Soo angry! Help help help!!

Ahora0803 · May 9, 2014

Ok guys so today I went to a new reef store with I have never been to. I looked at reviews and they were ok so I went. I go there, look around and see these tiny blue tang. Probably the size a little bigger then a quarter. The place didn't have good lighting, and the tank they were in was high up so I didn't get a very lose look at them, other then they were swimming around a lot. I decide to get him for $50. I'm so excited to get him into MY tank, when I get home I notice it.... ICH, the poor little guy has white spots on him... And of corse the store is (all sales final)
So luckily I have a small 2.5gal tank. I mixed some salt water with RODI water I had at home. I also had a small sponge filter I put in there. Went to my local PETCO for ich meds. And put him in a quarantine tank. WHAT I NEED YOUR HELP WITH!! Is what else do I need to do to get this poor guy better. Iv never done a quarantine tank with salt water. What do you guys recommend for the tank. I was wondering about natural bacteria? And if I need some in there? Please help me and this lil guy

Ssdangeranger · May 10, 2014

You don't need anything. Just a filter to keep the water moving. Make sure the tank is getting a good Co2 to Oxygen exchange because the ick meds will deplete it. Happened to me lost $200 in fish. Including a quarter sized blue tang. They also get ick very easily so it was a constant battle with ick until the instant ocean life guard killed them all

Rob&Gab · May 10, 2014

Dose the Food with Garlic extreme , LFS should Sell it Not (PETCO) ICH is not the end of the World can be Gone within a matter of weeks. or so.

as for the QT tank i dont have one so i would not be able to Help in that category.

Hope some of the supper stars can Chime in.

dtruonggwhs · May 10, 2014

- use tank water for QT, sponge filter/ HOB filer , heater. I do a water change every 3 days when dosing cupramine. Test copper and redose after water change. I do this for 2 weeks with my blue tang before putting into display.

Kworker · May 10, 2014

I would try and pick up a larger tank for the QT process. Go to LFS and pick up a copper treatment for the ich, make sure the tang routinely has access to fresh algae sheets. If money is an issue, you can pick up a plastic storage container to place him into a larger volume of water. Rubbermaids should work.

Quarantining is actually really easy and people tend to over complicate the process.. just make sure parameters are good and you do regular waterchanges. A sponge filter with a heater is all that is necessary. I throw in a powerhead for extra water movement anyway in my 40B QT.

I would keep the salinity on the lower side as well, the issue is you said you mixed up water for him already and it seems you have him in the 2.5

The issue with that is most LFS's keep their salinity lower than our Reef tanks, Many keep their water for their fish at 1.015 sometimes more or less.. Where we are used to keeping our water 1.025~

If you increase the salinity rapidly he may shocked from the change. A long drip method could be used be generally best to increase over time in the QT.

If you find a larger tank to put him into, you could just use tap water primer/dechlorinater (sp.?) so you can set the water coming out of the tap to a good heat and dont have to wait for your heater to do it. Afterwards of course I would use RO/DI.

Ahora0803 · May 10, 2014

I did already mix water and I already have him in a QT. I wanted to get him out of the display tank asap so it didn't spread(I had him in there for less then 45 min before I pulled him out, the little thing was impossible to catch with all my rock and other corals) hopefully not enough time to spread. I'm going to get a small heater tomorrow. Here's what I'm using to dose it's all they had at PETCO:/ did know how good it was just wanted to get him in medicated water asap. I'll go to LFS, tomorrow and see what they have. Any recommend brands or and brands people have had success with is the past I would appreciate it. For everyone that already commented thank you!!!

Diesel · May 10, 2014

Dude, you had him in there for 45 min.................. than your DT has Ich too.
If your fish are happy and not stressed it will never harm them but it's always there.
As for your Dory do a hypo treatment first and after that a copper treatment, quarantine for at least 8 weeks if not longer.
And yes as many say get a bigger QT at least a 20 gallon tank with some PVC pipe in there where he or she can fit in to hide.
HOB filter should be enough.
Garlic doesn't work against ick but it made your fish eat in most cases and a well fed fish is a stress free fish.
Good luck and keep us updated.

