parasites? should i restock?

[lewise]

My reeftank is about 4 months old right now. all tests show water quality is perfect but i recently had 3 fish die due to what i think were parasites because all were rubbing sides on bottom or rocks occasionally. i now have one yellowtailed damsel left and he seems unaffected....but i hear that damsels are resiliant against parasites anyways. i have a trumpet coral in the tank which is doing ok but some brown button polyps which are slowly going closing up. not sure whats going on. i cant treat with copper because of corals...but id like to add a couple more fish to see how they do. any ideas on whats going on? thanks-

 

[lewise]

so they will naturally die off by themselves??

 

[beth]

As Trey recommends, the best course of action is to remove all fish for a month. If your fish do not get parasites, and are healthy, you can return the fish to your tank after a month.
If, however, you cannot remove the fish, then still do not try to add fish now. Frankly, I would wait 2 mos before trying to add fish to a "sick" tank, especially if you plan to leave the fish you have in your tank.
In the absense of fish "hosts", parasites will die off. Parasites need fish to live, and, if they are not in your tank, the parasites in your tank will die off. The fish you have have been exposed to parasites and could well be infected [even if they do not show visible signs of infection].