Need Help...Mayday...Mayday...(Emergency)

[gooyferret]

Well i dont know where to begin...I have had my 125 gallon setup for about 2 months, And im having a problem...Well i should say big problem. I have a Orangesholder Tang, and 3 Royal Gramma's for fish in the tank. 2 out of the three Royal Grammas have ICH, Cant tell about the third one since its in a hole of LR, but im guessing it has it also. The Tang seems to be fine so far but might have a spot on him. This just happened within a few hours of this post. And the ich is bad, not just a few spots on the Royal Grammas but all over the body and fins. One has been sitting inside a hole in the LR and I cant tell, another one is swimming in one spot, and the Third is in a crevice and is breathing but looks dead (almost). I have 4 pepermint shrimp also along with some snails and hermits, emerald crabs, and some misc corals. The fish were all in good health when i got them and have been eating very well. No fighting has been occuring (well not while i have been watching anyways)! All the fish have been in the tank about 2 weeks, The tang was introduced a few days before the grammas.

What can i do? What should I do?
I did have 4 royal grammas but one died within the first day very odd...Its mouth was wide open as far as it would go and was dead laying in the sand...No sign of ich or anything on it. I have been feeding with garlic everyother feeding. Corals and Inverts are all very healthy.

My tank Parameters are:
Ammonia: 0
PH 8.4-8.8 (color card really sucks on test kit for PH and cant tell between the two colors. this was taken right before the lights were turned off at the end of the day.)
Nitrates: 0
Nitrites: 0
Calcium: 400ppm

Any advice on what I can do to would be greatly appreciated. After the cycle of the tank I have been doing a 10gal water change every 2 weeks. Do you think its the PH causing the stress or ICH? All the corals are very good and inverts so im not sure it would be the PH...PLEASE HELP!

 

[mjvincent]

I would get the ph tested by a local store. They do sound stressed, which can bring on diseases like ich. I am surprised that your nitrates would b 0 since you are only doing an 8% water change every 2 weeks. I would increase that change to every week (unless your lfs can confirm your test parameters). The reason I suspect your test parameters is that your tank is so new (only two months). Typically new tanks suffer from nitrate problems and PH is normally low unless you are adding something to the tank (buffers). As far as the ich goes... I will let somebody with some first hand knowledge answer. But get your water checked by a lfs and compare with your results.

Keep us posted and good luck.

 

[ellisz]

You need to remove the fish and QT them in a different tank. They will need to be treated with copper or Hypo. The main will need to be fallow for 4-5 weeks. Your corals and inverts should be fine though.

HTH

 

[aquafreak]

Has your temperature been steady?

 

[gooyferret]

My temp on my tank stays within a few degrees and doesnt vary any amount that would notice a difference.... My nitrates have always been 0.. Im testing PH now to see what its at just before the lights come on. My just tested it is at 8.2 right before the lights come on. QT is not really an option i dont have another tank setup yet, plus with all the LR it would take me all day to get them out and only stress them more... I have been feeding with garlic and the tang is eating alot the Royal Grammas are just eating a little bit. I have been adding B-Ionic 2 part additives for calcium and alkilinity. Any Help would be great! TIA

 

[ellisz]

I guess you can ride it out but you can't treat the tank with corals and inverts. Usually with a reef tank to remove a fish, you have to dismantle your rock, etc.

There have been supposed "reef safe" meds but I have never used any.

Not too many options for you. Garlic is supposed to be good for prevention but not sure about treatment.

Good luck.

 

[Phyl]

If you're going to fallow your main do it for 6-8w. If your fish are well covered in it you should remove them all to QT and hypo them. Good luck.

 

[gooyferret]

This just sucks that this happened but im not really feeling like tearing apart my whole tank just to get the fish out with all the LR and Everything else...I dont think i would ever get them out unless i removed all the rock. I have tried this many times before....And didnt have any luck. I have tried QT before and for some odd reason the ich just came back. I think im going to get some selcon and with my garlic try to exterminate the problem that way......*crossing my fingers*

 

[ellisz]

good luck

 

[gooyferret]

Thanks man WOW i hope this works im glad its the beginning im just praying my tang lives at least..I love that fish...Got the Royal grammas for free and i wish i wouldnt have gotten them at all.

 

[MadManMac]

I had an ich break out about 1 montha go, and on a 175 with about 250 pounds of LIve rock, I was not going to get the fish out. My Hippo had it bad, I swore he was a gonner. I started heavier than usually Garlic treatment with daily every feeding. In less than two days the blue tang had only little white scars not any bumps, and none of the other fish showed any signs. I kept up the Garlic for about 2 week and everything is great no signs of any ich, stress or negative reaction. Go for the Garlic and good luck.

 

[gooyferret]

Thanks alot Mad, Im using the garlic like its goign outta style hope it works for the both of us!

 

[Walpurgis]

This is just a suggestion (and someone, if you know any better, please jump in here), but I would get a couple of cleaner shirmps or wrasses to help get the ick off the fish. They are not known to live very long so don't be surprised if they die after the ick is gone but they will clean it off the fish. Kind of a natural process instead of medicating the tank.

I don't know about the whole tank and having the ick in there for 4-6 weeks, so can't help there.

HTH

 

[gooyferret]

I have 4 pepermint shrimp are they known to clean ick off fish? They seem to clean the fish but not sure if it will help with the ick. Anyone know if they do?

 

[melissfish]

i personally dont think that reef safe treatments work well for ich, i used malachite green and tri sulpha and it did nothing, i only got rid of it after moving the fish to QT and treating with copper.