I killed my fish

[luv4jjt]

I feel like such a dumby.

My DT had a seriouse case of ick. So I put the fish in a QT to treat the fish seperatly from the the DT. I was sooooo carefull with the water quality and the temp and all the important stuff. But were i was a dumby is that i set up the powerhead and thought that that would be enough 02 into the water. I was under the understanding that powerhead bubbles were bad saltwater fish. Well i wrong. In the situaion they were in it was needed. The powerhead was not enough 02, They died from lack of air.

I went to bed they all looked good and everything was going fine. I woke up to a tank full of dead fish.
So now we have decided to let the tank run empty for 6-8 weeks to kill of the ick. Is there anything else we can do to make sure the ick is gone. Oh and all fish purchased from this day forward will be going into QT 4 weeks before going into DT.

 

[kingsmith]

You could run your dt at hypo salt levels

 

[spanko]

Running the display fallow (without fish) for the 6 weeks period is the best way to get rid of the parasite in the display. I caution on the 8 week side myself, but that is just me, I worry, tis what I do.

 

[luv4jjt]

I will probably wait the 8 weeks just to be sure. I have lowered the salt in the tank as well. I just hope my snails and crabs survive. I have a kenya tree in there that's not looking to healthy either. Do you think seen as i am keeping the tank empty of fish for the 8 weeks that i need to keep the salt lowered? Then maybe i can give the tree a chance to come back before she dies?

 

[sikpupy]

happened with my two favorite tangs. A powder blue and an atlantic blue. They were inseperable, it was one of the worst days of my life, they were awsome together.

 

[mjm889]

i never forget i had an awesome emperor angel convict tang, naso tang, along with two clowns a jewell damsel and a yellow tang. i dedcide to add one more fish in a 135 gallon, big mistake, it got ick and i lost the convict naso and emperor. this was 8 months ago, i treated the tank and saved the the yellow tang the clowns and the damsel, all are alive today with new friends, the moral of the story is fish keeping is like gambling sometimes,i just had to add the other fish i should of left the tank alone, u greedy and want to add more, i feel ur pain man

 

[al mc]

Originally Posted by luv4jjt
http:///forum/post/3186699
I will probably wait the 8 weeks just to be sure. I have lowered the salt in the tank as well. I just hope my snails and crabs survive. I have a kenya tree in there that's not looking to healthy either. Do you think seen as i am keeping the tank empty of fish for the 8 weeks that i need to keep the salt lowered? Then maybe i can give the tree a chance to come back before she dies?
There is no rerason to slightly lower the salinity if you are going to leave the tank fishless for 8 weeks. In fact any inverts would do better with SG levels between 1.024-1.026.
To avaoid this problem again I would QT the new additions for a minimum of 4 weeks of observation before adding to the DT. This includes anything with a 'wet' surface...fish, invert, rock....
Sorry for your losses.

 

[garick]

You might also consider a fresh water dip for your fish. I've read that it helps to destroy any external parasites including ich.

 

[9supratt4]

Do not lower your SG in your DT if you have inverts and coral...It will certainly kill them. Running the tank fallow for 6-8 weeks at normal SG is fine and will allow the parasites to die off.

 

[psychic_alice]

Not sure but could a neon cleaner goby help keep ich away?

 

[al mc]

Originally Posted by Psychic_Alice
http:///forum/post/3187540
Not sure but could a neon cleaner goby help keep ich away?
Any cleaner fish or invert might help but it will not eliminate the parasite entirely.

 

[luv4jjt]

I raised the salt again. I was lucky though and only lost one crab. I don't have any coral yet though. Now that we are starting over I think we will go ahead and get some coral or sponges and things for color. We were kind of disapointed with the lack of color in our tank with the fish solection we had before. How distructive are dogfaced puffer's to corals?

 

[garick]

Many puffers are considered aggressive. They also have special food requirements to keep their teeth from growing to large and locking their jaws.
Also sponges can be difficult to raise and must not be exposed to air at all to protect their chambers (just in case you didn't know)

 

[al mc]

Originally Posted by Garick
http:///forum/post/3187599
Many puffers are considered aggressive. They also have special food requirements to keep their teeth from growing to large and locking their jaws.
Also sponges can be difficult to raise and must not be exposed to air at all to protect their chambers (just in case you didn't know)

Excellent advice. Also, if you add inverts into the tank while you are leaving it fallow to kill off the Ich problem there is always the chance that they can bring in more parasites (like Ich) and you need to restart your 6-8 week 'fallow clock' again from the point of your last addition.

 

[luv4jjt]

Thank you all very much for your help. I am patiently waiting for the 8 weeks. Although i am now seeing little things in the tank that i have never seen before. They look like shrimp crossed with a copepods. Now that there are no fish in the tank they are multiplying like crazy. The fish will have a feast when they get in there.