My 72 gallon BF tank journey

[Greenmaster]

I still say you should get a cleaner... it will help to pick some of the extra off and make it more comfortable... they can't stay that covered for long without it starting to ware them out.

[leftyfish]

I have a cleaner, tang would let it clean it's mouth. The cleaner cleans the mandarin, it is so funny to watch because the cleaner (fire red shrimp) is 3" and the mandarin is a little longer than that.

Anyway, it is a sad morning, I spoke too soon, found the tang dead in the sand. I saw her hiding last night but she acted normal during the day. So sad, I miss her already.

Now what to do? None of the other fish had any spots, does this mean in 6 weeks the ich from tang will die out as the other fish are not picking it up?

[Greenmaster]

Aww.. that's too bad, it always sucks to lose a fish.
No it will probably stay in the tank because it can "Host" other fish without having any visible Ich.

[leftyfish]

Originally Posted by Greenmaster

Aww.. that's too bad, it always sucks to lose a fish.
No it will probably stay in the tank because it can "Host" other fish without having any visible Ich.

So no tang ever?

[carey]

So sorry to hear about the tang. I really thought she was gonna make it.

I'm not sure on the rules for ich, but it's not just tangs that get it I just think tangs are more susceptible is all.

[Greenmaster]

I would say you got the cleaner too late... I have 5 tangs in my tank and they show no sign of Ich anymore... but the stupid wrasses scare the shrimp too much so they don't get cleaned that well, they still have between 5-10 spots of Ich each.

[leftyfish]

I had the cleaner before the tang, 3 months before.

[Greenmaster]

Ya but that's not a true cleaner... that's a fire shrimp... I have 2 fire shrimp and several skunk cleaners (3 or more is best for them to make a "cleaning station") My fire shrimp never cleans my fish but the others do it all the time.

[leftyfish]

Originally Posted by Greenmaster

Ya but that's not a true cleaner... that's a fire shrimp... I have 2 fire shrimp and several skunk cleaners (3 or more is best for them to make a "cleaning station") My fire shrimp never cleans my fish but the others do it all the time.

I'm hoping this rids your tank of the horrible ICH. I will watch everyone else cautiously and tear up the tank getting them all out if I have to and put them in QT with hyposalinity. Otherwise, it doesn't seem like I would be able to safely add another fish without risking it getting ich as it will never be gone if there are fish present, regardless of their ability to fight it off or not.

Don't tell my fire shrimp he isn't a real cleaner, he won't know what to do if he isn't cleaning a fish. He tried to clean the mandarin several times today and the clowns look at him like "don't even try it." When I got him I had an angel fish that he was always cleaning when she would come visit him.

[Greenmaster]

I was just saying the way I see it in my tank, and from some others anecdotes is that the Fire Shrimp can't be kept in large groups and that cleaner shrimp tend to be timid, so often you don't get a good response from just 1-2 shrimp of any kind. Since usually the Fire Shrimp shouldn't be kept in groups of 3+ they tend to be more timid (most of the time). The Skunk or Scarlet cleaner when in groups of 3+ can be quite bold and make a cleaning station in the middle of the tank where all fish can see them if they are even close to that side of the tank. I believe that by this boldness you will get better results from your cleaners.

[leftyfish]

Originally Posted by Greenmaster

I was just saying the way I see it in my tank, and from some others anecdotes is that the Fire Shrimp can't be kept in large groups and that cleaner shrimp tend to be timid, so often you don't get a good response from just 1-2 shrimp of any kind. Since usually the Fire Shrimp shouldn't be kept in groups of 3+ they tend to be more timid (most of the time). The Skunk or Scarlet cleaner when in groups of 3+ can be quite bold and make a cleaning station in the middle of the tank where all fish can see them if they are even close to that side of the tank. I believe that by this boldness you will get better results from your cleaners.

I didn't mean that in a bad way, just don't tell him as he would be upset. I got a peppermint shrimp and I'm convinced Red killed it, as it was healthy and eating, etc. Do you think he would kill skunk cleaners? That was when he was in my 29 gallon.

[Greenmaster]

As I said I have two Fire shrimp and several skunk cleaners. They haven't had any "bad blood" between them in my tank... Things I read also say that they should be okay together.

[leftyfish]

I am rooting for you and those cleaners! I am probably going to pull everyone out as horrible as that is going to be breaking down the tank to get the mandarin and goby out, and QT everyone for 8 weeks in my cube, then never, ever, ever, ever add another fish to my DT without QT it for at least 6 weeks. Argh! I just don't like that the ich will never be gone unless I do this, and any new fish I add could get it from my tank. I didn't enjoy finding my poor tang dead.

[carey]

Lefty, don;'t feel too bad, I have a dying blue tang I can't get to in my tank to qt him. He is lying on the sandbed just breathing.

Also another case of not qt'ing a new fish. Woulda, shoulda, coulda.....

[leftyfish]

I know, I could kick myself, live and learn. I hope you can run down the street and find a neighbor to lift the light with you!

[leftyfish]

Getting my cube ready for qt, I put filter floss in the sump, how long does it need to be in there to get enough bacteria in it to help? And if I do hyposalinity, will the bacteria survive or do I need to use amquel while they are in there? It is bare bottom. I am going to get everyone in there, not sure about the mandarin and pods, do I just buy some for her, and surely they won't survive long in hyposalinity. Thankfully she eats shrimp, although she prefers hunting pods. Instead of a tang I am going to get a mated pair of bangaiis and then I will still have room for the assessor. So the clowns, bangaii, goby and mandarin will go in the cube and will all be treated with hyposalinity. The assessor does not have ich, so I will leave it at the coral place until the tank is free of ich. Does this plan sound good?

[leftyfish]

Does anyone see anything wrong with this hypo method? I will have 2 clowns, 1 mandarin, 1 wheeler's goby, and 2 bangaii's in there. The bangaii's appear to have some dots or white things hanging from them, longish, not round, and no one else has dots, but the tang died from ich as it had the dots on and off and then just passed one night, even though it was eating, normal up to then. The bangaii's are new, but I don't know that the tank they came from doesn't have ich.

ATJ's Marine Aquarium Site - Reference - Hyposalinity Treatment

So the plan would be to do hypo, keep it there when I don't see dots anymore (hard as no one has them now) for 4 weeks, bring it back up over 6 days, then keep them in QT for 4 more weeks and observe. At that point my DT will have been fallow for 8-10 weeks or more and I will add the fish back as follows: 2 gobies, wait a week, 2 bangaii, wait a week, 2 clowns. Does this plan seem okay?

[leftyfish]

Moved Two clowns and the Wheeler's goby, he was really hungry and I caught him! Now to catch the mandarin, I'm going to wait a bit.

[carey]

I certainly don't envy you right now. This has gotta be hard....

Hope it all shakes out!

[leftyfish]

So I noticed my goby has a black hole in his head above his eye. After more failed attempts at catching the mandarin and spending the whole day playing with fish instead of my son, I decided to put the clowns back in the DT. I'm completely frustrated and don't know what to do at this point except no more fish, ever.