Almost afraid to ask here, but could use some help

[scully]

I've been lurking for a while and have finally decided to ask for help here. PLEASE be gentle with this newbie.
I've got a 55 gal (yeah yeah I know) setup. Been set up for about 6 months but we make a MASSIVE mistake (add LV after fish) about 2 months in and lost nearly our entire tank. Well every fish at least So we are starting over. Let it cycle again...the whole bit.
Right now we have about 50 lbs of live rock, clean up crew of hermits and turbo snails, 2 sand stars, one anenome and a feather duster. About a month ago got 2 percula clowns and 2 small red starfish (dunno name). Last Week, after losing one anenome OUT OF THE BLUE, we did a 30% water change and added a blue hippo tang (and the suggestion of the LFS guy)
Okay, so yesterday I posted about the red stars breaking apart. One is gone, the other is fighting but he's not doing great. Now my tang has ick. GREAT.
Here are my #'s
Salinity 1.024
PH 8.2
ammonia almost .25
nitrite almost .05
nitrate - shows 40. but I think my test is bad or something as it's always tested high at home but when I have it tested at the LFS it's fine. So who knows what it really is right now.
alk is normal
temp is 80
I know now about the stars (although the sand stars are THRIVING!) Those were a bad choice (damn store owners!) But why does the tang have ick? Should I do a copper dip? If so, Can someone walk me through that????
What have I done wrong? What can I do to help me tank? I can't handle (emotionally) wathcing these creatures die Thanks so much for any advice.

 

[snailheave]

there'a amonia in the water, probably means there are things dead or dying in the water. you want to get rid of it soon. in fact i would just get rid of the dying star right now because with the presense of ammonia sooner or later it's going to die.
the tang has ich because
1) it's stressed from the amonia
2) 55g is just too small for a hippo

 

[f1shman]

Okay few things. I understand you are very frusterated, but tangs can easily get ick, also that tank may have been too msall for him. Also anemones shouldn't be kept unless you have really good lighting and perfect water conditions, they are very sensative. You could do a copper dip or just a freshwater dip. If you don't have any invertebraes in there, many people recommend that you do hyposalinity, a slow process of lowering the salinity to around 1.009, it is the only proven method to 99.99% get rid of ick. Read about it on this board. Also the copper dips may help him some, but they would stress him out even more, making it never really go away. Also can I ask how did you acclimate the tang? They are very delicate and need to be acclimated very slowly. Also unless you really trust your LFS do some research before you take their advice, most of them want one thing, your money, so they'll lean you in a way so they get the money!! Good luck and if you have any more questions feel free to ask.

 

[f1shman]

snail I respect your oppion, but IMO the tank size at the moment was not the cause of ick, i believe it was how he acclimated him and the presence of ammonia. I doubt he bought a huge one.

 

[xpdition03]

With this hobby you have to have a lot of patience.
ammonia and nitrite needs to be 0. Nitrate should be below 20. You should have sold tests for at least a 2-3 weeks before putting anything else in there.
You may want to buy a better test kit. It think everyone here suggest salifert brand. It's more expensive but definitley worth it.
Good luck and don't give up. I'm sure a lot of people here messed once or twice, including myself.

 

[rainfishy]

IMO, you should never trust the LFS, even with water testing.
But it's good you found this site and don't be afraid to ask anything h*

 

[exile415]

don't listen to that LFS again. They just want to get in your wallet ..

 

[puffer32]

Don't do the copper in your main tank! Put your fish in a qt tank the copper will ruin your LR, kill your feather duster and snails. Good luck!

 

[dogstar]

Put the hippo in a qt if you can and do hypo for about six weeks. Dont do copper with a tang. Dont to hypo or copper in the main tank because of the snails and craps and stars you have now cant take it. keep doing water changes like 20 percent every other day. Use ro/di water from grocery store if you dont have your own filter. Cut back on feeding. You may be feeding too much. Watch the clowns for ick. may have to hypo them too but they are pretty hardy fish and may not have it. Dont get another anemonie for a while untill you research them.

 

[scully]

thanks for the quick responses.
the tank is tiny, like an 1". I respect that my tank is small...and we do have plans (if we figure this out) to get at least a 125. But for now this is what we have. And he's very small.
The star is out. While pulling him I saw a hermit that was dead. So I'll pull that out too. Water has been tested at least twice a week (by me and at store) for over 2 months and has been good. Which is why I was so surprised we lost the anenome - and it was thriving!
We have good lights. I can't remeber exactly but they aren't the stock lights.
I'll think about what to do about the dip. Copper dip is probably too much. I'll do more research on a fresh water dip. Can't do the salinity thing.
The tests I have are by Red Sea. Got the 5 in 1 entire kit. Nitrates are the only one that go funky. Is that a crappy brand? It wasn't cheap.
Acclimation is my problem I'm thinking. We've only been floating. I'll have to get set up to do a drip. But it'll be a while before we add anythign else now that we've lost more stuff. So I have time there.
So what do ya'll think? Do I just wait it out and let the tank level itself out? Will it level out on it's own? Or do I 'DO' something.
The hardest part of this whole fish thing (beside the fact that EVERYONE does is at least a little bit differently) is the waiting. I mean I"ll wait, but it's hard.

 

[scully]

I posted all that before some of the other replies.
I do know not to add copper, or much of anything for that matter, to the main tank.
I'm constantly checking the clowns. They still look great and are acting normal. So far so good there.
I'll do smaller more often water changes (yes I know with RO water too ) and cut back on feeding.

 

[f1shman]

Yes. Acclimation is the cause. Especially for tangs they need to be dripped for at least an hour and a half, many say up to 3 hours. Floating for ANY saltwater fish usually results in disease and stress except in the hardiest of species. Also anemones REALLY require a lot of light, so do you have any idea what wattage or what type of lighting you have? Power compact? Metal Halide? etc..? Ich will not go away on its own unless the tank is fishless for some time, without a host, they die.

 

[scully]

I have 2-65 watt power compact.

 

[scubadoo]

The main contributing factor with tangs and ich is their velvet like body "skin" which allows the parasites to easliy attach. While poor acclimation can play a role with ich (stress)...IMO tangs are simply prone to the disease based on their "skin" texture.
You need to get your water parameters in order. Feed the tang plenty greens with vitamin soaked food and food soaked in garlic. Since you have other fish in the tank, the ich has an oppurtunity to continue cycling. Once you place the tang back in the display from QT it will most likely get ich agian. Constant moving in and out will only increase stress.
Try boosting the immune system and getting your water parameters in line. I would not move the animal to QT yet if the ich is not too bad. He may simply kick the disease on his own once stress is reduced, enviornmental condtions improve and he gets fed an appropriate vitamin enriched diet.
Hippo tangs like many other tangs are simply prone to the disease if present in the system based on their "skin" texture.
JMO

 

[sw65galma]

Hippos are nick named "Ich magnets" for a reason.
If you want to keep one, your best bet is to start a QT tank and leave all new fish in there for atleast 4 weeks, preferably 6, before adding to the display. This will prevent new fish from being just carriers of ICH, but not infected from bringing the parasite into the tank.