625g and fish in peril....sprung into action

Flame2hawk · Dec 22, 2019

Started my 625g (water volume) 8 weeks ago and added fish too fast...ammonia spiked and has stubbornly stayed up...Wanted to save the fish but was told by many experienced hobbiest and LFS that even though they were showing signs of ich, ammonia burn, were lethargic and some not eating, that attempting to take them out with all the rock would kill them from the stress. I waited until this week and couldn’t stand seeing them suffer a slow death (of course because 100% my fault by adding fish too fast) so decide to take action. First ones out were the emperor angel( was so lethargic and in the corner that it was easy) and 4 midnight clowns. They all got 20 minute fresh water dips with hydroplex before going into the Q tank. The next day I was amazed what I saw, fish that were lively, no spots and hungry. They ate and have had an incredible appetite for last 4 days!!. Event though there are no signs of ich, I did start treating with paraguard 2 days ago...so far so good. Today I decided to remove the blonde naso from 625g DT (who was not eating anything except some nori) and scribble angel (who was eating well). I dipped the scribble with same mix for 20 minutes and Naso for 15 minutes (tangs stress a bit more in F/W dips so you really have to watch them closely). AS I look at them right now they appear to be recovering very well with all signs of ich gone. I will wait 24/48 hours, get them eating and start with paraguard also. So whats left in the tank are 2 coral catshark and 2 orange diamond watchman gobies. After Christmas I will attempt to remove the sharks during feeding time which is around 10 at night. I will then do hyposalinity in the tank. I’m told this is my best bet given the expense of treating such a large tank. Of course cant do hypo with sharks in there so have to hope I can get them out. They are 10 and 8” each. In case you’re wondering how I got the Naso and Scribble out without moving a rock....I’m glad they love nori ...the scribble went right into clear container with a piece of nori inside. Naso wouldn’t go in the net but got close enough for me to snatch him...again with nori. Besides yelling at me for putting too many fish in so fast, any thoughts? Suggestions on treating tank 1) with sharks in or 2) when sharks out are welcomed. Thx,....

mikeintoronto · Dec 22, 2019

So hypo is about the same amount of time to do as fallow. Is there a reason you don’t just QT the fishes for 90 days and leave the tank empty? Hyposaline requires a bit of work to keep the hardness up. It’s easy enough to do in a sterile tank but a bit harder in a full setup. Also, hyposaline impacts the fauna in your tank. I might be wrong but the bacteria should be okay, but anything larger than that will likely die. They are all valuable in cycling your tank. It sounds like you’d just be starting over if you go this route.

Flame2hawk · Dec 22, 2019

mikeintoronto said:
So hypo is about the same amount of time to do as fallow. Is there a reason you don’t just QT the fishes for 90 days and leave the tank empty? Hyposaline requires a bit of work to keep the hardness up. It’s easy enough to do in a sterile tank but a bit harder in a full setup. Also, hyposaline impacts the fauna in your tank. I might be wrong but the bacteria should be okay, but anything larger than that will likely die. They are all valuable in cycling your tank. It sounds like you’d just be starting over if you go this route.

Thx for feedback. issue is that still have a ways to go to be able to leave the tank empty....ie: not sure I will be successful in getting the cat sharks without tearing down the tank and certainly won’t be able to get the watchman gobies who have built Dens under the rocks and dart in every time I put my hand in the tank. Thus it is likely that I will have at least the gobies in the tank during treatment. That being the case the tank would not be empty. Seems to leave hypo as the only option? thoughts? Thx again.

mikeintoronto · Dec 22, 2019

Flame2hawk said:
Thx for feedback. issue is that still have a ways to go to be able to leave the tank empty....ie: not sure I will be successful in getting the cat sharks without tearing down the tank and certainly won’t be able to get the watchman gobies who have built Dens under the rocks and dart in every time I put my hand in the tank. Thus it is likely that I will have at least the gobies in the tank during treatment. That being the case the tank would not be empty. Seems to leave hypo as the only option? thoughts? Thx again.

Just for reference, I have ich in my 750. My method of dealing with it is to do nothing. Ich doesn’t do much to healthy fishes so I quarantine new arrivals to ensure they don’t have velvet or Uronema and I get their strength up, then I add them. New tangs show signs of ich but they recover. Other species like the anthias don’t ever show a spot.
IMO, your tank is way too big to go through the process of removing the fishes and letting it run fishless. I've said this in other posts but even though I don’t think “all tanks have ich”, I do think many of us have ich and don’t know it. Pretend you don’t know.
The idea of emptying your tank is probably very stressful for you. It’s definitely very stressful for the fishes. Cut out the stress and just accept the ich. Once you reach 11 months without new additions, the ich will go away.
So I urge you to do a bit more research on ich and it’s impact on healthy fishes. Maybe it just means you don’t buy any new fishes for a year if you’re unsure. Besides that, 650 is a lot of volume. It’s much easier to avoid an epidemic if the parasite has to travel far for a host.

Best of luck

edit: I forgot to add that hyposaline may not work and you might be running it for months and months if spots are still detected. Also, it’s hard to keep that tight hyposaline range and I can’t imagine how hard it would be for 650 gallons!

Flame2hawk · Dec 22, 2019

Thx again for reply Mike. Yes it is likely that most if not all of us have ich. Some know it, some don’t. I don’t sweat it too much unless start really impacting breathing and eating. That’s when I feel compelled to spring into action. Out came the emperor, 4 midnight clownfish, scribble angel and blonde naso tang leaving behind 2 coral cat sharks and goby pair. All are split between 2 Q tanks, a 55 and 25. I also have a 40 breeder that is holding a yellow belly hippo, flame angel and flame hawk. These never were intro’d into display. My friend is holding a Gem, yellow and purple tangs. The way I look at it, all fish were/are healthy but the ones in DT were very weakened by an ammonia spike and ich. Now that I have them all out except sharks and gobies, have to make them real strong and healthy while doing something with DT...might as well now....thx! I would love to find a way to treat tank with sharks and gobies in there but i know since they are scales, there are few if any options....