Like I stated before I am new to the saltwater world so some references you guys use are out of this world to me, so the normal way I set the bag in the water for roughly 25 minutes then slowly add some tank water to the bagged water the fish is in. All in all I would say about 45 minutes total of “letting the fish acclimate” then I released them. That’s what I was told to do so I am assuming this is what you guys mean by “ways”
Help! Two ocellaris clowns
- Thread starter Lgwilliams1
- Start date
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Yes had my water tested at my local shop and they said everything was good and I was ready to add new fish if I wanted. I was told by multiple people damsels are break in fish for cycling a tank. From the get go I wanted two clownies. I gave the 3 damsels to a buddy that’s got a 100 gallon tank so they could live out their life happily
NeonRabbit221B
2500 Club Member
The other ways he is likely referring too is to have an additional tank setup with a HOB filter and some PVC as a quarantine tank. Many will keep fish in this "QT" tank for 76 days (the life cycle of parasites) to ensure that nothing unwanted is added to the display tank (the primary tank you have). This method is pretty fool proof as it prevents ich from remaining in the display. Keep in mind that once ich is in your display, it will remain regardless of symptoms. The only way to remove ich from your display is to remove all fish and go "Fallow" for a full 76 days to allow the parasite to die off.
Seeing as how you didn't know or chose not to go the QT route (which is fine, I don't QT any longer than 2 weeks for observation) I would just say observe for a few days. If you start seeing stringy poop or your clowns swimming facing the powerhead then let us know (velvet disease) but the ich will likely not impact your fish in anyway.
Also thank you you’ve been a very helpful person. I’m new to all this and some of these references you guys have used are confusing lol
NeonRabbit221B
2500 Club Member
Fish stores love to suggest this. The ammonia that builds up in your tank burns the gills of the fish. If you ever start up another tank then just drop in some shrimp instead. Hopefully the damsels are alright.
The damsels that we’re in my 10 all hang with each other and school around in the 100 gallon if I had a video I’d show ya their loving life in a 100 gallon haha. So much room for activities!
When my water was tested they did say something about the ammonia level was a slight higher then normal so I got these little filters to “help” idk if it will or not they may have just tried selling me soemthing but I still got the filters anyway
@Lgwilliams1, okay, like I said you may want to quarantine your fish in a different QT. treat them for about 4-8 week. Do not put anything your main tank, ICH will starve and die between 4-8 weeks if they don't get another host. In other words, you're not only treating your fish for ich in another tank, you're also making sure ICH is not in your main tank. Do a water change (20%-25%) when you're ready to add them back.
mcdrichj
Active Member
Ok this is what I figured I just wanted to know the way you did it. Did you dump the fish and all the water into your system after you acclimated the fish? If you did I would recommend using a net and discarding the water from the LFS as not to contaminate your system with anything from the LFS. Also some LFS use copper in their systems which is not good for corals or inverts, just something to watch out for. In this hobby is is very important to take it slow. Trust me everyone here can relate that it is really exciting to add new thing to their system but slow is best!
What I do when I'm going to get a new fish is setup a small qt tank and get it cycled. My qt only consist of some pvc for some hiding places and a bubble filter or 2. Then after I cycle the qt I go and get my new fish and acclimate them to the qt tank and put them in. I observe them if I see anything unusual I usually come on the forms here to confirm the problem and add the treatment. That way I dont have to stress the fish out trying to catch them and put them in an uncycled qt tank. Depending on the kind of fish I usually treat the water with copper to ward off ich before it starts. If you do use copper or other meds DONT USE ANY EQUIPMENT FROM YOUR QT TANK in your display!!! After about 4-8 weeks I use some carbon to remove meds and match my parameters of my QT to my display then transfer the fish.
mcdrichj
Active Member
+1 for leaving your display fish free for 72 days to kill off the ich. I know thats not what you want to hear but this will give you the best results.
I would finish cycling your tank in this time because the correct amount of ammonia is 0 and if you are reading anything else than 0 then your tank isnt fully cycled. I highly recommend doing a fishless cycle. You can keep your inverts in the tank preferably after it is cycled for your fishless period (this is generally refereed to as fallow period).
I would finish cycling your tank in this time because the correct amount of ammonia is 0 and if you are reading anything else than 0 then your tank isnt fully cycled. I highly recommend doing a fishless cycle. You can keep your inverts in the tank preferably after it is cycled for your fishless period (this is generally refereed to as fallow period).
i agree with @mcdrichj, in this hobby 'patience is a virtue'. Trust me, I learned my lesson the hard way. Well, I'm still learning a lot from all users here as I don't consider myself anywhere close to expert. When I started a few years back, I did exactly what you're doing @Lgwilliams1. Unfortunately, i never thought to join the forum until recently. For a longer and stable result, take it slow.
NeonRabbit221B
2500 Club Member
What is the risk of leaving ich in the display as long as he is not adding more fish and their health is not being negatively effected? Honestly asking
@NeonRabbit221B, it depend on how immunity of currently fish is. Perhaps, fish can develop a strong immune system to resist ich for a long period of time. I'm sure you'll add a new fish to your tank after sometime. In this case, if new fish does not have strong immune system, ich may feast on it.
Clownfish can live with Ich just fine. In time, their immune system will become familiar enough with the parasite and release an antiparasitic protein into the mucous coat to fight off the theronts/trophonts. This is similar to what rabbitfish do: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20117218
However, if this turns out to be brook that is a completely different story: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/brooklynella.247938/
P.S. This "antiparasitic protein" strategy doesn't work too well for fish with thin mucous layers: Tangs, angels, butterflyfish, grammas, etc. So, anyone wishing to employ Ich management is better off sticking with clownfish, wrasses, anthias, cardinalfish and others with thick slime coats. Utilizing a UV sterilizer, diatom filter, ozone or an oxydator will help control parasite populations in the water. Feeding high quality seafood with vitamins/probiotics added in will help boost your fishes' immune systems to deal with whatever parasites survive and latch on.
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NeonRabbit221B
2500 Club Member
Thank you for the explanation. This does make sense to me now. After starting my first tank without issue and reading PaulB's book I have aimed on the side of Ich management but also have never attempted to keep Tangs/butterfly fish. I am sure I will kick myself later in life for not doing a thorough QT but have never lost a fish to disease thus far... Better to be safe than sorry.
Also, sorry for robbing this thread.
