Ick killing my fish :-( need help

[LizArd418]

Ick has killed 3 fish in my tank so far. All I have left is a diamondback goby and a clownfish. The guy at lfs gave me some Cupramine but I don't know exactly how to use it since he said it would kill all my corals. He said I should do a dip but I don't know how long to do it for. Could use some help. I have a 47 gal with 7 dif corals and a few shrimps.

 

[leftyfish]

Did you do anything yet? Are they still alive?

 

[louie4979]

There is a medicine that is ok to use on coral and live rock. One is ick attack the other is microbe lift. They have both worked for me and they're safe for corals and rock. A UV sterilizer is a good investment and so is a 10 gallon hospital tank. It's kind of frustrating because ick is treatable. I had the same problem and learned from it. If you get a hospital tank you can treat the fish with copper and problem solved. You don't need a skimmer or t5 lights for the hospital tank. Just the tank, some PVC prices a heater and a cheap light. No sand needed.

 

[LizArd418]

Thanks, we picked up a hospital tank but are too new to the hobby to know how to do the copper treatment...any advice? Those reef safe treatments, are they harmful to my cleanup crew (shrimp, snails, crabs)?

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

I'd use the hospital tank and copper treatment I think, the ones that are safe for coral usually are a weaker treatment and only work if you have very little ich in their first stages.

To set up the hospital tank you fill it with your tank water and need to put something in there for a biological filter (like a used sponge from your tank, or an ugly rock that you won't want to put back). Anything you use in this hospital tank cannot be used in the main tank afterwards because the copper will absorb into everything. After that just follow the instructions on the bottle and make sure to test for ammonia often.