Sick Fish

[eagle1]

Tank: 55 gal FOWLR (50+ lbs LR), 1 yellow tang (yes, I know Tang is in a 55 gal), 1 coral beauty, 2 perc clowns, 2 dams, 1 hermit crab, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 cc starfish, tank has been up for 5 months. Salinity 1.21, PH 8.2, Amm 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10. 25% water change on 5/6.
Wife brought home coral beauty, naso, and hermit from ***** a couple of weeks ago. I suggested JUST an angelfish. Will never go there again because afterwards, fish developed ich. Started out with white specks on naso and yellow. Tried Kick Ich last week and still using following directions. Spots left but then reappeared. Came back worse it seems. I want to set up a QT but isn't it too late? Other recommendations?
Today, naso tang has passed. Yellow tang looking pale. I've attached pics. Maybe somebody can give me ideas for how to treat the yellow tang. Have read lots of info but would like to get others' views.
Thanks in advance.
Roger

 

[eagle1]

Naso before it passed.

 

[beth]

Treat the ich and the fish remaining might just make it, though they are very week due to the extended lack of viable treatment.
There is a guide for setting up a QT in the FAQ Thread that you may want to take a look at for suggestions.
The most viable treatment for ich is also in the FAQ Thread at the top of the forum. Check out the post on Hyposalinity as well as Refractometers.
***** is not the best place to get fish, but most fish we acquire in this hobby come to us with ich. That is why it is so important to QT from the get-go. Once the hobbyist begins to use a QT they will avoid a whole array of problems that they don't want to deal with, namely contaminating their whole tank.
Is the tank still eating? If so, what are you feeding him?

 

[eagle1]

Beth, thanks for the reply. Tang is eating. I feed it flake, frozen brine shrimp, seaweed. It seems to tear up the flake and brine more than the seaweed. Lately hasn't been touching it.

 

[beth]

If you begin the hyposalinity procedure it should stimulate apetite. Try soaking the meaty foods in Zoecon and begin the treatment ASAP.

 

[eagle1]

I'll get some Zoecon. I can't do hypo unless I have a QT tank,yes? I have LR, cc starfish, hermit crab, and cleaner shrimp in the display, so hypo could could kill them, correct?

 

[beth]

Will kill them, more like it. No, for hyposalinity, you must follow the procedure as outlined in the FAQ Thread exactly. Copper and hyposalinity are the only acknowledged viable treatments for ich, and neither can be performed in the display tank that contains LR, LS, etc.

 

[fishdreams]

This is why I dont buy fish from *****

 

[eagle1]

I purchased a 20 gal tank and hood with heater and single bio-wheel filtration system. I am going to set up a QT tank and move all fish into it. I will follow procedure to set up the tank and hypo.
Yellow tail damsel has passed. Both my perc clowns have spots all over them. I would like to at least save the yellow tang and coral beauty. The tang is somewhat pale and have been soaking food in Zoecon. The coral beauty looks safe so far but can't wait for trouble.
Since I don't have a cycled tank, how about introducing the fish with BIO-Spira (Marineland product)? I heard it works great for new aquariums which involves no cycling at all. It contains all the bacteria that a cycled tank contains. Local fish only store tried it at a home show with no problems.

 

[eagle1]

Just want to make sure: Since I'll be QT'ing my fish in another tank, the LR, hermit crab, cleaner shrimp, and cc starfish can stay in the display tank, yes? Just maintain the proper levels?
I understand ich will die eventually in the display tank due to no host. Since I've been only 5 mos in the hobby, I want to be sure I'm doing the QT method correctly.

 

[beth]

Take a look at the FAQ Thread at the top of this forum for some tips on QTing. For an emergency QT, use 100% water from your display tank to set up the QT, as long as that water is good quality.
You will have a chore keeping water quality good.
The inverts do not need treatment, ich is a fish parasite. However, do not introduce any new fish to the display, as the tank at this point is infected. Once the tank is void of fish for a month, the ich in the display will die out.

 

[eagle1]

Finally got the QT tank up and running. 20 gal with bio-wheel, heater, and hood. Dropped in some PCV pipe for hiding places. Almost all of the water came from my 55 gal display since this is an emergency situation.
Salinity is at 1.017. Left it at that level since I will be doing hypo. Checked all other parameters and then grabbed the two perc clowns because they were the easiest and looked the worst. Hopefully they survive all this. Tough trying to grab two dams, coral beauty angel, and yellow tang. I need to make or get my self a fish trap. I don't feel like removing all my LR just to get them.
Once I've got them in the QT, I'll wait another day then change out some water to lower the salinity a little more. I do this until I reach the 1.009 suggested hypo level.