TERRY OR ED PLZ RESPOND

[star fish1]

I POSTED A PROBLEM THAT IM EXPERIENCING WITH A NEW ROYAL GRAMMA PURCHASED LESS THAN 8 HOURS AGO.WHITE SPOTS APPEARED WITHIN A HOUR. CARRIE ADVISED THAT IT SOUNDED LIKE ICK AND I SHOULD SET UP A SICK TANK AND RESEARCH IT HERE. WHICH I DID. HOWEVER, I CAME ACROSS OTHER INFO THAT I AM CURIOUS ABOUT. SUCH AS FRESH WATER DIP AND GARLIC TREATMENT AND PEOPLE ASKING ABOUT READINGS CAN YOU PLZ EXPLAIN IF THESE THINGS ARE RELEVANT TO MY SITUATION? ALSO CARRIE SAID THAT SHE WAS UNSURE IF YOU COULD TRANSFER FISH FROM THE MAIN TANK RIGHT INTO A SICK TANK. CAN YOU? IF I ATTEMPT HYPOSALINITY IN MY MAIN TANK CAN MY LIVE SAND SURVIVE? WHICH PROCESS IS EASIEST? PLEASE EXCUSE MY IGNORANCE. I KNOW THESE MY SEEM LIKE REALLY DUMB QUESTIONS TO YOU GUYS WITH A LOT OF EXPERIENCE, BUT REALLY I WANT TO LEARN. THNKS IN ADVANCE.

 

[star fish1]

TERRY ED OR BETH : 1 OTHER QUESTION CAME TO MIND. HOW BIG SHOULD A SICK TANK BE? PLEASE READ MY POST ON THIS FORUM "SOMETHING IS FISHY PLZ HELP NEW HOBBIST" TO GET THE FULL STORY. I DIDN'T KNOW HOW OR IF I CAN COPY IT . THNKS AGAIN.

 

[carrie1429]

I know you probably want someone else to advise you but I have to point out a few things. First of all the FW dips are very stressful on the fish I've tried it two times and both times resulted in the fish dieing. The garlic is used as a preventitive not as a cure but it builds their immune system. And for your fish that you have probably nothing less than a 25 g. Most hos. tanks are around 10g but since you have two tangs larger is better so the fish don't get sressed out.

 

[beth]

You say you have live sand, do you have live rock as well??
Do you have any inverts at all, crabs, snails, polyps, corals?? Give some info about the live sand that you have.
I'm asking, because your question as to whether you need to set up a separate hospital tank or not depends upon your answering.
FW dips will not resolve the ich problem you have. Go ahead and feed the fish food that is soaked in garlic. It will help to a degree, but will not really take care of an all-out infestation.
The best treatment for ich is hyposalinity. Where you need to perform the hyposalinity depends on the answers to the questions I asked.

 

[star fish1]

NO I DO NOT HAVE LIVE ROCK IN MY TANK ONLY LIVE SAND. AND TO RESPOND TO YOU ED, BEFORE I DISCOVERED THIS SITE I TOOK ADVISE FROM A KID AT THE LFS REGARDING COPPER. LUCKY FOR ME HE DIDNT GIVE ME COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. SO I DIDN'T TAKE OUT ANY CARBON ( I HAVE CART IN MY PENGUIN AS WELL AS IN A 350 MAGNUM PRO) AND I ONLY TREATED IT ONE DAY WITH BOTH THE BIO WHELL AND MAGNUM STILL GOING. I SHARED THE COPPER STORY WITH ANOTHER HOBBIST WHO SAID THE SAME THING YOU DID. THAT MY LIVE SAND WAS PROBABLY DEAD SAND. HE ADVISED ME TO TAKE MY WATER TO BE TESTED FOR COPPER. I DID. NO TRACE OF COPPER, NOT TO MENTION MY FISH WAS STILL ALIVE. ALSO A GOOD INDICATION THAT THE COPPER WAS NOT THERE

