need help, frustrated!!

[lost fish]

I have a 58 gallon tank with substrate, a heater, Prizm protein skimmer, 304 fluval filter, and 40 lbs of live rock. It has been running for 6 months now and I have had a second outbreak of ick. With my first outbreak, it wiped out my tank, which only consisted of 7 damsels and a Scopas tang. I then started over by taking down my whole system, cleaning it, and waited for it to be cycled. I then added 2 domino damsels after being quarantined who were fine for about 3 weeks. However, one domino is more dominant than the other and constantly is chasing the other around. I figured this has caused more stress and maybe the reason for another ick outbreak. Since my first outbreak, I have been using a garlic extract to supplement their feeding. Obviously, I am doing something wrong and my head is spinning as to what I should do. I have talked to an experienced hobbyist who suggested my equipment may be inadequate for a saltwater tank. I am new to this hobby and would appreciate any input. Thanks!!

 

[beth]

Inadequate equipment does not cause parasite infestation, unless the equipment is so poor that you have poor water quality. This, with the introduction of the parasite into your tank via fish, can cause ick.
What are your quarantining procedures? What type of substrate do you have? What are your water readings, including nitrates and phosphates?
You do not need to break down your tank and start over just because you have ick, so don’t do that.
Setup a hospital tank, using 50% main tank water [as long as that water is good quality] and 50% made-up water. Place your fish [all of them] in the hospital. You will need to maintain excellent water quality in the hospital tank.
Your best choice for treating ick is hyposalinity. There are numerous topics here in the disease forum on hyposalinity. Do a search and read a bit about the subject. It is a fairly simple treatment. If you have any question, then please ask.

 

[ckkihei]

You might want to consider a UV sterilizer as well.

 

[jakob4001]

you might also want to consider removing the dominoes as they tend to get even more aggressive w/ time & larger & will exert themselves on others as well as each other...unless paired w/ larger agressive fish; definately DO NOT BELONG in a reef tank

 

[lost fish]

I thank you all for your help. I have a 10 gal. HT/QT that I had the 2 dominos in prior to placing them in my main. They were treated with coppersafe for 3 weeks for an ick outbreak in the HT. After about 3-4 weeks, I noticed the less aggressive domino had ick.
My substrate is Florida crushed coral-aragonite formula. Parameters are ammonia-0, nitrite 0, nitate 10, pH 8.2. I don't have test kit for phosphates.
My hospital at present reads ammonia 0, nitrites rocketing off the chart.
I got the dominos because this was what I THOUGHT was a good starter fish. Any suggestions as to what kind of fish I should include that may be a great starter/beginner fish?

 

[beth]

A starter fish for what purpose? You Hospital has nitrites, thus is potentially lethel to all fish.
Your main tank has been exposed to ick.
How long has it been since any fish in your main tank has had ick? What fish do you have now, and where are they? Is it just 1 domino that has ick at the present time? Do you still have live rock in your main tank?

 

[lost fish]

Beth, I appreciate your help!! You misunderstood me, I wanted to know what is a good starter fish for later down the road after I get through this ick ordeal. I am talking mos. down the road. I understand that I cannot add more fish at this time. To answer your questions, it has been about a week that I have had the ick problem. I only have 2 domino damsels and the one is infected. They are both in the main tank which has live rock. It is my understanding that I can do frequent water changes in my HT since parameters are not where they should be? Is this correct? Thank you.