PH and Ick

[queek]

After having my fish in the tank for a few weeks and adding a few corals to the tank I finally thought I had this all set and was able to set back and enjoy my tank. About 3 days ago I saw that my Royal Gramma had ick. The poor guy look so bad so I was told that I should give him a FW dip and that if he's at that stage that it was only a matter of time till the clown showed Ick as well. I did the dip and boy was the gramma stressed. 2 days ago I saw that this "friend" was right the clown was coming down with Ick as well. After going to the LFS I talked with a guy there and he told me that this is about the same as the common cold in humans and that something was going on with my water. He told me to check my PH lvl at night then at day and to see if there was a big change and sure enough there was. 7.9 at night and back up to 8.3 for daytime. He told me that I will need to get my water stable and start feeding them Vit C and Garlic and I might be able to cure this problem. Have any of you heard of this and how do I keep my PH from moving so much ?
Water levels
NH3/NH4+- 0ppm, NO2 - 0ppm, NO3 - 0ppm, SG- 1.024, KH - 9 dkh, Ca - 460ppm, PO4- 0ppm Temp - 77
Foods (now adding Kents Zoe, vitamain C and Extream Garlic)
Formual one frozen, Hikari Frozen Brine shrimp, Hikari Frozen blood worms, Hikari Freezedried Brine shrimp, Hikari Freezedried Plankton, Tetra Marineflakes, Zooplankton
You know I list this food list and I think to my self omg I dont even eat this well.
Please any help on this would be great.
Queek

 

[marktg]

You need to check out Beth's FAQ at the top of this forum...I've followed is for the last month with 4 of my fish with excellent results.
Your LFS advisor sounds uninformed, at best.
Good luck.

 

[queek]

It has been almost a week and it seems to be clearing up. Sometimes I still see the Gramma scratching but there is no spots to be seen. I am still fighting this PH problem and could use a few tips on this one.
Queek

 

[iceemn360]

I had a very similar problem. My royal gramma showed up with Ich a few days after arrival and the Ich spread to everyone in my thank. It periodically cleared up but then cam back with even more vengence. I was doubtful of hypo at first, the pH dropping too much when adding fresh h20, but once I reached 1.009 the Ich has dissapeared and not a single sign of scratching, fast breathing, or discoloration. My neon goby was just covered in ich and now has only a few spots. The UV, melafix, and low salinity seem to be working great. just if any of this helps.

 

[beth]

Did you read the FAQ Thread? The "clearing up" is only a part of the ich life cycle. It will very likey attack your fish again in near future.

 

[iceemn360]

Originally Posted by Beth
Did you read the FAQ Thread? The "clearing up" is only a part of the ich life cycle. It will very likey attack your fish again in near future.
OH yes I'm very aware of that. Its just that in my main tank there were so many cycles that the fish would develope and lose ich spots daily. currently on their 10th day there are no sighns of Ich. Thank you for your concerns. I plan to keep them in hypo for another 2 weeks.

 

[beth]

Well, if you complete the hyposalinity threatment correctly, you should be fine. What are using to measure salinity?