pls help, losing interest in reff tank

[tierodking]

Please help, I am losing interest in my favorite hobby. I have been doing saltwater for 3 years now and I recently upgraded to a 120g tank w/ sump. I am frustrated in 3 ways.
the 1st being my sump. I was getting lots of bubbles returning to my tank from my sump. I went out and bought another sump--bigger and more baffles, the bubbles have subsided, there used to be "billions of bubbles", but now there are only thousands of bubbles. No matter what I do I can't get rid of them.
the 2nd thing is I am sick of ick. I came home from the IFS today, yanked my achilles tang out of the tank by its neck ( I'm so pissed and stress about this F'ing fish having ick) put it in a freshwater dip for 13 min, was putting him back in the tank when I noticed that over 50% of the ick was still on his body; INFURIATED, I took him directly to the toilet and flushed him. 80% of my fish die from ick, I do not have a QT, but I do drip the fish for 3 - 4 hrs
the 3rd which is by far the worst, is a combination of the 1st & 2nd and having quit smoking 3 weeks ago. If you have ever quit, everything is fine until you get frustrated, then its all over.
Can someone please help me w/ my 1st 2 issues? I'm almost to th3e point of throwing it out the window, the only problem is that I can't lift it.

 

[pfitz44]

1) Can you take a pic or draw a sketch of your sump/refuge?? that will help find a possible problem.
2) Whats your livestock??

 

[mudhauler]

I'll type in a very soothing manor. I'm not fond of the dips or treatments as they don't treat the root of the problem, what is stressing the fish. Are they ich free when they are purchased ,is the LFS using copper in there tanks? Is this a fowlr or reef? Are there other tangs in the tank, is it over crowded? I'm not ripping you just wondering if those are the problems. Achilles are ich factories from my experience but then most tangs are. I've heard positive things about uv sterilizers but no personal experience. I would stop adding anymore fish and let the tank settle out . I would wait at least 2 months before I thought of adding any thing else and I would stay away from the achilles tang beautiful but fragile. This isn't much instant help but patience is best medicine for a while don't quit quttin on either front good luck

 

[tierodking]

here is a pic of the sump. Kinda hard to see, but on the far left is where both overflows enter the sump. Where the black foam is is a baffle that water must go over. I'm sure you see the LR. Then another baffle that the water must go under then come up through the blue & white sponge then over another baffle and finally to the pump

 

[xhappyx]

make sure all ur fittings don't have leaks i had the same problem and it turned out just being a tiny little air leak good luck with it..

 

[tierodking]

my bio load isn't that big, the tank is a 120g (new, 1 week old) there is a 6 line wrasse, a bi-color blenny, arrow crab, pom pom crab, cleaner shrimp, 3 dozen hermit crabs & snails & 1 sand shifting star. oh yeah, there WAS an achilles
here are some shots of the water, you can see the bubbles floating around.
I had a canister filter on my 54 corner, and the water was crystal clear, is something not set up right, do I need a mechanical filter to get that type of water quality?

 

[tierodking]

the 2nd pic w/ the corals, you can see all the pinhead bubbles in the water

 

[tierodking]

I know that ick has a cycle and is only really alive for 6-8 weeks. Since I still have a blenny and a wrasse in my tank, how long until it is safe to add a fish?
Will the ick always be present in the tank if I have at least one fish in it or do I need to put that fish in a QT for 6-8 weeks?
thanks

 

[pfitz44]

1) Check the pittings for the pipes, make sure there are no small air leaks. Also, check the intake and the return from the fuge to make sure it isnt swirling in water.
2) a HOB filter would be a good investment for carbon polishing to get the water crystal clear
3) I think ick has a live of 28 days. check the deasese forum, its in the FAQ. If no fish gets it within that 28 days, then its dead, as it needs fish flesh to live.