Ich? HELP

[badasstang]

My new Blonde Naso hasn't ate very well when I first got him. And before I bought him I asked to see him eat, and he ate really good (the person told me it was prime reef, but it was red in color...MY prime reef is a white/greenish color). He has slowed his eating habits down from what I can see. And the past couple days I have noticed "salt sprinkles" on his body. I am new to the "problems" of diseases, when I first started it was normally my fault. But anyways, I know NOTHING about dips, or how to cure this. My blue hippo, scooter blenny, and damsel are all doing fine (plus the invertebrates). I have live rock, live sand, and corals. No QT tank set up, but if it only takes, a tank and put some of my water, and no cycling required, I could do that. But what is the best way to fix this problem, before I lose him? THanks

 

[badasstang]

Well, when I first got him he had a few white spots that were showing, and they went away, but you could see them very faintly. Now they are really visible, and he is laying on the bottom of the tank. I hope he makes it through the night, because all of the lfs are closed now!

 

[badasstang]

The spots are actually part of the coloring of the fish, they are much more visible now, they were very faint when I bought him. I will set up a QT tank within the next couple of days, so I can put the new fish in there, but what are the parameters that the tank should be at? Let me know, thanks

 

[badasstang]

Well, I will be lucky if he makes it an hour...he is doing BAD now. Laying on the bottom, barely even moving his fins. The weird thing is, he looks good the fins straight up, and dark in coloring...but he isn't acting very good. The bad thing is, I was doing good on fish for once, it has been awhile since that has happened to me!

 

[badasstang]

Is there some type of dip I can use on him? Even if it is something that will be temporary...or is this the hyposalinity you were talking about? I obviously can't get to a LFS tonight, but if he makes it through the night I can. I added a couple of pics here, hopefully you will be able to tell me if it is really serious or not. (s)he is tossing me mixed signals (must be female)...at times he will be lying on his side, at other times he will be swimming (not much, but look like he is doing alright)...

 

[badasstang]

one last one...the spots on him that I spoke about before are obviously visible in the picture above. BUt the "salt springles" arnt visible...

 

[beth]

Do you have a hospital tank, or is your tank FO? You can preform hyposalinity in your main tank, if it is strictly FO--meaning no inverts, LR.

 

[badasstang]

My tank has live rock, inverts, and a couple corals. I was reading about the hypo, and found it won't work. Tomorrow I will be getting another tank so that I can make a qt tank, so I can put my new fish in there for a couple weeks before the show tank. But obviously won't buy anymore fish until it is settled...I do have a couple questions about the qt tank though, hopefully someone will fill me in on the basics
I know I need a tank, heater, and a filter...is a hangon small filter enough? Or do I need a powerhead etc? What should the salinity be? No sand or anything on the bottom correct? And do I keep it running at all times, or just before I need to add a fish, or will it cycle everytime? Thanks for anyone that can fill me in
PS, he did die this morning

 

[badasstang]

Beth, I read your sticky, and that answered all of my questions, but then brought up one. What is the grounding probe? I will be QTing a tang when the QT is up and running, therefor, I want to know what it is.
Because my tank may have ich present, can I add in my QT tank half from the main tank, and half premixed? Or start from scratch, And if I do this (50/50), how long do I have to wait for it to cycle (normally)...I can always do tests to make sure, just checking

 

[beth]

A grounding probe eliminates any stray voltage that is loose in your tank due to electrical equiptment. It is a good thing to have in a QT, but especially in your main tank---particularly if you are going to have tangs and angels, which are fish that are prone to get HLLE. HLLE is a disease that has many factors involved, but stray voltage in the tank, is believed to be one of the factors that cause it.
You can use water from your main tank to help with cycling your QT, just don't put any fish in it for a month. You can also seed your filters in your main tank for a few days, to kickstart your QT.
You will have to test your QT to assess how it cycles. The water used from your main tank, and seeding filter media, is a kick start, but its not going to make your QT completely cycled. Just aid it along its way.
As for your current sick fish. You can place him in a new QT. You will just diligiently have to address water quality to PREVENT the tank from going in to a cycle. This will not be so hard initially because you will doing a lot of water change outs as you lower salinity. You can also add a couple of cups of sand from your main tank, again, to help seed the QT.