

Cleaner shrimp do not eliminate the parasite and reef safe treatments are risking a 50/50 chance of success. Equally you risk a 50/50 chance the fish will perish. At best you might end up with a balance between fish and parasite which I fail to understand why anyone would want. Why not simpley QT, treat, fallow and be done with it

Cheers
Steve