clown died... probably ich. What to do next?

[bigsteve]

Hey all. My other clown died tonight, and I believe it was ich. Well.... I'm down to one yellowtail damsel, a couple hermits and snails, and a coral banded shrimp.
Anyway, I'm going to do a decent size water change tomorrow, and what I'm wondering is:
Did my little experiment of switching out substrates cause this ich? I think I remember hearing stress can cause ich.
Also, I want to go and get another pair of clowns (black and white probably), and I'm wondering how long it'll take before the tank is ok to put more fish in.
thanks for the help

 

[bdhough]

how do you know it was ich? did the fish that died have white spots on them? you need to isolate the remaining fish and watch him for a couple weeks. the life cycle of most diseases is 4 weeks. better to wait five. i stress not to be impatient on this or youll kill more fish. do not use any chem treatments in your tank or you will end up killing the inverts. check out the disease forum for info on ich. its very common and there are many methods of treatment. once again ill stress not to add any fish in your tank for at least 4 weeks if not 5 to make sure whatever it was has passed on.

 

[bigsteve]

Originally posted by bdhough
how do you know it was ich? did the fish that died have white spots on them?

Yeah... I noticed a few (3 or 4) yesterday, but I thought it was sand from me switching out my substrate. Today, he was laying on the bottom when I got home, completely covered in them.
you need to isolate the remaining fish and watch him for a couple weeks. the life cycle of most diseases is 4 weeks. better to wait five. i stress not to be impatient on this or youll kill more fish. do not use any chem treatments in your tank or you will end up killing the inverts. check out the disease forum for info on ich. its very common and there are many methods of treatment. once again ill stress not to add any fish in your tank for at least 4 weeks if not 5 to make sure whatever it was has passed on.
I know not to use any treatments in the display. The only fish I have left is a yellow tail damsel, and to be quite honest, I don't care if he dies. I'd rather he didn't, but if he does, not a huge deal. So, he's pretty much isolated.
Also, ich can't harm inverts, can it? If not, I'm just going to let the yellowtail be for a month or so and see what happens. I guess it's really time to invest the $40 and get a QT.
Oh, and I may be wrong, but on the 4-5 weeks thing.... I thought the parasites that cause (or are, I guess) ich died withing 24 hours or so if they can't find a fish as a host. Time to go break out the copy of "The Concientous Marine Aquarist".

 

[bdhough]

mmmm, i don't know about the 24 hour thing. so long as your damsel is in that tank ich is there. wether it takes a hold on him or not all depends on alot of factors you seem to already know about. look around though, ich has been discussed quite a few times since i joined and i don't have much experience with disease since my fish have not been sick at all i know they need a host but i personally would play it safe. i don't mean to preach but working in a couple fish stores makes you privy to quite a few idiot stories, especially since you want the expensive clowns, ie black clowns. just remember its your money.....
no it will not touch your inverts. if you want to you could take the fish back to the store and just let the tank sit for a while. then you isolate the tank rather than the fish. did you have live rock? if so it will be fine on its own especially since your tank has cycled. it may be going through a slight cycle right now due to the change in substrate.
btw a qt tank for your 29 shouldn't cost you more than 25 dollars at walmart....