Ich in my new 125

kingspade

kingspade

Member
hi i recently purchased and set up a 125 gallon fish only with live rock tank. i bought an auriga butterfly and a tomato clown only to find out the next day the butterfly had ich. i bought the 2 from the same tank so i took them both back to the store i got them at. i wated a week and added 3 new fish from a different store, a powder brown tang, a pearlscale butterfly, and a copperband butterfly which was dead the next day, so i took him back and got a singapore angel. my tank now has the following fish, powder brown tang, singapore angel, coral beauty angel, pearlscale butterfly, small percula clown, and a yellow tail damsel. the yellow tail has been in there the longest and i never saw any ich on him. i added the powder bron, pearlscale and copperband on saturday. the copperband was dead sunday and i added the singapore yesterday. today i saw the powder brown had spots all over him, even on his eyes, and the pearlscale and coral beauty have it too, the percula and damsel look like they have no spots on them, and the singapore hasnt shown his face yet, just hiding behind the live rock so i dont know how he looks yet. i am treating my tank with ICH-X, i just need some opinion and help on this matter as i am a beginner anf would hate to kill anything in my tank. anything would be helpful. thank you very much
 
B

barkdog

Guest
Stop adding fish to this tank until you get things under control. Get your water tested and give us your water specs. How long has the tank been set up?
Tangs get ich especially easy and are usually the first fish to show it. Butterflies are very delicate fish and need perfect water quality.
I cant say until you get your water tested, but I would guess you have high amonia and nitrates. You cant add so many fish at one time. The presence of amonia and nitrates will weaken the fish and allow the ich to attack.
Good luck!
 
zanoshanox

zanoshanox

Active Member
Have you even treated your tank at all? Your system is still infected whether you take out the fish with visual infections...
 
kingspade

kingspade

Member
i had my water tested yesterday and they said everything looked good. the did the test for the reason that the copperband they sold me died and that is one of their stipulations to their 24 hr guarantee. i will test my water after supper and post the results for you guys, like i said before, i am a beginner and need all the help i can get. thank you very much for your replies
 
C

clowntang

Guest
looks to me that the amonia and nitrates are to high to me. Have you done any water changes since setting up the tank, I assume it has cycled so it maybe in need of one. I agree with the others, you can't tast for ick, only see it's results. But If you had ick in the tank at all you do have to treat the whole thing, fish, tank, pumps, skimmers, ect. cause once in the tank without treating it, it remains in the tank even if you remove the fish. I would suggest that since your running a 125 which is a large tank to go to walmart or somewhere and buy a cheep 10 or 20 for a quarinteen tank so when you get fish from the LFS u can watch them for a few days and see if they are ok, before adding them to the main tank. This way if any have ick then you only have 10 or 20 gallons of water to treat and whatever fish you put in it, compared to 125 gallons of water and all you livestock. JUst a thought.
 
kingspade

kingspade

Member
i know you cannot test for ich, i never mentioned testing for ich. i know my tank has the infestation because i can see it on my fish. i dont think my ammonia is high, but the nitrate looks like it could use some lowering, what should it be at, or what is it safe up to. at what levels should i start to worry. also i meant to ask anyone with a lot of experience with treating ich, what are the fishes chances of living through this treatment and surviving?
 
kingspade

kingspade

Member
i also forgot to mention that i got a 55 gallon tank to set up as a QT, just dont have everything i need to start it yet. what all should i put in the QT? i am going to continue treating my display tank since i already have it going but after this treatment is donr everything will be put throught the QT before they go into the display. please reply asap thank you
 
pacino

pacino

Member
check the "disease forums" there is alot of good info there as far as "QT". i am doing what is called a "hypo treatment" to my 80 gallon and it seems to be working pretty well. search for that thread as well. but the one thing i would recommend in the future is something i have had a reasonable amount of success with. i only add one fish a month, or longer. sounds like you have added to many fish to fast. and "butterflies" are very, very sensitive. in 4 years of two SW tanks i have had ich break out twice, both due to butterflies, even though my water condition was very good. but anyway patience is key. dont rush it even though it is there is nothing funner than going to the LFS and getting some new fish. good luck in the future..
 
kingspade

kingspade

Member
i cant hypo my tank without a QT right? from what i understand a hypo treatmen is lowering salinity and temp in the main tank while treating fish in the QT? what will happen to my live rock and fish in the treatment i am doing now? will the fish and live rock make it through this?
 
kingspade

kingspade

Member
well i lost my powder brown and my pearlscale last night, found them this morning dead. still have the coral beauty, percula, singapore and yellow tail. wondering if i should just stop treatment, let them die and hypo my tank for a month? PLEASE reply to this, it is a tuff desision for me to make so i need some support. i do not have my QT anywhere near ready to set up so i cant fall back to that :( please let me know what you guys think
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Don't dose your display tank anymore with that medication. It is a waste of time and could cause a problem in your display.
There is not an easy solution here. I always suggest hyposalinity as the best choice for treating ich, and with tangs, there is really no choice, since tangs have little tolerance for copper.
I would suggest you move your LR over to a square-shaped rubbermaid container with a heater and PHs. Then do hyposalinity on your display. You should use a refractometer for this, which you can order online. In the meantime, use a GLASS hydrometer [the float in the water kind] to begin the hyposalinity. The procedure is detailed in the FAQ Thread at the top of this forum.
This sounds very drastic, but it is doable. Once the rock is moved over, add some PVC pieces for comfort zones for your fish...or fake coral/rocks.
 
kingspade

kingspade

Member
so i can hypo my fish right in my display? also how long will i have to do this for, i only ask because i have my display tank for sale because i am buying a 210 hopefully in the next couple weeks. so this tank could be gone before i can finish the treatment
 
M

mlandrigan

Guest
KingSpade: Chill out on changing things so fast! That is why people have so much trouble. You have to be very methodical.
 
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