[unclejed]

Originally Posted by unclejed

No, I have never dipped or QTd a coral (remember, I don't believe in QTs) and no I do not work at a LFS, although as much as I'm in the 4 close to me I should, being retired early and all.

Correction to earlier post.

[jimw369]

Where you been Leon? Thats been posted on RB 100 times in the last 2 years LOL

Including another thread thats been going the past few days!

Brian gave me that article and the other one thats there on treating with copper which in some cases is another viable option to treating the ich parasite 2 YEARS ago. Brian will also attest I have sincerely thanked him more than once for doing it.

I will do it again! Brian THANKYOU SOOOO much! The amount of time and money I have been able to save because I wasnt breaking down a tank trying to get fish out. I cant imagine the corals that didnt get busted, the clams that didnt get poked, the brains that didnt wind upside down on my sandbed, the anemones that might have had a foot torn not to mention the possible stress on everything, in all likelihood, cause I took your advice and hypo treated everything and started QT and dipping corals. Really probably the single best piece of advice Ive gotten in the hobby.

[pogodzib]

Glad to hear that your mind isn't totally made up about ich and the value of a q-tank Leon. There are many, many articles out there that has wrong information that people take as gospel so it can be tough to weed through articles to find ones that are based upon proven facts. I feel strongly that the ATJ article about ich is accurate and that ich can be kept out of saltwater display tanks. The first 1-2 years that I was in this hobby, I seemed to have ich show up often. Once I took all of my fish out of the tank and treated them properly, and quarantine virtually all new fish (with the only exception being fish such as Mandarin's since they have a very specific diet that cannot be provided in a q-tank and they are very disease resistant) I have yet to have ich show up once in my many display tanks since then. However, many types of new fish, such as tangs, seem to always come down with ich right away in my q-tank, which goes to show that I am definitely receiving diseased fish. I feel very strongly that the reason why my display tanks have not had ich show up a single time in the past several years is because the ich parasite hasn't been in my systems.

Originally Posted by unclejed

Anyway, that's what this is all about, learning.

That's why we are all here - To help each other out and to continue learning. This way we will all have more successful reef tanks. (No, learning is not just for newbies, but intermediate and expert levels as well)

[Poppinthekap]

Hey everyone!

At the end of day 5, everything is going well. A small water change occurred to reduce toxins. Not sure where 1 of my cleaner gobies is hiding so that is the only bad news as of right now.

I don't see any Ich right now which is a great improvement from yesterday! I think I can see some marks from it still on the regal blue, but not the actual white spots. I might be able to start the 4-week countdown tomorrow.

Peace, Poppinthekap

P.S. I will definitely check out that article.

[Poppinthekap]

Just found the second neon goby this morning, all is well. One question, what is this dipping corals you guys have been talking about? Being relatively new to QTing, I haven't heard of that, details?

Peace, Poppinthekap

[pogodzib]

There are several types of coral dips that can be used to kill off many types of parasites and/or bad critters. You can buy these dips at most stores that sell corals. Another method that can be used is dipping the skeletal portion of LPS corals into RODI water to kill these things off. IMO, all corals should go through a coral dip process.

[Poppinthekap]

Everybody is still looking good, minus one exception, I can't seem to get my tomato clown to eat right now. Typically he is a hog but now he has stopped for the past few days. Any suggestions on how to make him eat?

Peace, Poppinthekap

[pogodzib]

If he was eating for a few days after you got your salinity lowered, but he has stopped eating now, I'd run some tests on the water quality. Lowering the salinity significantly, even in a tank that has been set up for a while, can kill off some bacteria and cause ammonia or nitrite spikes. I like to do a 10-20% water change 3-5 days after my salinity has been lowered.

If your water tests out fine, I'd start by trying to feed frozen foods soaked in a garlic additive.

[Poppinthekap]

Hey everyone, I haven't given an update in a while because it has been relatively uneventful of late. Everyone is still doing fine except for the tomato clown who still is not eating. Pog, I have been soaking frozen mysis in garlic since they got in the tank, yet he still is not eating. Anyway, we are now one-third of the way done with the treatment. Just 4 weeks left!

Peace, Poppinthekap

[jimw369]

Thanks for the update.

[Poppinthekap]

Here are a few pictures.

QT Tank


Eheim Filter


Tank they came from



Peace, Poppinthekap

[pogodzib]

Hopefully your clown starts eating soon or maybe it has been eating stuff when the lights are out or your not around. As for your q-tank, you don't need the fake plants/corals in there, but they won't hurt as long as the fake coral isn't calcium based. It's nice to see the PVC pipe for hiding spots and the filtration (including skimmer) to keep the water aerated. Good job.

[Poppinthekap]

Thanks! I also have a jet positioned behind the skimmer from the angle of the photo which also helps out the aeration.

As for the fake coral, I am pretty sure it isn't calcium based and it is a favorite hiding spot of the regal blues. He wedges himself down in between the branches so I probably won't be moving that.

And for the clownfish, I hope he is eating when we aren't looking. He still is very alert and is acting normally, except for the not eating.

