3 big questions

[maxx]

Hey, iuts been a while since I was last on.
I have 3 big questions to ask:
First: MY prized ROyal Gramma is getting infected w/ ICK daily. what do I mean? I turn on the lights in the morning before I go to sleep (yes I work graveyard) Royal Gramma has no ICK. When I go to work I turn the lights off when I do, I notice my Gramma rubbing himself along the rocks, and substrate, with his body noticably infected. Will this stop?? How can I stop this?
Second: I wanna lower my PH w/ the use of a PH sponge how good are they?? How about $$ wise??
And third: Im currently using B-Ionic, and Marine Snow. Im trying to play catchup w/ my bills and will run out of these products before I can afford to buy more. Will my tank become "addicted" you can say, to these products??
thanks for the info and help
Maxx

 

[kris walker]

Hi Maxx,
1. I had the same exact problem to the last detail, and the whole ordeal lasted 3 weeks before i finally had to put the little champ down. I recommend setting up a QT tank *asap*. It takes time for the QT tank to cycle (unless you sacrifice some LR from your main tank). Once you feel your QT tank has settled down, catch the gramma, put him in the QT, and over 1-2 days, gradually lower the salinity to about 1.009. This will kill the ich, but not hurt the fish too badly. If you have other fish in your main tank, I would also QT them as well, because free-swimming ich can only last 3 weeks without a host before dieing. So if you move all fish into QT, it is guaranteed to kill all ich, both free-swimming in main, and body-attached in QT. If I were you, I would not take the "easy way" out and go for garlic or some medication that is suppose to be "reef-safe" like Kick Ich or Greenex. Its hit or miss with garlic, and it will not get rid of free-swimming ich. The medications will not work in the long run as well, and they can hurt your corals (I know greenex really pissed off my xenia, and it took a month before it fully recovered).
2. To lower pH, just try adding fresh water (with low pH--DI water is suppose to have pH of 7.0) and then adding liquid calcium to replace evaporated water. There are other ways though I'm sure.
sam