What I thought was high ammonia is apparently a sickness.

chrisely24

Member
I noticed tonight that the Yellow Tang is getting pale and there are small white specks his/her fins.
Websearch points to ich. Any ideas? The two clowns are hard to tell but it looks like they may have some white specks too.
 

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Ich is a definite possibility.

A quarantine tank can be set up quickly and cycled with an old filter floss from the display tank. Wouldn't hurt to have Amquel or prime on hand in case of an ammonia spike.

Typically there are two Seperate avenues of treatment- hypo salinity or Cupramine.

I'm sure Beth will help with the details, I was never good with fish disease and treatment.

I hope it gets better and glad you found out a possible cause!!
 

chrisely24

Member
Thanks for the reply snake. Unfortunately i have purchased a quarantine tank yet but, i am gonna get one tomorrow.
Anything I can do to help out in the mean time? I can chat with my LFS tomorrow they open at noon. I already does the tank with prime yesterday.

i have plenty of ro/di water and have been ready about freshwater dip, I do not want to do it wrong and cause further harm to the fish.
If you have read my previous post I lost my Flame angel yesterday.
 

pegasus

Well-Known Member
If you quarantine your fish for treatment, they will need to stay in the quarantine tank a minimum of 21 days so make sure the ick that's in the tank dies. It can't survive without a host (fish). I have treated my main display tank for ick and had no side effects, but I used a fairly expensive ick treatment from NoSickFish. Very good stuff...
 

chrisely24

Member
Will the inverts be ok in the main tank with ich treatment assuming that what this is?
If i quarantine the 3 fish for 21 days or so do I need to treat the main tank and the qt?
 

bang guy

Moderator
It's quite common for fish to succumb to disease or parasites when stressed. Ammonia is definitely something that will stress a fish. Fish are normally pretty much immune to Ick except when they get stressed. Tangs are often called Ick magnets because they are often placed into stressful situations by hobbyists. Although they have a powerful immune system they have almost no slime coat so when they get stressed and their immune system is suppressed they have no protection against parasites.
 

pegasus

Well-Known Member
You can not place medications in your display tank.
Not trying to start an argument, but... I have medicated my fish for Ick in the display tank. I didn't notice it right away, and before I knew it I had too many fish infected, so my small QT was not really an option... not to mention trying to catch them out of a 6' tank with rocks from one end to the other. I'd heard about this reef safe medication, so I gave it a try. From the tiniest copepods to my largest fish, nothing showed any signs of stress after dosing, and zero losses. This is my experience, and results may vary...

On the other hand, Beth, I do agree that you certainly don't medicate your DT for Ick with copper-based medicines, as the copper will absorb into the rocks and leach copper indefinitely. Rocks that are in the QT should never be placed in the DT after being exposed to copper, either.
 
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beth

Administrator
Staff member
I should have said that medicating a display tank will cause damage to your bio-filter and could result in problems, or even your tank crashing entirely. Medications that kill parasites, also kills the micro-organisms that sustain your system. That is why your best option is QT. However, you can use hyposalinity in your display tank to treat ich effectively as long as the only thing in the tank is fish, sand. No live rock, nor any kind of inverts.
 

pegasus

Well-Known Member
I should have said that medicating a display tank will cause damage to your bio-filter and could result in problems, or even your tank crashing entirely. Medications that kill parasites, also kills the micro-organisms that sustain your system. That is why your best option is QT. However, you can use hyposalinity in your display tank to treat ich effectively as long as the only thing in the tank is fish, sand. No live rock, nor any kind of inverts.
Old school ways are good in many instances, but occasionally someone comes out with a newfangled idea that actually works...
99.9% Reef Safe/ Invertebrate Safe