Also sometimes I come in and see my purple tang almost stalled out. Just kind of paralyzed on his side or upright. But once the lights come on (as he only does it at night sometimes), he pops right back up and is normal, his color still looks great even when he is doing that. So I have not been too worried about him.

Peace, Poppinthekap

[Poppinthekap]

Alright here is the next update and it's kind of depressing.

I found that my tomato clown (the one that is not eating) has Brooklynella (Clownfish disease) which I am also sure why he is not eating. I will be taking the proper steps (formaldehyde into QT) to treating this either tomorrow night or early saturday.

Also it is possible my purple tang and sand goby have ich again. I am not entirely sure but there are a few visible white spots but very few. Is it possible for the ich to return in a hypo tank?

Anyway, it never ends...

Peace, Poppinthekap

[pogodzib]

Once in a great while ich will show up about a week after the fish goes into hypo treatment, but usually it won't be seen beyond that point. Are you using a refractometer to measure your salinity or a cheap hydrometer? I've seen hydrometers read 0.005 too low, which means that your tank may be at 1.014, in which case ich could still survive.

[Poppinthekap]

I am using a refractometer and we are almost 3 weeks in now.

We bought formaldehyde (formalin) today and will be setting up a 10 gallon tank tonight just for the tomato clown for the next 3 days or so.

Also, my purple tang's behavior has become more and more eratic once the lights go out. At 1 am last night as I was going to bed (late night yikes!) I heard him splash the surface violently and when I checked him he had squeezed himself between the glass and skimmer and was upside down, but right now in the light he is swimming around just fine. The only marks he has are a few larger white spots around his gill and a few ich spots on his fin. Also I believe my Sand Goby has some ich right now.

My LFS owner advised us to use Rid-Ich+ in conjuction with the hypo to fix this. Is this right?

Thoughts?

Peace, Poppinthekap

[pogodzib]

First off, at night, fish do many strange things when getting into their night location. They do whatever it takes to be able to get into a location that they feel safe, so I wouldn't worry about how they act when the lights are out.

I wouldn't add any chemicals to the water while using hyposalinity treatment. I've don't hypo treatment hundreds of times and it has always gotten rid of the ich. Rid-Ich+ (or any other ich chemicals) are not needed and most of them don't work. The ones that do work contain copper and you don't want to double up with copper and hypo. My guess is that your LFS has never used hyposalinity treatment for them to suggest that you use an additive as well. If I were you, I'd just continue to stick with the hyposalinity treatment, IF you know that it is ich. If the ich goes away completely and then shows up again in a week or two, then I would start considering gradually raising the salinity back up as if you were ending the treatment, let the fish recover for a week, and then treat using copper.

[Poppinthekap]

Okay well unfortunately, without a response for several hours last night on either of my posts I have gone ahead and added some Rid-Ich+. My fish all still seem fine so I don't think it had a bad reaction with the hypo. What I don't understand is why the ich would reappear! Could it have just come from ich that was hiding in his gills to this point or is that not possible. The only other is answer is that it might not be ich. There are certainly some spots that look like ich but there are some that are slight larger pale appearing spots.

Also, just minutes ago I moved the tomato clown into a seperate 10 gallon tank and will be treating him with Formalin for 3 days? Is that the right amount of time? Thanks

Peace, Poppinthekap

[Poppinthekap]

Pictures coming of purple tange, tomato clown, and formalin tank setup

[Poppinthekap]

Alright hey guys, since I last talked I have a lot of news.

First off my Sand Goby has died. He has acted erratically ever since I put him in the new tank. Could it have been a lack of nutrients since there was no live sand in the QT (I know you can't put live sand in there so don't be confused by that statement).

Secondly, I am not sure if we did not diagnose brooklynella correctly or not but the tomato clownfish still has palish sore-like patches in some spaces despite the formalin. So what I have just done was did a freshwater dip on him for 2 minutes and currently have him in a 30 minute to 1 hour (higher-concentrated) formaldehyde dip.

Lastly, my purple tang still has 1 small ich-like spot on his fin but I can't believe that it is still ich after nearly 4 weeks in hypo. Earlier today I had him in a 1 minute and 15 second freshwater dip to try and get rid of that one spot and it is still not gone so I don't really believe it is ich anymore but is something permanent.

Is it possible to have a permanent harmless white spot on the fin and that this is not ich?

Peace, Poppinthekap

P.S. If this is harmless spot I will still be set on my original 6 week schedule so I hope that that is it.

[jimw369]

pale spots are usually harmless. Ich is more like pimples.
What is your sg at? Last time we talked I remember something like 1.014 which is way to high to rid the ich parasite.

[Poppinthekap]

No the SG has definitely stayed at 1.009. What do you think about the dot still on the purple tang's fin?

Peace, Poppinthekap

[jimw369]

Dunno? really neeed picture. If its a pale spot its not ich. If its like a pimple that is raised a little bit then it is ich.

[Poppinthekap]

Ok I will get a picture up tomorrow (26th)

[Poppinthekap]

Ich? I can't believe it has lasted 3 weeks in hypo. He had been clear of any marks until about a week ago when this cropped up. Could it just be some kind of scar?

Peace, Poppinthekap

P.S. The mark above his fin in the second photo is just a reflection, not an actual mark.