Coral Beauty with Ick

[Stefnmike]

I have a 55 gallon FOWLR. I have only had it since the beginning of May. I test my water often and everytime it turns out fine. This is my problem.

We bought a small purple tang about a month and a half ago. We already had a clown tang and after we bought the purple tang a few days later we bought a yellow tang. Not knowing much about saltwater fish we did not know that it is probably not a good idea to have a tang in a 55 gallon tank much less 3! We were also told that we could put more than one tang together if we bought them at the same time or a couple of days apart. Also in the tank besides the 3 tangs we had a mandarin, yellow tailed damsel, 2 percula clowns and an orange spotted goby.

After the purple tang was in the tank for a few days we saw that it had Ick BAD! We started looking at the other fish and saw that a few of them had it too. So, I dont know which fish had it first, but my goby died first, my clown tang, my mandarin and then one of my perculas. We ended up taking the yellow and purple tang to the fish store.

All I have left in my tank now is one percula clown and a yellow tailed damsel. We have not bought any fish in over a month. The two fish I have left never got the white spots and are doing fine. So, we thought we were ick free. Well, 2 days ago we bought a Coral beauty and now he has ICK!

This is my question....is it possible that ICK is still in my tank or do you think the Coral Beauty just got it?

I dont understand how to get a fish home and safe in my tank without it getting ick.

Aside from the ICK 2 of my snails somehow keep ending up on their back. We keep flipping them over and they end up right back upside down...so I assume they dont want to live. They are both now dead. Is this what they do when they get ready to die?

I am sorry this post is sooo long, but I wanted you to understand the full picture.

Thank you!
Stephanie

[tim_coville_]

Well, I know some people quarentine new fish for a couple weeks to make sure they do not develope or are carrying any types of diseases.

[Doctor_Reef]

Hi Stephanie, and welcome to CF… I am really sorry that you are having so much trouble with your fish…You are learning some valuable lessons about fish keeping…You are right about 3 tangs in a 55 gal tank…not a good idea to keep a tang in that size of a tank…There are several possibilities on the ICK issue. Once you have it in a tank all the fish need to come out of the tank and put in a hospital tank and treated…the main tank “display” tank needs to stand dormant for about 6 weeks to make sure that the ick's life cycle is over… The coral beauty may have had the ick already or possibly got it from your tank…you may never know for sure…but all your fish now need to come out of the tank and treated with one of the treatments for ick…

Basically you need to acclimate all new additions to the tank…If you are bringing home a new fish a qt tank is the best way to do that…that way you can observe the fish for a few weeks before he goes into your display tank…and if he needs to be treated you can do that in the qt tank…qt = “Quarantine Tank”. Again I am sorry that you are having this problem…But it will get better!!!!

[Stefnmike]

Thank you very much!! I will try the QT tank...I should have already done it.

[Doctor_Reef]

A qt will save you a lot of heart ach over the life of this hobby.... :) again sorry that you have gone through this...

[Stefnmike]

I have a few questions regarding setting up a QT.

Do I just get RO water from the LFS and fill up the QT? If not, what do I put in there? Do I have to buy salt and whatever else to get it started like I did my main tank? Do I have to let it cycle or can I put fish in it right away? What all do I need to have in order to start a QT?

Thanks!

[TranZ]

Hi Stephanie, welcome to CF. in terms of water in your QT, take the water from your display tank so that u don't need to cycle it. u also need some kind of filtration and throw in some PVC pipes for hiding. no sand, no LR...pretty much bare. buy a new sponge filter and put in ur main tank for a couple of days and put that in ur QT. the sponge will have some bacteria that will break down the waste in the QT. once done with the QT ....make sure u rinse every thing and throw away the sponge....do not use anything that u use in QT in ur main tank so that u won't contaminate ur main tank. u can buy a 10gal tank in petsmart or petco for $10-$15........ thats how i quarantine my fish.

[Stefnmike]

I am still very new at this saltwater thing...what is a sponge filter? Also, will this setup work for permanent use? I want to set up a tank and leave it that way for as long as I continue to buy fish. I dont want to have to re-set one up everytime I buy a new fish.

THANKS!

[TranZ]

what is a sponge filter?
just a regular cores filter sponge that u use for ur filters like fluval's and such.......
will this setup work for permanent use?
u can as long as u keep maintaining it ...like do water changes....and also buy a few fish at the time. i keep mine running for about 3 months....coz i keep buying fish.....i quarantine one fishfor about 3-4 weeks and after that i put it in my tank ..then i buy a new fish and same process....just make sure u don't add any new fish in the middle of quarantining the other fish or else u have to start the quaratine process all over again.

[Stefnmike]

Oh ok...great. Thanks for the help!

[TranZ]

no problem.....i too a newbie but i'm learning a lot from the member of this forum. they are nice and willing to help no matter how repeatative the question is. just ask away and someone will help u...and good luck with ur set up.

[Stefnmike]

Thank you very much!!!!