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Hyposalinity (or any other treatment for ich) does not confer lifetime immunity against ich. The human equivalent would be something like lice. As long as you are exposed, you are likely to get infected, regardless of how many times you had it before. Your nitrates are higher than would be...

Welcome to the Boards! Beth, who is the usual guru here appears to be on vacation. I am trying to help out in her absence. Do you quarantine? If not, a disease is more likely than a water chemistry problem. I would wonder about Brooklynella based upon your symptoms. There is more information...

Do you anticipate further aggression? Perhaps the most important thing would be to separate the offending fish (or the affected fish). Otherwise any further advise may be fruitless. Sometimes rearranging the live rock in your tank would decrease the possibility of further aggression. If the...

The directions on the package insert recommend a 25% water change after day 5. Make sure you have no fresh activated carbon. This medication is bound up by carbon and loses its effectiveness.

A mantis shrimp can break thin walled glass, such as the casing around a heater. However, I have never heard that a mantis shrimp could break the walls of a glass aquarium. I have never heard of a pistol shrimp breaking anything. I have had mine in a glass aquarium for over 5 months and my tank...

If you think that the cleaner shrimp will keep your fish disease free, they will be a waste. However, many people keep cleaner shrimp because they are very cool creatures. They will often learn to eat out of your hand. Many people comment about the shrimp more than the fish when they see my...

Raising the temperature only speeds up the lifecycle somewhat. It is not toxic to the ich parasite. However, if you leave the tank fishless for a month, the parasite will die off on its own. Because of the time required to lower and then raise salinity, by the time hyposalinity is finished, your...

It is not usually recommended to routinely treat all quarantined fish with copper. Copper is moderately toxic to fish and can increase the amount of stress that they are under. Some people routinely do hyposalinity on all their new additions as this may even lower the stress a fish is under. The...

You can use regular supermarket garlic. However, it needs to be crushed. I have no experience with doing this so I cannot give further advice. Someone else might have some knowledge, or you can wait until Beth gets back.

Malachite Green is a medication for freshwater ich (which is a completely different illness). The only reliable treatments for saltwater ich are hyposalinity and copper. Formalin is used for saltwater infections (including black ich) but will not work for regular (white) ich. Waiting 30 days...

Freshwater dips are no longer recommended. They do not work for ich (they will make the larger trophonts fall off but the smaller parasites are protected in the slime layer of the fish) and they are moderately stressful for the fish. A QT is really a necessity in this hobby. Buy one (or at most...

Tea Tree oil has been purported to have all sorts of good usages. However, I am skeptical. At best it may have some effect to boost the immune system. Maracyn2 for Saltwater is a better treatment for fin and tail rot. ANY medications should be given in a hospital tank/QT.

The treatment should be hyposalinity OR copper. There is no need to do both treatments. Either treatment has to be in a tank separate from your live rock and live sand. If you do not have a QT set up (or large enough to handle all your fish), you can always put the live rock into a clean...

There is no correct temperature. The oceans of the world vary in temperature in different locations and seasons. Most people consider the optimal temperature for an aquarium to be between 72 to 80 degrees. Short durations up to ~85 degrees are acceptable as long as the temperature changes...

Kick ich has only marginal effectiveness at only one stage of the ich parasite's lifecycle. The only consistently effective treatments are hyposalinity and copper. Garlic Extreme may boost the immune system of the fish and stimulate the appetite. I would consider using this along with...

CopperSafe is a chelated form of copper sulfate. It will bind irreversibly to your live rock and live sand. You may never be able to have snails, invertebrates, and corals in your display if you use this product. It should be used in a hospital tank only.

Sorry to hear of your losses. Heat causes damage primarily by two means. The major one is hypoxia (lack of oxygen). Warm water can hold less oxygen than cool water. It also speeds up metabolic processes so that more oxygen is needed in a tank. Increasing water motion might have helped as this...

If this came on fairly suddenly and there are no new fish, and your levels are okay (as they appear to be), the most likely cause would be a poisoning of some kind. Has anything been put into the tank recently. I would suspect soaps, or other chemicals which might have been on your hands. I...

Many people claim that garlic is useful. They usually state that it helps bolster the immune system and stimulate appetite (both of which are helpful if you have a sick fish). You can crush your own garlic or use a commercially available preparation. I use Kent's Garlic Extreme. It has a...

You do have a lot of tangs in that tank. However, based on their known susceptibility to ich, and the fact that you are seeing spots, I would guess that you have ich. ALL fish should be quarantined for at least three weeks before they get added to the display tank. The only reliable treatments...