lion and tang trouble

[pberk]

I hope someone can help me. I got various people telling me different things and I do not know what to believe any more.
I have a Blue Tang and a Lion in a 40 gallon tank (they are both small about 2,5 inch). I also have a puffer (same size), but he seems to doing fine. It is a new setup tank (2 months) I got the fish 6 days ago. All water readings were fine, until the fish got in. Meaning a slight elevation of ammonia and nitrite (from 0 to 0.2 and and from 0 to 0.1).
The first 3 days were fine, and everyone was eating. My Tang started to have white sandlike spots in his boddy, which he started to try to scrub off against the rocks and the Lion did not want to eat anymore and just lay around on the rock or the sand.
I also noticed that the long fines (excuse my english, I am actually Dutch...) have broken off and are pretty short now. I also noticed the same spots on the Lion.
So i asked around and people told me it was ick. In order to treat it I got kick-it (I believe....has no copper) and to lower the ammonia and nitrite levels I did a 30% water change.
They told me to do the ick treatment in the tank, since it could the puffer gets it as well, and it would be a preventive measure to do it in the whole tank.
I took out my biological filter, becuase it has carbon in it and would take the ick treatment out of the water, but according to the guy at my lfs it would be okay for 2 weeks since i had live rock and live sand (dunno if that is true or even makes sense).
Did I do the right thing or is there something else I need to do. My signiture shows my setup.
Any advice would be welcome.

 

[beth]

What you are referring to is Kick-Ick, probably, and I have never heard anything very positive about it. Since you have live rock and live sand, you can't do the correct treatment in you tank, which would be hyposalinity.
Are you willing to set up a separate hospital tank for fish, or your live rock? If not, then there is not much else you can do except feed your fish food soaked in garlic. You must continue to do water changes to prevent ammonia and nitrites from accumulating again.
If you are interested in setting up a hospital tank, there is a lot of info here about how to do it. Use the Search Feature and type in hyposalinity, QT, quarantine, hospital tank. That should get you a lot of info.
If you have additional questions, please post back.

 

[pberk]

Hi beth,
thanX for your reply. The Lion and Tang did not make it. I do have a hospital tank up and running. I will let the whole thing stabalize again and will not get any new fish until I am sure the ich is gone and that the puffer (who seems to be doing fine and does not seem to be affected at all) is doing good. Then I will add one fish and see how he is doing. I will make sure I take it slow and that I use my quaranteen tank for the introduction of new fish. One question thouhg: How long does a new fish have to stay ina quaranteen tank? a month? 2 weeks? and do I have to treat it in the tank somehow during that period?
thanX for you help in advance.

 

[beth]

pbeck, I have to tell you that the fish you chose and the number of them put together in that tank was just about a glencher for disaster. Not to mention that you should never add that many fish at once to a new tank.
A tank that is only 2 mos. old is not completely "cycled" and just can't hold adding 3 fish, particularly those fish, all at once.
This is what you need to do for your hospital tank.
The treatment for ich is hyposalinity. You basically lower your specific gravity to 1.009 over the course of 48 hours. Once the water is down to 1.009, you maintain that level for 3 wks AFTER all signs of ich are gone from the fish. If all is well during that time, then you can raise the specific gravity of your water back up to normal over the course of 5 days. Leave the puffer in the tank for another 5-7 days after the specific gravity is back to normal. If all is well with the puffer, then he can be returned to your main tank following this procedure. In the absence of fish in your main tank, ich will be killed off there.
Now, while the puffer is in a hospital tank, you must be sure to maintain good water quality. That means no ammonia or nitrites. Additionally, since water tends to loose pH as the salinity is less, then you will need to maintain pH using buffers. However, note that if you have ammonia, that it is best not to raise pH, as higher pH makes ammonia more toxic.
Don’t add any fish to your tank during this timeframe. In fact, after you add the puffer back, wait al least a month before adding something else. In the meantime, stay tuned to SWF.com and study up on the hobby as much as you can. We’re here to help and learn.

 

[pberk]

Hi Beth
Unfortunately I learned my lesson the hard way. I guess my lfs was just keen on selling me fish, without considering what is right for the fish. That is very sad, since they told me that adding these fish would not cause a problem. Like I said in my first message, too many opinions from too many people, it is hard to figure out what is true and not. I believe you , so I will go with your suggestions.
ThanX for the help. I will transfer the puffer tonight.
If there are any new developments, I will keep you informed.
By the way Beth, my name is Pascal )

 

[melbournefl]

Hey there Pascal, you developed one hell of a programming language, I used it for many years. Oh Oh guess my age is showing
Later,
Paul