MAYDAY..MAYDAY

[im_ontop]

NEED HELP!!!

MY TANK: 45 Gallon Pentagon tank that stands about 2.5 feet tall with crushed sea shell base, penguin biowheel filter, protien skimmer, satellite dual 55 actinic bulb, and a dual daylight 55 watt bulb.

I have been having a problem with what seems to be ICH. I have been doing monthly water changes, filter changes as required, and keeping the temperature at 78 degrees with a salinity level of .027. I haven't been able to keep fish any longer than what seems to be 3 weeks. They all go through the same symptoms of ICH...spots, lathargic, then die. I even heat my water to the same temperature of the tank when doing water changes and syphon the water in slowly.

I have a chainlink eel, pipefish, hermit crab that is about 3 inches long, cleaner shrimp and 2 anenome's. They don't seem to be stressing the fish out. I've even raised the temperature to 80 degrees and waited 5 weeks to make sure the ICH had run it's course the last bout I had.

Can anyone help me??? I love the hobby but it's costing me a fortune in livestock!!!

 

[Phyl]

Fish and inverts should be kept at an SG of between 1.022 and 1.025 on a normal ongoing basis. If your tank is having a problem with ich then you want to leave it completely fishless (I don't know if that means the eel and pipefish or not) for at least 6 weeks, most now say 8. Raising the temp to 80 doesn't really hurt ich at all. It would need to be up around 86 (which I wouldn't advise based on your inverts) to speed up the lifecycle of the parasite.

If you're adding fish to your main without a proper QT time there's a better than even chance (especially if you're using the same ol' supplier) that you're adding ich back to your main every time you add a new fish.

Fish in a QT environment (without inverts, corals, etc) can have the SG dropped to 1.009 or treated with cupramine if you do end up with ich again so that would be a big help in keeping it out of your main next go around (again, I don't know about the eel and pipefish's ability to withstand that so hopefully one of our resident experts will chime in. (Pipefish? Aren't they one of those fish that is usually in a species tank)?

There's a sick fish forum (which is probably where this post will be moved to) with lots of great advice on how to treat various ailments, including ich. They'll even be there with you every step of the way while your fish progress.

You've happened upon the best place in the world for helpful, friendly advice on how to care for your fishies. Welcome to AA!

 

[im_ontop]

MY TANK: 45 Gallon Pentagon tank that stands about 2.5 feet tall with crushed sea shell base, penguin biowheel filter, protien skimmer, satellite dual 55 actinic bulb, and a dual daylight 55 watt bulb.

I have been having a problem with what seems to be ICH. I have been doing monthly water changes, filter changes as required, and keeping the temperature at 78 degrees with a salinity level of .027. I haven't been able to keep fish any longer than what seems to be 3 weeks. They all go through the same symptoms of ICH...spots, lathargic, then die. I even heat my water to the same temperature of the tank when doing water changes and syphon the water in slowly.

I have a chainlink eel, pipefish (seahorse family), hermit crab that is about 3 inches long, cleaner shrimp and 2 anenome's (none of which will be infected because they're invertebrates...right???) They don't seem to be stressing the fish out. I've even raised the temperature to 80 degrees and waited 5 weeks to make sure the ICH had run it's course the last bout I had.

Can anyone help me??? I love the hobby but it's costing me a fortune in livestock!!!

 

[Hara]

What types of fish have you been trying? From your brief description above, I would say the following...tank is a tad too salty, chainlink eel could be harassing other tankmates.
You could have compatability issues that are causing stress, stress causes ich.

you do not list what the other water parameters are....ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph. You should be checking those levels as well as the salinity and temp.

 

[im_ontop]

everything else is ok...

ph, nitrate, amonia etc have been tested and are within the parameters. the fish that i had in there were a coral beauty, 2 clowns and a royal gamma.

 

[Hara]

do you test the ph on both the tank and the replacement water? They need to "match" as well. Depending on the size of the eel, and the size of the clowns and royal gramma....compatability could definitely be an issue. They may have been harassed pretty well after lights out. The problem with a tall tank is that there is not a very big area for swimming. Crowding is a much bigger issue as most fish swim in left-right areas and not up-down. Another thing, how much rock is in the tank? Did the fish have places to hide, other than where the eel lives?

 

[im_ontop]

ph is good

ph is good on water change water...

there are 3 large pieces of rock with lots of holes and hiding spots...eel stays under the rocks and you may have point there.

do you suggest more rocks or getting rid of the eel...

 

[steve-s]

Treat the parasite head on. Only by removing the fish, treating them and fallowing the tank will you break the life cycle of the parasite and be rid of it. Stress does not "cause" ich although a reduced immune system can allow the parasite less resistance.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Hara]

I would suggest taking the eel back to the store.

 

[melosu58]

Maybe Hara can answer this but I think that the higher the salinty the less oxygen in the tank. I think I read that. Could cause stress also and cut down on resistance.
Good Luck