New Tank with ICK outbreak

[fmchok]

I have a new 60 gallon tank (3 weeks old, with 50 lbs of live rocks) and 6 fishes (2 medium size clown, 2 medium size yello damsel, 1 maroon, and 1 blue angel).
5 days ago, I noticed ick on the angel and it has now spread to the others. I have added Copper Safe to the tank...will it get rid of the ick, will my fish die, what will happen to the live rock, Can someone please help me...
[ August 20, 2001: Message edited by: fmchok ]

 

[beth]

Oh my...you've killed your live rock, basically. Never, ever add meds, and particularly, copper to a tank with live rock, live sand, or inverts. Do you have inverts in that tank as well??
You can treat ick with copper, but not in a tank with LR. Better to have made up a hospital tank and treat the fish.
Sorry for the bad news.
[ August 20, 2001: Message edited by: Beth ]

 

[pufferlover]

I hate to add to the bad news but I have a feeling you went way to fast. 3 weeks and 6 fish already and especially a Blue Angel who needs a good established tank to live in happily. At this point you have little choice but to try to treat the tank as you have started but beth is right the rock is going bye bye anyway. Hopefully as she said there are no inverts in there or they are toast to. Please in future check with someone before you start anything with your tank till you have more time under your belt. The rock can be used but it will be dead rock and to ever use the tank with live rock or inverts again will take a lot of work later. Use our search feature located top right and check under live rock and under copper treatment to see other posts from before regarding what is happening and going to happen in that respect.

 

[fmchok]

Due to my ignorance, I have added coffersafe into a tank with live rock. Appreciate if someone could help me with the follwing questions:
1) Since those live rock are dead, should i remove them? will they pose any threat if i don't?
2) How do i remove the presence of copper from my tank? And when is it safe for me to reintroduce live rock to the tank again?

 

[jimi]

How long has the rock been exposed to the copper? Water changes carbon and POLY-FILTERS will remove the copper rapidly. For now I would leave the rock as the bacteria will still act as a biological filter.

 

[fmchok]

Today is the fourth day since i added copper into the tank. Those fishes aren't looking any better..got more of those white spots on their body. But they are eating. Will be setting up a hospital tank later tonight.
Feeling really bad and miserable. ..killed the rock and those fish might die. Wished I had found this website earlier...printed out and read so many of the earlier posting on this site. Know how impatient, uninformed and stupid I was.
Broke my heart to see how miserable my boyfriend is...this was supposed to be Our first project..and its turning into a disaster...

 

[fishswim]

After a few cases of ick and other infections attacking my tank, I finally made a hospital tank and a tank to introduce new fish into (excluding inverts). I have copper in my hospital tank, and just a little in my other tank. But, I also found out the hard way how bad medicines were to inverts. I killed a star and a shrimp with medicines.

 

[fmchok]

All the other fishes r doing fine, no more white spots on their body and they r eating like pigs except the blue angel. Noticed that its eyes are potruding...I have placed it in the QT. Any idea what is wrong with it?
The other question is...there are quite a lot of green algae on my live rocks and my mirror over the past few days (hairy ones)....Is this normal or something is really wrong with this?
Beth, Terry and FishSwim thanks for your help so far. Really appreciated it. Hope you guys can help me out..in the mean time, I will search the database and see if i can find some clues...hopefully I won't be as confused as I did the last time around

 

[fmchok]

Something amazing happened last night, me and my boyfriend discovered something growing on our rocks (but I've added copper to treat ick about a week ago...is it possible??!!!)
There were 4 of them, I don't know how to describe it...its something like a "flower"..about 3mm in diameters...semi transparent (white) and one was maroon (or purple). Its a full bloom in a few seconds and will close and retreat back into the rock when we move closer to look at it. What is it? Anyone has any idea
And they were a lot of white organism that is scurrying around the rock.....it was so amazing!!!
Other than that, I also noticed there was something else in my live rock..can't see it clearly but it has tentacles and seems to be scraping the algae from the live rock. It hides and re-appear at other places later...anyone has any idea what it could possibly be??
Any feedback appreciated!

 

[fmchok]

i was browsing thru the corals info and found that, what i described in the earlier posting as "flower" resemble "button polyps".
Is this possible??! I mean, it was only a week ago that I added copper into the tank.
Anyone has any idea....

 

[beth]

It certainly does seem impossible to believe that any inverts or coraline alage could have survived a copper treatment. In any case, I would make sure that you put a heavy duty carbon filtration in your tank to draw out that copper, as well as do a major water change.
In the meantime, the hospital tank should be setup, move all fish to the hospital as, even though the copper treatment may have cleared up the ick, the treatment was not long enough. Begin hyposalinity.
And, I hope that the tenticled creature you saw was not an aiptasia anemone! If so, REMOVE IT QUICKLY! If you do not know what these are, use our SEARCH feature...you'll get a load of info!
Good luck!

 

[fmchok]

Beth thank you so much for the hint! I'll find out more about aiptasia anemone. I couldn't see that "bugger" except its long and tiny tentacles. I hope I was not seeing things because I think I saw it trying to grab the clown once. Oh dear...I'm so worried...what could it be? Its so frustrating because the two times I saw it...it retreat into the rock when I try to have a closer look.
On second thought, I am beginning to wonder...if those "flower" thingy that i mentioned earlier is also some kind of "BAD" thing waiting to wipe out my tank.
As mentioned in earlier posting it will bloom and retreat once we move closer.Anyone has any idea.
This morning, clown is covered with white spots again..he was spotless yesterday.
Will remove it to the QT tonight.
Sigh, its like a roller coaster ride since I got the tank..one day I was escatic..down the dump the next....

 

[jimi]

Your unidentified creature does sound like an aiptasia. I got rid of some by injecting them with a kalk loaded syringe. As far as never being able to keep inverts in a tank that has been treated with copper, that is not true. Ther are plenty of tanks out there including mine that have been treated with copper an now have lots of live rock and inverts. Your present rock is questionable depending on how long it has been exposed to copper and how much soaked in. hopefully you have been removing the copper.