Internal Parasites and now ich I think

Eskimodanny · May 17, 2018

My tank parameters:
nitrate: 5 ppm
phosphate: 0 ppm/undetectable
calcium: 450 ppm
Alkalinity: 7.8-8.4 dkh
magnesium: 1380 ppm
temperature: 78-80 F
12 gallon long book shelf

My stock was 2 baby clown fishes under an inch, a small firefish 1.5 inches long, and then I added a 2 inch helfrichi fire fish.

The clowns were added 1 month after set up in Dec 2017.
The fire fish was added in march 2018.
The helfrichi was added 2 weeks ago in the beginning of may.

The fire fish had a sunken stomach stomach but was eating but died three days ago. The helfrichi was eating but went into hiding after fire fish died. Then had stretched fins and died a day later. Then the smallest clown a day after that. Checked on the slightly larger clown recently and is really close the power head sleeping but usually would be on the opposite end of the power head and had dots and seems to all also be on its last legs.

They all seemed healthy the day before they died with exception of the firefish. All the inverts are fine it being 10 cerith snails. The coral is fine a lot of polyp extension

Sorry for the long text.

-But my question is how long should I wait this out and not have any fish in the tank? I know for ich its about a month. But unsure if it was internal parasites.

-Also I have sps and I am unsure how much or what to feed them in the absence of the fish.

Thank you all for taking the time to read my post and answer my questions.

Crabs McJones · May 17, 2018

Eskimodanny said:
My tank parameters:
nitrate: 5 ppm
phosphate: 0 ppm/undetectable
calcium: 450 ppm
Alkalinity: 7.8-8.4 dkh
magnesium: 1380 ppm
temperature: 78-80 F
12 gallon long book shelf

My stock was 2 baby clown fishes under an inch, a small firefish 1.5 inches long, and then I added a 2 inch helfrichi fire fish.

The clowns were added 1 month after set up in Dec 2017.
The fire fish was added in march 2018.
The helfrichi was added 2 weeks ago in the beginning of may.

The fire fish had a sunken stomach stomach but was eating but died three days ago. The helfrichi was eating but went into hiding after fire fish died. Then had stretched fins and died a day later. Then the smallest clown a day after that. Checked on the slightly larger clown recently and is really close the power head sleeping but usually would be on the opposite end of the power head and had dots and seems to all also be on its last legs.

They all seemed healthy the day before they died with exception of the firefish. All the inverts are fine it being 10 cerith snails. The coral is fine a lot of polyp extension

Sorry for the long text.

-But my question is how long should I wait this out and not have any fish in the tank? I know for ich its about a month. But unsure if it was internal parasites.

-Also I have sps and I am unsure how much or what to feed them in the absence of the fish.

Thank you all for taking the time to read my post and answer my questions.

For ich the fallow period is 76-78 days to ensure that the parasite has been starved out and dies completely (this should also take care of any parasites). For corals you dont really need to feed (unless you have any non photosynthetic corals), however for the bacteria in the tank you'll want to put a little food in the tank every couple of days.