Help!!!!!!

joeyfishy

New Member
HELP!!!!! my tank is messed up i think. the reading for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph and everything is perfect, but when i put any fish in, the fish will swim really fast and falls to the ground and die. i have put in hardy fishes and the same result. or if the fish is alive, within a day ick will show up. i have used coppersafe, rid-ick, hypo-sal. boost up the temperature, but nothing is working. is it because the ick in dorminated inthe LR and when new fish arrive, the ick will cling to the new host?
im to the point where i will quit saltwater and have freshwater fishes. =(
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
How do you acclimate the new fish? What is your specific gravity and pH?
You shouldn't be adding any fish to the tank for at least a month if you've had a fish with ich in that tank.
Give some details about your tank, and what is in it.
 

superman

Member
If all levels are 0 and the fish just swim around and die are sure you have salt in the water. Just kidding, but you said you raised the temp as one of your methods, Did you make sure to bring it down. It would be an honest mistake. Do all the fish end up with ick or do they just die. From my reading, ick doesnt kill a fish in a day.
 

joeyfishy

New Member
hello beth and superman,
the temp is back to normal 78-80 degrees.
my method of acclimation is floating the bag for 20 mins then
pouring it into a large container with the water in the bag and pouring
in my tank water so the temp. will be really equal. my pH level is 8.2.
my tank has 200lbs LR, couple of damsels. the tank has been established for well over 1 year.
problem: any new addition of fishes will die. they get white spot and then an hour or two later- gone.
could it be i need to change the UV bulb in my UV sterlizier? will this help?
thanks
 

ddaddy

Member
I'm kinda stumped
Do you have other fish in the tank that are doing ok and if so what are they?
I doubt UV sterililization is the problem. Obviously there is some sort of stressor induced on the fish that causes the ich outbreak.
If you do have other fish in the tank w/out ich and your new arrivals come up with ich then something is wrong with your water that your current fish have learned to tolerate.
If it were me I would get a quarantine tank and throw all your fish in it with copper treatment or hyposalinity. ( if you do use copper I'd suggest cupramine ) Leave your fish in quarantine for 4 weeks and leave your display tank fishless for that same amount of time. Ich is a parasite and w/out fish it will die. Also if you do this you should boost the temp of your display tank to around 82-83 degrees to increase the lifecycle of the ich and have it die off faster. I know it sucks but that's the best way to get rid of ich. And once you get rid of the ich make sure you quarantine every fish before you put it into your tank. It'll save you this sort of grief:D
 

ddaddy

Member
Oh yeah and another thing...
Never underestimate the power of a good water change. From the sounds of it the fish you are putting in are dying too fast for it to be ich anyway. Do you use tap water? If so then that could be the culprit. You may have chlorine or some other nasty pollutants. That could explain the shock the fish go through and the quick deaths. You may have to buy a reverse osmosis kit. If you already have one and are using it then I have no idea what your problem is.
So if we're lucky we could have cracked the case. If that does turn out to be the problem then replace most all of your tank water with RO water and see what happens.
 

shoer

Member
This just makes no sence at all to me. You have a tank with all water param ok, 200 lb live rock, some fish that are living without a problem, temp is fine, and has been established for over a year and all the new fish that you put in are dying...... sure doesnt give us to go on to help. White spots develop and they die in an hour. I dont think any parasite, virus, bacteria would act this quickly. I mean look at some of the pet store tanks with 50 fish and all have ich and they last longer than an hour.
You are sure that your ammonia level is ok..... test it with another kit. ammonia can kill quick and burn the fish ....
but we need more info sorry
 
Top