Please Help

[kev75]

Im still fairly new to the hobby and I take advise from my fish store to help me out most times. I have a 55 gallon tank with both coral and fish. Till yesterday i only had one clown in it do to all the others dying several months back. everything has been going great in the display good algae growth levels are great so on and so on. So i set up a quarantine tank to try and start adding more fish the right way and so begins my problem. The quarantine was set up for over a month before we added fish (couple Damsels and a Tomato clown) two of the Damsels died and the Tomato died also from im guessing ich. I bought a ich treatment from a pet store that did not work before the Tomato died and began treating the quarantine tank it didnt work. Then went to my saltwater fish store and bought some erythomycin to try and help before the clown also died. That didnt work either it was dead this morning. i also bought a Coral Beauty angle and was told to put it straight into the display do not quarantine it. Well I did that and this morning... you guessed it he is covered in white spots. Now I dont know what to do. It is going to be almost impossible to get the angle out of my display and i dont want to kill my coral. Please help.
Thank you Kev75

 

[beth]

Your local store gave you terrible advise, and that is pretty common for local stores. Rarely do you find a store clerk that knows much about taking care of fish.
You were on the right track with deciding to use a quarantine to begin with. Hobbyists who have reef tanks even more-so need quarantine tanks or face what you are facing now with breaking down your reef to catch sick fish.
I'm afraid that all of the fish in the display tank will require removal and treatment.
What is the size of your quarantine tank and what equipment are you using for it?
Do you have a refractometer?
Take a look at this article:https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/a/hyposalinity

 

[kev75]

I do have a Refractometer. My quarantine tank is a 25 gallon i have a fluval power fiter, uv filter, and T8 light. I dont have any live rock or sand... I do have crushed coral on the bottom and a couple of decorations for the fish to hide in. So will quarantining and medicating the fish do it or will i have to start my display all over?
Thank you so much for your help Kev75

 

[kev75]

I'm also not using carbon in my filter.

 

[beth]

How is your ammonia and nitrite levels in the QT?
Did you read the article I link regarding hyposalinity? That would be my recommendation for treating the fish.
Once the fish are out of the display and under treatment, in the absence of any fish, the ich will die off in the reef.

 

[kev75]

Been busy today I will read your link as soon as I get a sec. All the levels in the qt are good. I do about a ten percent water change 2 a week to try and keep them that way .
Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!
Kev75

 

[beth]

Basically, you will need to get the 2 fish you have out of your display to place them in the QT. Then proceed with the treatment as outlined in that link.
You may need to remove corals and live rock from the reef to accomplish this. You can use a square rubbermaid container as holding tanks for the rock and corals with powerheads/pumps, of course. Remove water you need from display for your temp. holding tank of rock and corals. Once the fish are out, return the rock, let the sand settle in the display, then replace your coral. It sounds daunting, but planned out correctly, it is not so bad. Good water circulation in the container holding corals is key.

 

[kev75]

Thank you so much for your advise. I appreciate it so much... You have no idea
I will let you know how it all turns out
Again Thank you kev75

 

[beth]

You may need to use a heater in QT and coral tank, depending on the temp of the water.
Good luck!

 

[kev75]

I do have one in the qt tank.
Thank you

 

[kev75]

Beth what are your thoughts on a freshwater dip? Just wondering... going to be a few more min before i start taking my tank down so thought I would ask. I know my angle has to be stressed bad
at the moment and dont know if that would probably kill it or not. I was just looking on line and saw that some people had good results with it. My clown still does not have any spots as far as i can see.
Thank You Kev75

 

[beth]

FW dips do not cure ich. It could knock off a few cysts, but it will not kill or cure the overall infection. It is also very stressful. LFS do this to in-coming fish to kill off cysts long enough for the unsuspecting hobbyists to take the fish home before the fish gets ich again. It does not kill the infection.

 

[kev75]

That sounds about right