Kworker · May 10, 2014

If you have him out already, give yourself a little more time to research he best course of action you should take. It sounds like next step for you would be to pick up cupramine. Make sure anything you use for the QT is not used for your display.

I would think it likely that 45 minutes would be enough to cause trouble in your display. But just stay calm and let someone with more experience chime in.

Patience is the best route in this hobby. Sometimes when things are rough just gotta take a step back and breath.

Ahora0803 · May 10, 2014

Will salt water eat away at the plastic if I did go the cheaper way?

Kworker · May 10, 2014

No, just research the brand in relation with reef forums to see if it has been done with success. Rubbermaids seem to be popular in that regard. It wouldn't hurt to check out Petco to see if they are having dollar gallon sale, seems unlikely but maybe near Memorial Day.

Kworker · May 10, 2014

You can also try Home Depot or Loews for a small Patio pond. I got a 30 gal black plastic pond last year for $20

saltyhog · May 10, 2014

Ich attack and garlic are not effective against Ich. The only three proven methods of treatment are copper (cupramine is my favorite and 4 weeks is the recommended length), hyposalinity (though some hypo resistent variaties of ich are around) and tank transfer (moving the fish to a different sterilized tank every 3 days for 4 transfers). Anything less than these will not resolve the problem.

As mentioned above, your DT needs to be fishless for 9-12 weeks to get rid of Ich there.

It's a hassle and it takes a lot of patience to do but you will be glad you did.

slojmn · May 10, 2014

The tank transfer method worked for me really well. A little bit of a pain but no meds or hypo involved. I used two 18g Rubbermaid containers for all of my fish. Do some research on it. I think your main display should be left without fish for the prescribed 10-12 weeks. Sorry to hear about this but if you research and take your time you can beat this.

Ahora0803 · May 10, 2014

So you guys are saying take all my fish out of my DT that are healthy and move them to a tranfer tank?

Ole Man · May 10, 2014

This exact thing is why we never never put anything in the DT without Dipping[corals] and QT for fish remember only bad things happen fast in the saltwater hobby good luck.

Kworker · May 10, 2014

Ahora0803 said:
So you guys are saying take all my fish out of my DT that are healthy and move them to a tranfer tank?

Probably necessary at this point since it seems the damage has been done. Hey, its a learning process unfortunately. Now you know to never go without the QT process. I only got hit with pyramid snails killing my astrea's and a zoa eating nudi eating my basically unwanted zoas. But I said to myself after the pyramid snails that I am QTing everything from this point forward including coral.

You will spend lots of money in the hobby, in my opinion you might as well do it right and not take any chances. Good luck with the Quarantine process as well as letting your tank go fallow to rid the ich. Keep up posted with what happens.

Ahora0803 · May 10, 2014

I guess I don't understand? If my fish in the DT look fine why would I take them out? I would think that I would only take out my healthy fish of the DT and move them to a QT if I see signs of ich. Just because I put a fish with ich in the tank dosnt 100% guarantee the other fish will right?

bond300 · May 10, 2014

Sorry to hear that! I always dip my fish in a fresh water bath before I had my QT My Hippo was the same way! He was good after the dip!

Kworker · May 10, 2014

Ahora0803 said:
I guess I don't understand? If my fish in the DT look fine why would I take them out? I would think that I would only take out my healthy fish of the DT and move them to a QT if I see signs of ich. Just because I put a fish with ich in the tank dosnt 100% guarantee the other fish will right?

I guess you could wait to see if there are any signs, but be aware that if say one to two weeks from now the fish in your DT begin showing ich. You will have to than move them to QT with hippo and the hippo tangs progress will have to restart. Unless of course you set up a second QT.