Aqua Pro-Cure

[C4t4StRoPhIc]

heres what the bottle says. Copper-Free, Reef and Invertibrate Safe. Effective treatment for Marine and Freshwater Velvet, dinoflagellates, gill flukes, and bacterial fin rot. Professional Strength. Safe for nitrifying bacteria. Synergestic blend of 3 potent compounds. Will not harm aquatic plants, corals, or other invertebrates.

on to the question.

all my fish have little white dots on them. not like large salt grains, but more like table salt grains. not around the gills, but on the tails, heads, and flanks of the fish. is this cryptocaryon irritans? if not, what might this be and am i using the correct medicine for whatever it may be?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Without a picture, can't be sure... but I hate to say that it sure sounds like it. Ich looks pretty much like table salt on the body fo the fish.

Read these...

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

... then this...

ATJ's Marine Aquarium Site - Reference - Hyposalinity Treatment

I think after reading stuff, you'll come to the conclusion that anything that truly kills ich, will also kill any and all inverts. So the idea of a "reef safe" medicine to kill ich, in my opinion, is just snake oil meant to separate you from your money.

My advice? Quarantine tank and hyposalinity for all fish. Main tank fishless for 6-8 weeks to kill off the parasite in the main.

 

[Innovator]

It is Formalin based. I would follow the links given by Kurt.

 

[melosu58]

I would follow` Kurt`s links also.

 

[C4t4StRoPhIc]

ok, well, im really scared now. for some reason, everything is dying. it started with a snail, then my Coral Beauty, then my Clown today. im down to one clown and two horseshoe crabs. i think it might be a disease or something that i picked up from one of the clowns, so im just gonna let the tank go where its gonna go. if it crashes, then ill just let it run and get back into line, then ill start again, but im really sad cuz i loved these fish, plus i put some serious cash into it. (or so it felt). but yah, any suggestions?

 

[Innovator]

did you dose the main tank with a medication?

 

[C4t4StRoPhIc]

yah, this aqua pro cure. but the coral beauty died from the clowns attacking and killing it. which does not seem like normal behaviour for clowns. the snail died after it was upside down for a day or so, i dont know if that had anything to do with it. and idk why the clown died, he just keeled over the other day. the other clown seems to be doing good, but i expect him to follow suit. any advice/suggestions?

 

[melosu58]

Read these...

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

... then this...

ATJ's Marine Aquarium Site - Reference - Hyposalinity Treatment

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

...any advice/suggestions?

I think we've already done that.

Clowns are strange things. I wouldn't put it past them harrassing a angel to death. Especially if they're stressed from having to fight ich.

 

[C4t4StRoPhIc]

welp, the other clown is as good as dead. he is laying on his side, breathing heavily. is there anything i can do to save him, or is he toast. Sorry Kurt, didnt know if maybe you guys thought it was related or not.

 

[C4t4StRoPhIc]

im starting to get a bit discouraged. it seems that this hobby is only for those with thick wallets, cuz there has got to be something im not doing right/not buying.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Kinda scratching my head here...

You got several bits of advice off your first post, ALL which said that you should probably put the fish in hyposalinity to get rid of the ich, and to not use that medication. All it takes to do hypo is a spare tank, a sponge filter or power filter, and a heater... things you should already have. Yes... they cost money, but having a proper quarantine setup in the end will be a money saver.

Granted, this hobby isn't the cheapest in the world, but not researching or listening to advice that you asked for does tend to make it more expensive when you have to constantly replace livestock.

 

[C4t4StRoPhIc]

well, i did the hyposalinity, that didnt work, and i talked to the guy at my LFS, and he had been having that problem too, and he continued using the meds, so i figured, what (moderator edit), if its working for him, why not for me? im getting advice from about 3 different sources, and hundreds of different people buddy, and im trying to regulate all of this in my head when i dont have alot of experience, and excuse me(moderator edit) it if i get a little confused and stressed out. just keep scratching your head, cuz thats what im doing when trying to get all of the stuff im hearing straight. so, kurt, shush.

sigh, im going to get a proper quarantine set up sometime this summer, but until then, ill just leave the tank as is and let it run with corals and horshshoe crabs and snails and hermit crabs.

 

[HoCkEyGmC]

Consittering your last post was at about noon and you didnt mention anything about hyposalinity, and now you said that you attempted it, that tells me that it was done improperly if it was done. Hyposalinity cant be done in 5 hours or even a day at that. Also, was this attemted hypo in a qt i hope?
Just trying to help!

 

[bawel]

HOckey, I don't think she did it in a QT cause she said she's gonna get a proper quarantine sometime in the summer. But yes, Hyposalinity treatment takes longer than a week too... actually about a month to get it back to health, so don't get frustrated, if you can get yourself a spare tank to be a QT.

Don't get frustrated too fast, I was frustrated too when the second fish I got was dead within 2 days, but like I said, keep monitoring your tank, if you see one of your fish has an ich, try to remove him immediately from the main tank and get a spare tank for QT, so that the diseases won't spread.

FYI, I just realized, your tank cycled like in mid-end of January and you already have 3 fishes, I think you also adding too much fishes at the very short period of time. Usually after the tank cycled you should add just 1 or 2 fishes to see if everything is stable before adding another kind.

 

[Innovator]

Did you ever check NH3 after dosing your tank? Considering you dosed your tank with a Formalin product, it wouldn't be surprising if it destroyed quite a bit of your nitrifying bacteria and fauna. Also, Formalin doesn't readily kill ich so it was pointless to dose. Either hyposalinity (proper hypo works, not sure on specifics of your particular hypo period), Chloroquine, or copper (cupramine) to eliminate ich.

 

[C4t4StRoPhIc]

well, the way i was told to do hypo (i didnt read anythign from here on it) was to take the fish, put it in a bowl of slightly salted water, leave it for a few secs, then put it back in the tank. and this has been going on for more than just a few days, so ive had more than just what ive posted on here. but there aint no point in arguing with me, because i know what happened, and thats the point. it HAPPENED. its over, history, see yah, bye bye. so ill just learn from what i did wrong and start over again when i have the bank to do so.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

well, the way i was told to do hypo (i didnt read anythign from here on it) was to take the fish, put it in a bowl of slightly salted water, leave it for a few secs, then put it back in the tank. and this has been going on for more than just a few days, so ive had more than just what ive posted on here. but there aint no point in arguing with me, because i know what happened, and thats the point. it HAPPENED. its over, history, see yah, bye bye. so ill just learn from what i did wrong and start over again when i have the bank to do so.

Sorry you got some bad advice about the hypo treatment. What you were told to do was just dead wrong. That's not my opinion, that's just fact. I agree with what you said about getting advice from various sources, and it being confusing. But that's why you need to research the advice you're given before you do it. A quick Google search on hypo would've given you a hint that what you were told was a bunch of hooey.

Oh... and you can "shush" me all you want, but it doesn't make what I'm trying to tell you any different. All I can do (or any of us here) is give advice based on the information you post on the board. When I last posted, the only thing you'd told us is that you'd dosed with that formalin based stuff. And that was it. Want better advise and comments next time?... then give us all the info. Good luck. I'll shush now.

 

[C4t4StRoPhIc]

Sorry Kurt, just really frustrated and looking for someone to take it out on. My bad. But like I said, ill just let it run for a few months, letting it get stable and disease free, then try again. but i do have a question about the zoanthids i got. they are constantly closed. is this bad, or just normal?

 

[C4t4StRoPhIc]

btw, Bawel, im a guy.....just....just throwing that out there..... XD