 

[star fish1]

BETH,ED,TERRY: SINCE MY LAST POST I HAD A GUY COME OVER AND SET UP A SICK TANK FOR ME. I WAS AFRAID TO TRY IT ON MY OWN FOR THE FIRST TIME. HE USED A 1O GAL TANK,AIR STONE,AIR CIRCULATOR AND A HEATER. THIS SEEMS PRETTY BASIC. HE ALSO SIPHONED 1O GAL OF WATER FROM MY MAIN TANK. NOW THE ROYAL GRAMMA IS IN THERE. AFTER DOING THAT HE DID ADD MORE WATER AND SALT TO THE MAIN TANK. ALL OF MY OTHER FISH SEEM TO BE DOING WELL SO FAR (STILL IN MAIN TANK). THE BLUE HIPO TANK (ALSO PURCHASED YESTERDAY IS SWIMMMING AND EATING). THIS MORNING I ALSO ADDED ORGAINC GARLIC IT WAS IN POWDER FORM TO THE MAIN TANK FOOD AND I WAS WONDERING HOW LONG SHOULD I CONTINUE THIS TREATMENT? ALSO, COULD YOU PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SICK TANK.
IS THIS SET UP ADEQUATE?
HE USED 10 DROPS OF SEA CURE COPPER.DONT I NEED A TEST KIT OR SOMETHING TO MAINTAIN PROPER LEVEL?
SHOULD I LEAVE THIS SET UP? OR WHEN THERE IS A NEED JUST SIPHON OFF OF THE MAIN TANK LIKE HE DID?
SHOULD I PUT SOMETHING IN THERE FOR THE FISH TO HIDE UNDER TO AVOID STRESSING?
HOW LONG SHOULD THE FISH STAY IN THERE?

 

[beth]

Star, you need to slow down, and calm down...Adding fish, adding meds, adding more fish while your tank is infected with ich!!! additng more meds.... This is too much of everything bad!
You wasted your money on a 10gal tank [though you can use it later for a QT, I guess].
You should just hypo your whole tank, as ALL YOUR FISH and YOUR TANK need to be treated for the parasite. I’m at a loss to advise you at this point, except to ask you to scratch everything you did since you got the fool from the LFS to setup a 10gal hospital for 1 fish, return the gamma to the main tank, and begin hypo in the main tank. If you need help with the a viable procedure, then please ask.
What do you mean the guy at the LFS added salt to your tank??? Hopefully this does not mean what it sounds like....
If you follow no other advise, do follow this: DO NOT ADD ANY MORE FISH AT THIS TIME OR WITHIN THE NEXT MONTH OR 2. DO NOT.

 

[star fish1]

BETH, I'M SORRY IF MY LAST POSTED SEEMED A LITTLE FRANTIC. I THINK THAT MAYBE I FAILED IN COMMUNICATING WHAT HAPPENED. I HAVE NOT ADDED MORE FISH SINCE THE ICH PROBLEM. THIS JUST STARTED YESTERDAY. IT CAME WITH THE 2 FISH THAT I PURCHASED YESTERDAY(BLUE HIPO,ROYAL GRAMMA).WHEN I SAID THIS GUY ADDED SALT. I MEANT THAT HE DID A WATER/SALT MIXTURE TO REPLACE WHAT WAS SIPHONED FOR THE SICK TANK. GARLIC IS THE ONLY THING THAT I HAVE ADDED TO MY MAIN TANK BECAUSE I READ SEVERAL POST THAT CLAIM THIS HELPS WITH THERE IMMUNE SYSTEM. NOW IF WHAT YOU ARE TELLING ME IS THAT TREATING THE 1 FISH WITH OBVIOUS ICH SIGNS WILL NOT BE EFFECTIVE, THEN OK. I AM OPEN TO DOING HYPOSALINITY. I JUST DONT KNOW HOW. SHOULD I BE DOING THIS IF EVERYBODY ELSE SEEMS OK? AND ALSO CAN YOU TELL ME WHY THE 1O GAL SICK TANK WONT WORK? <img src="graemlins//confused.gif" border="0" alt="[confused]" />

 

[mb4000]

Please stop using caps. If you do hypo, you better make sure that you never let the salinity get above 1.009 I think or else you may have to start over ( taken from advice given by anthem ). It will take a very high quality refractometer to make sure which are expensive. Get detailed instructions from Anthem or beth before you try hypo.

