Removing Rid-ich from my display

[SirenBethany]

So I was a DA and listened to the girl at my LFS. After a 5 gallon water change on my 29g, I treated with rid ich to save my Dragonet. The Bengai cardinal seems by far less infected and I think may have brought it into the tank. I have two snails, sand sifting star, urchin, no corals. I'm finding out malachite green isn't so great some say and my urchin is not looking happy at all. I'm not sure the snail's are even alive still, but the two fish are still alive. My Dragonet looks horrible. I should have just tried the 80/20 qt I guess but thought this route would be less stressful on the fish. I know I screwed up I just need helpful comments please? I really love my Dragonet and so does my 5 yo daughter. My copepods have all disappeared and I had a great population so I'm assuming it killed them all. I'm freaking livid!! Besides breaking down the whole freaking tank what do I do?!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

you should never ever medicate your display tank. You always remove everything to a hospital tank and treat the hospital tank. This is a golden rule in aquarium hobby.

I don't know how to remove medication from the system, hopefully this bump will get more eyes on it. #fishmedics can also help

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

29g, I'd go with a 100% water change and some carbon. Hope for the best.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

So I was a DA and listened to the girl at my LFS. After a 5 gallon water change on my 29g, I treated with rid ich to save my Dragonet. The Bengai cardinal seems by far less infected and I think may have brought it into the tank. I have two snails, sand sifting star, urchin, no corals. I'm finding out malachite green isn't so great some say and my urchin is not looking happy at all. I'm not sure the snail's are even alive still, but the two fish are still alive. My Dragonet looks horrible. I should have just tried the 80/20 qt I guess but thought this route would be less stressful on the fish. I know I screwed up I just need helpful comments please? I really love my Dragonet and so does my 5 yo daughter. My copepods have all disappeared and I had a great population so I'm assuming it killed them all. I'm freaking livid!! Besides breaking down the whole freaking tank what do I do?!

Sorry to hear.

Are all animals in the tank affected, or are some still doing ok? If everything is affected, you may end up doing a restart. The fish are likely from ich because rid ich just doesn’t work well. The inverts or course are being harmed by the malachite green.

There is no way to test for residual rid ich, so you’ll need to to water changes to remove it all, it may take 3, 50% water changes to get to that point.

Jay