SOMETHING IS FISHY! PLEASE HELP NEW HOBBIST!!

[star fish1]

I JUST PURCHASED 2 FISH TODAY FROM A VERY REPUTABLE AQUARIUM STORE. 1 BEING A BLUE HIPOTUS TANG AND THE OTHER A ROYAL GRAMMA. THEY HAVE BEEN IN MY TANK(ESTABLISHED 4/2002) FOR LESS THAN 3 HOURS. THE TANG HAS WEDGED ITSELF UNDER A CORAL SKELETON AND I NOTICED THAT THE GRAMMA HAS WHITE SPECKLES ALL OVER IT, AND ONE OF THE EYES LOOKS WEIRD. I DIDN'T NOTICE THIS AT THE STORE. I DIDN'T NOTICE IT WHEN I WAS FLOATING THE BAG. COULD ICK APPEAR THAT QUICKLY? COULD MY OTHER FISH BE INFECTED SO QUICKLY? SHOULD I DUMP THIS BOOGER? I TREATED THE TANK WITH MELAFIX(AN ALL NATURAL TEA TREE OIL)AS A TYPE OF STRESS COAT WHEN I ADDED THE FISH. IT HAD INSTRUCTIONS ON THE BOTTLE FOR NEWLY ADDED OR NETTED FISH. I'VE USED IT IN THE PAST TO TREAT POP EYE ON MY CORAL BEAUTY AND WHEN I ADDED OTHER FISH. I DIDN'T SEE THE HARM. HAVE I BLOWN IT? PLEASE ADVISE. <img src="graemlins//confused.gif" border="0" alt="[confused]" />

 

[carrie1429]

Yes ich can appear quickly, the fish probably already had it just sometimes the white spots don't show. Do these white spots look like grains of sand? If so then for sure its ich. If you don't have live rock, corals, or live sand in your main tank then you could be able to do hyposalinity which is lowering the salinity level which ich cannot live in. Also what do you mean "dump this little booger"?

 

[star fish1]

YES THE SPOTS DO APPEAR TO BE SAND LIKE. I DONT HAVE A SICK TANK SET UP AND I DONT WANT TO RISK WIPING OUT EVERYTHING IN MY TANK BECAUSE OF THIS ONE FISH. WHAT I MEANT BY DUMPING IT WAS SHOULD I SACRAFICE THIS ONE TO SAVE THE MASSES? I HAD ICK AND SOME KID AT THE PET STORE ADVISED ME TO TREAT WITH COPPER,BUT WHAT HE DIDNT TELL ME WAS TO TAKE OUT CARBON AND THAT I COULD NEVER HAVE INVERTS IN MY TANK AFTER THE TREATMENT. WELL THE FISH DIED ANYWAY AND I HAD A MORE EXPERIENCED HOBBIST ADVISE ME TO LET MY TANK RUN EMPTY FOR 2WEEKS AND START OVER. AFTER THAT I'VE BEEN OK UNTIL NOW.
I AM NOT OPPOSED TO USING COPPER IN MY MAIN TANK IF THE ONLY DRAW BACK IS THAT I CAN'T HAVE INVERTS, BECAUSE I DON'T INTEND TO. IF THIS IS NOT AN OPTION PLEASE ADVISE ME ON WHAT I CAN DO TO SAVE MY TANK. THANKS IN ADVANCE.ALSO IS THE BLUE HIPOTUS BEHAVIOR OF WEDGING BETWEEN A CORAL SKELETON AND THE SAND NORMAL?

 

[carrie1429]

Even if you do sacrafice the one fish its probably already too late, once ich gets in your tank it effects all your fish. Your right, you can't use copper with inverts but also you can't use it with live rock or live sand either so if you have that then copper shouldn't be used. The best method for curing ich would be to setup a hospital tank, move you fish in there and do hyposalinity. I don't know if the hospital tank will cycle or not but many other people have quickly setup a hos. tank and there fish lived. Do a search on this board on hyposalinity. Also if you do go with the hospital tank leave all you fish out of the main tank for 4-6 weeks for the ich to die off.

 

[carrie1429]

And yes I'm pretty sure that that is a normal thing for tangs to do. Often they will lay behind rocks or wedge themselves in places, kinda strange.

 

[star fish1]

THANKS CARRIE FOR YOUR QUICK RESPONSE. I REALLY APPRECIATE IT. HOWEVER, IT IS 2AM HERE IN CHICAGO I DONT THINK I CAN SET UP A SICK TANK TONIGHT. IS THIS SOMETHING THAT WILL KILL MY FISH OVER NIGHT OR DO I HAVE TIME TO RESEARCH THIS AND SET UP A TANK TOMORROW? ALSO, WHEN WILL I KNOW THAT I AM OUT OF THE WOODS?

 

[carrie1429]

The rest of your fish will be fine ich doesn't kill right away, but don't know about your royal gramma since you don't know how long it has had the ich for. Also referring to "out of the woods" I assume your asking when will the ich be gone from your fish? Usually if you do the hypo the right way I think a couple weeks but I don't know since I never had to do the hypo before. but make sure you leave the fish out of the main tank for 4-6 weeks.

 

[carrie1429]

Also do you know how to setup a hos. tank? And after you set it up don't put the fish in right away, they can live with the ich for a while, get someone elses opinion on this I don't want to point you in the wrong direction. Just saying thst because I'm not positive that its safe to add fish right away to you hos. tank.