 

[beth]

I don’t know what size your fish are, but you have 5 fish...10 gal is too small for 5 fish. You really need to treat all the fish. And, to make this process easiest for you, the best option is to treat the fish in the main tank. You said your tank is FO, no live rock or inverts, thus, you can perform the treatment in your main tank.
Return your gamma to the main tank. Over the next 48-hours you will bring the specific gravity in your tank down to 1.009 by slowly replacing salt water in your tank with fresh dechlorinated or RO/DI water. What do you use to measure specific gravity [salinity]? Reduce the specific gravity down to 1.009 in slow increments and at a pace that causes no stress for your fish. Once there are no more visible signs of ich on your fish start counting the treatment time--- 21-days. Be sure that you start the count down AFTER all signs of ich are gone from the fish. At the conclusion of the 3 wks, if you have not seen any signs of ick, you can gradually return salinity levels in your tank to normal parameters [over a 4-5 day period]. That’s it.
You must be precise and get the specific gravity down to 1.009. Do not allow it to get above this.
Don’t put garlic in your tank. You soak pure garlic juice or use the hobby-made mixture on fish food, soaking the food inside the refrigerator for around an hour then feeding the fish the garlic soaked food. Don’t add garlic or garlic juice directly to your system.
In the future, you will use your spare 10 gal tank to quarantine new fish BEFORE they go into the main tank.

 

[star fish1]

THANKS ED AND BETH: I DONT KNOW IF IT IS TOO LATE BUT WHEN I LAST CHECKED THE ROYAL GRAMMA IT DIDN'T LOOK GOOD. LAYING ON ITS SIDE WITH ITS MOUTH OPEN BUT FINS STILL FLAPPING. THAT IS WHY I ASKED IF THIS AIR STONE & CIRCULATOR WAS ENOUGH.
BETH TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION ON WHAT I USE TO CHK SALINITY, I USE A HYDROMETER.

 

[star fish1]

BETH I UNDERSTAND NOW THAT I SHOULD SOAK THE FOOD IN GARLIC AND NOT ADD IT TO THE TANK. I DIDNT ACTUALLY ADD IT TO THE TANK I DISOLVED IT IN A CUP WITH THE FOOD. I WONT DO THIS AGAIN. WILL WHAT I HAVE DONE SO FAR DAMAGE ANYTHING?

 

[beth]

Dissolved garlic with food? If you add the garlic directly to the food, then soak the food, then just add the garlic soaked food to the tank, then that is fine.
If the fish is laying on its side gasping for breath, it is probably too late, especially in that 10gal setup you have going.
I think my recommendation above is the best choice--treating all fish, and tank, in the main tank.
You didn't say what you are using to measure salinity?

 

[claymore66]

Hay star,before you hypo your tank I would try a little product that cured the ick problem in my 90 gal reef tank. It is called no-ich .It is made by Marine Aquaria.It is safe for all your fish,invertebrates,and it will not hurt your nitrifying bacteria.I used it for 2 weeks and it cured the ick up in my tank and did not kill or harm any of my corals which I thought for sure it would.I add it to my tank now just to prevent a breakout. If you want to check it out go to petsolutions.com and look under medications for it.It helped my tank and I am sure it would do the same for yours.I would try this before hypoing my tank and putting that much stress on my fish and risking killing them. Good luck and I hope your ick problem is cured soon.