In the past when fish developed disease in reef tanks, it was very difficult to properly treat the sick fish. Chemicals could be used to treat the infections, but were not safe for reef tanks with live rock, corals, and invertebrates. In order to treat the fish, the fish needed to be removed from the tank and treated in a separate holding tank. This process was not perfect, but did work. Moving a sick fish is very stressful, and makes survival that much more difficult. Time is also an issue. Depending on the disease it may take up to six weeks to ensure your fish and tank are free of disease.
No Sick Fish recognized this problem, and worked very diligently to find a solution. We wanted to help eliminate the work and stress that can be associated with aquariums. 99.9% of the live reef is safe. There might be a rare instance when something might die. In all of our testing we have never had anything die, but we just never know. Our medicine is designed to be used in the show/display tank so you no longer have to quarantine sick fish.
Compatible with reef systems
No Sick Fish can be used with marine fish and invertebrates. No Sick Fish products have been tested and found to be safe in full reef aquariums. There is a side effect, but will not harm your aquarium. The growth of some soft corals and algae may be slowed. This effect is rarely noted, and if it were to occur, it is only during treatment and has no long-term effects on your aquarium. Treating with our products will not harm the biological filter in freshwater or saltwater aquariums. No Sick Fish products will not color the water and will not stain ornaments or silicone sealer. No Sick Fish will not affect your pH.

PS: Adding one drop per 25 gallons is a lot faster than setting up and maintaining a QT, and stressing the 7734 out of your fish chasing it/them all over the tank.
 
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chrisely24

Member
Got a 20G hospital tank today with a filter and heater. I put the filter from my un-infected 10 gallon tank in it and some of the water. I got cupramine to treat with whenever the tank is safe to add the 3 sick fish.
 

chrisely24

Member
i moved the 3 sick fish into the HT a few minutes ago, how long should I wait to start the Cupramine treatment. Should I let them de-stress a bit first?
 

pegasus

Well-Known Member
It wouldn't hurt to wait a few hours before treating, just to let the fish settle down. Keeping the tank dark will help.
 

Kristin1234

Active Member
W
Ich is a definite possibility.

A quarantine tank can be set up quickly and cycled with an old filter floss from the display tank. Wouldn't hurt to have Amquel or prime on hand in case of an ammonia spike.

Typically there are two Seperate avenues of treatment- hypo salinity or Cupramine.

I'm sure Beth will help with the details, I was never good with fish disease and treatment.

I hope it gets better and glad you found out a possible cause!!

What would you use as a old filter floss in a tank that has a sump with a sock filter? Are you talking about the black filter that divides my protein skimmer chamber from my return chamber?

How could I use that (it's pretty large) to help cycle a qt tank?

I know I need a qt tank and want to get one up and running before it is needed.
 

pegasus

Well-Known Member
W



What would you use as a old filter floss in a tank that has a sump with a sock filter? Are you talking about the black filter that divides my protein skimmer chamber from my return chamber?

How could I use that (it's pretty large) to help cycle a qt tank?

I know I need a qt tank and want to get one up and running before it is needed.
It's not necessary to seed a quarantine tank with bacteria because the fish won't be in it long enough for it to complete cycling. You can set up a QT in a matter of hours, which is mostly waiting for the water to warm up. When I bought my used system, it came with 5 fish. I knew it would cycle again once I got it set back up and made the changes I wanted. I had a spare 29 gallon tank from my tropical fish days, so I cleaned it up, put a bag of sand, water, heater, and thermometer in it. The only filtration I had was a Penguin biowheel filter hanging off the back. These 5 fish were basically "quarantined" in the 29 gallon tank for a full month while the main tank finished it's cycle. During this time, I did nothing but small water changes to keep ammonia levels down. What were these 5 fish in a 29 gallon tank, you ask? A full-grown yellow tang, a full-grown coral beauty angle, a full-grown tomato clown, and 2 full-grown green chromis. Long story short... all you need is a heater, some type of aeration, and water changes to maintain a quarantine tank.
 

chrisely24

Member
Well, One clown passed yesterday and the yt passed today. The other clown isn't looking so hot either. I still gotta catch that &%$$#@ lawnmower out of the main tank lol.
 

chrisely24

Member
Lol, I really don't know what to do at this point. i was waiting on getting the lmb in the ht to start cupramine. I doubt that would have saved the other 2 in one day though.
 

Kristin1234

Active Member
Lol, I really don't know what to do at this point. i was waiting on getting the lmb in the ht to start cupramine. I doubt that would have saved the other 2 in one day though.
I would still try to get him in there. If you can save him great, if not. Atleast you tried. Best of luck to you.

I lost my flame angel this morning and had I known it was coming I'd have tried anything to save him.
 

chrisely24

Member
Well, Sad to say all I have left now is the lawn mower. The last Clown died today while I was at work :(
I will continue to treat the lmb and give 4 or 5 weeks for the dt to heal back up.
 
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