Starting from scratch and need some help!!

[maffia]

I bought a used 5 year old 92gal bow front SW tank six months ago. The person helped me set it all up we moved everything, Live rock, sand, crushed corral, three power heads,UV sterilizer, protein skimmer, and 16 fish/clean up crews. Things were going great for five months. in the past month, a fish caught ick, I was told at a LFS, that I thought was good, to do nothing the UV should fix it. I went back in a week as it was getting worse, still told to do nothing. Within in the last two weeks I have lost 13 fish. I am left with 2 cleaner shrimp, and 1 jawfish. What should I do?? Some questions I have is should I be using a filter, if so which one? What should I do with the ick, which I am sure is still in the tank? What should I do with the LR which is now growing Green and brown algae like crazy? I planned on starting with Fish only and once I have the hang of it I would add reef. My water has been perfect. I have a RO system which I use to make water changes. I really thought I had it down But now am at a loss. Thanks in advance for the advise..

 

[quarryshark]

Well you need to get the ich out of the tank. Since you only have 1 fish in there, I would take it back to the fish store and leave the tank empty of parasitic hosts(fish) for about 2 months. This will allow the parasites in the system to go through their life cycle and die off. But ALL the fish must be out for it to work.
The UV is not the answer.
Here is more info on ich.
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/marineich.html

BTW, welcome to AA!!

 

[Fluff]

Well, first thing I would do is to take the last fish out and QT him while treating him for ich. Then leave your main tank fallow(fish free) for 6-8wks. This give the parasite time to die off. I would cut the lights back to maybe 4-5 hours a day and stop feeding the tank. Or just feed it every three days or so for the scavengers. The algae bloom could be caused by to many nutrients in the tank from overfeeding. As for the filtration, if you have enough live rock and enough powerheads to turn the water over at least 10 X's per hour, you don't need a filter. The lr acts as your filter. HTH

 

[quarryshark]

Oh and any fish you get in the future, make sure you qt them for 4 weeks before putting them in the display tank.

 

[maffia]

Two Months is the time frame. What about adding some reef in that time will I cause any more damage?? Or lose any more money??

 

[quarryshark]

What about adding some reef in that time will I cause any more damage??

Fallow time is a great time to add nonfish items. Fish are the only hosts for parasites. Try and get reef items out of a fishless tank if you can.
Better get that algae under control first though.

 

[maffia]

I will be doing some cleaning of the tank this weekend and will get the algae under control and fish out. What is allowed in the tank in the next two months? :?

 

[quarryshark]

Read the above article, it will help.
Everything but fish can/should stay. Just make sure you "feed" the tank a couple times a week for your inverts and to keep your biological filter strong.
What is you PO4 reading? Could be the source of the algae. Do you use tap water or RO water?
Here is some more good reading on the ich subject.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ichartmar.htm

 

[RMPD109]

Anything but fish. Inverts wont be affected by the ick and wont support it either. I have added some easy corals in the past two weeks since I emptied the fish out. See my signature below to get an idea of what can be in the tank during this fallow period.

 

[maffia]

I am using RO water. With 13 fish dying in such a short time I might have ons dead one still in there. This is why the tank will get Overhauled this weekend!! Just to make sure the tank is clear of any dead fish parts!! Thanks So much This has Helped SOOOOOOOOOOO Much!!!!!!

 

[MarineFlake]

Dude, not trying to be a smart arse, but you need to do some serious reading on ick and what may have caused it. If the tank was stable for 5 months, at that size, you were prolly riding on the coat tails of the previous owners efforts. I'm not saying you don't know whats going on but not treating ick is a sure death sentence as you have now learned. Again, before considering any further stock or even steps to recover, please read. Lotsa good info on google. Once your armed with good (lots) info, you'll be ready to take another much more educated swing at it.

Best of luck!

 

[quarryshark]

Was anything added recently? The quick deaths got me to thinking maybe it was marine velvet.
Even if it was, the fallow period is a must. IMO

Again, before considering any further stock or even steps to recover, please read.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[maffia]

I did lots of research on this and did know how important it was. I was miss guided by someone at a LFS who even took time out to come over and look at my tank in the first few months. This person seemed to have as much interest in my tank as his own reef tanks. I really had 100% trust in him. Now I have none. the only thing I could think is that he needed to move some supplies this month. I really was let down by this person. I now need to move on and any info you have for me would really help.

 

[quarryshark]

I was miss guided by someone at a LFS

many of us have been there.

I now need to move on and any info you have for me would really help.

Stick around, we love to help and take pleasure from your eventual success.
Take a few hours and read through the 100s of thread both here, the getting started and the sick fish forums. There are many answer for you in these places. Please ask any questions that may pop in your head and share your progress with us.

 

[maffia]

Thanks Kurt!!