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Ick is a microscopic parasite. What you see as a white bump is the fish's immune system reacting to the parasite. If it goes away then the immune system killed off THAT one parasite. If there is one there are thousands. Hopefully it was just a piece of sand.

If it were me the first thing I would do is run GAC for a couple days.

Best of luck! Happy cycling :)

I agree with Joe. Not only does good lighting make reef fish feel at home, it removes the headache of buying new lighting when you decide to start reefing.

If it was dry sand to start then it's fine. It would have been better to mix the salt with the water before pouring it in because it mixes better but the way you're going to cycle you won't need the trace elements anyway.

There's nothing you can do at this point except wait. If it starts losing more spines then it's not going to recover. Like 2quills mentioned echinoderms require a long slow acclimation period. In shallow water even heavy rain can cause a mass die-off.

Sounds like Osmotic Shock.

That doesn't look like a Bubble Coral.

^^^^ what he said.

Joe, if the fish are dying after a cycle it's not from Nitrite poisoning. Probably from the wild PH swings that occur before a system is stable. I do not believe you could accumulate a toxic level of Nitrite from cycling. I just don't believe you could accidently accumulate a couple hundred...

I probably created a misunderstanding here. It's toxic sure, but I doubt anyone could accidently have a Nitrite concentration so high it endangers marine fish. In my experience 1.0ppm would be a high Nitrite level. I don't think I've ever seen 2.0ppm but I'm sure a few hobbyists have managed...

Best of luck Joe!

I try to keep the ammonia low and steady for the rock infauna and it creates a stable system much faster than with high ammonia levels. With dead rock and sand I agree you have no worry.

IMO it should be kept below 50ppm in a FOWLR, closer to 10 is better. Softies do appreciate some Nitrate in the water, still below 50ppm and closer to 10 is better. Below 10ppm for any hard corals and closer to 1ppm is better.

https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/index.php?threads/interesting-water-change-find.173892/#post-1278876

Joe my good friend, it's nearly impossible to obtain a lethal level of Nitrite in a saltwater tank. This is a myth brought over from freshwater systems where Nitrite is indeed a deadly toxin. The ion exchange in fish gills just doesn't happen in saltwater. In fact, perhaps Shilpan can tell me...

I meant Nitrite, mostly harmless. I definitely test for Nitrate.

I believe I already sent you a link to my cycle method. Part of that includes just enough water changes to keep ammonia below 0.5. I've never worried about Nitrite. I wouldn't even bother testing for it.

Calcium?

What is your Calcium level? Is your Alkalinity still high? How did you acclimate the Snail? Star polyps are notorious for staying closed when moved to a new system.