Ick issue, and also green algae issue.

[bkweibley]

The title pretty much says it all. My tank seemed to be doing fine, until I added a Power Blue Tang. Yes I know now, shame on me, I should have avoided the extremely ich prone Power Blues... Anyways, A few weeks after having my powder blue I started fighting ich battles with him, I would give him Garlic Powder and Selon on his mysis to help him fight off the ich, just to get it back a few days later. It ended up being a loosing battle, the ich then spread to my Kole Tang, he only lasted a few days, and also took out a Manderine, a Royal Gramma, and 2 Bangai Cardinals in the process. I am aware that at this point I need to get the fish out and let the tank sit fallow for 6-8 weeks, while treating the fish in a seperate tank. The problem is though that in the middle of the ich battle I got a HORRIBLE green algae breakout. Ive never had an algae breakout this bad. Its to the point were it is actually taking over some of my frags, engolfing them... I did break down and grab a lawnmower blenny and throw in the tank, hoping that he would eat some of the algae before I pulled the fish from the tank to let it sit fallow, but he doesnt seem to be doing much good. I know a Tang would probably also help hammer out the algae, but I hate to take the chance of him getting hammered by ich also. I hate to pull the fish out and let the tank get totally over ran, thats why I am not sure what to do. Would hermit crabs help with green algae? All of the Hermits from my CUC dissapeared shortly after I added my Mystery Wrasse to the tank, go figure right... LoL I hate to spend money on hermits when I know they will get eaten after the fish go back into the tank, but if they would eat this dang algae, it would probably be worth it.


EDIT: I have upped my water changes from 10% every 2 weeks, to 20% every week to try to get the algae under control. I dont have a test to check phosphates, but I figured they are probably high and thats why the algae is growing? And yes I do use RODI water.

 

[Arubix]

If you're not using some type of phosphate media then I would start with that. Emerald crabs are great at hair algae. Even some turbo snails might be able to help out. Can't guarantee that though. I would try and get your phosphate and nitrate tested asap and see where they are at.

As far as the Ich problem, how big is the tank? I don't want to insult your intelligence but just so we know what variables we are dealing with.

And what kind of lights are you using, and if it's not LED then how long has it been since you changed the bulb/s?

 

[pam0630]

anytime i had an ich break out i would use kich ich...great stufff.................algae thats tough
sorry about your fish......thats always the sad part

 

[bkweibley]

If you're not using some type of phosphate media then I would start with that. Emerald crabs are great at hair algae. Even some turbo snails might be able to help out. Can't guarantee that though. I would try and get your phosphate and nitrate tested asap and see where they are at.

As far as the Ich problem, how big is the tank? I don't want to insult your intelligence but just so we know what variables we are dealing with.

And what kind of lights are you using, and if it's not LED then how long has it been since you changed the bulb/s?

I have a 90 gallon bowfront. Nitrates are at 0, I have a hanna checker for phosphates, I gotta get a new battery for it though.

I am using T5/Haliades they are all due to be changed around November.

 

[bkweibley]

anytime i had an ich break out i would use kich ich...great stufff.................algae thats tough
sorry about your fish......thats always the sad part

Maybe im wrong, but I was always told that the only way to truely get rid of ich, in a reef tank, without hurting the reef is to get all of the fish out of it and let it sit for 6-8 weeks to kill the ich off?

 

[jduck]

Reduce your light cycle. Death of fish probably added excess nutrients to system.
I would look at 9+ weeks fallow if you are going to do it. http://www.thereefhub.com/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=487

 

[Palting]

Lets break down the two problems.

Ich problem. You already seem to know the right thing to do. Take all the surviving fish out, place them in QT and start treating them. DT stays fallow for 6-8 weeks. That takes care of the Ich. BTW, how many fish do you have left?

Algae problem. This is where things seem to get a little confused. Do not put any more fish in there as an effort to control the algae, no lawnmower blenny nor tang. The DT needs to stay fallow for 8 weeks. You likely have high nitrates and phosphates in the water if not in the algae itself. I would start with multiple water changes. If you don't have a lot of coral, 50% or greater water changes weekly should get the nitrates/phosphates down quickly. If you have a lot of coral, the change may be too drastic, so do 20% water changes twice a week instead. Before each water change, stir the substrate and turkey baste as much of that algae as you can into the water column so they can be sucked out. You can also do 3 days or so of keeping the lights off. Coral will tolerate this period of no lights, algae not as much. Nothing good happens fast in reef keeping, and this will take several weeks to control the algae, possibly the whole fallow period. After that, you'll have to figure out why you developed such a severe algae problem in the first place so that it does not happen again.

Add, yes, the only proven way to truly cure Ich is by one of 3 methods: QT and treat with hyposalinity, QT and treat with copper, or the tank transfer method. All other methods are anecdotal. They don't work. I've tried them all, spent a lot of money on "reef safe" nonsense, before I did the right thing: QT and treat.

HTH, and GL!!!