ich and hospital tank advice

[lewk]

Hello,

First time posting here and have a question about treating ich. I added a couple tangs to my 135 gallon about a month or so ago. Both tangs came down with ich and I have since lost 5 fish. Now, every remaining fish in the display (except for maybe 1 with no visible signs) has it.

I have a spare 55 gallon tank that I just set up with newly mixed SW and have it ready to go. I also just added a sponge to my sump to be able to use in the hospital tank, so it still won't be ready to act as a bio filter for some time.

The one that seems to have it the worst is my percula. She never leaves her frogspawn and now spends most of her time in the direct flow of my Vortech. No flashing, just seems to be breathing heavier.

Should I have any concerns about moving the remaining 5 fish to the hospital tank for treatment? I have Cupramine on the way and it should be here tomorrow.

Any concerns about treating the following with copper:
yellow tang
percula
bangaii cardinal
red cap goby
tri color wrasse

I've read just about everything I can online about treating these fish and have run across many different opinions on the subject. Just looking for help on whether or not I move them now and begin treatment or see if they begin to show signs of recovery.

All fish are still eating well.

HUGE thanks to leebca for putting together many informative reads on the subject.

[lewk]

Adding a pic of my clown. There's a spot in her whiteband over her head that seems to be somewhat new. Not sure if this just helps confirm this is, in fact, ich. The cupramine just can't get here fast enough...

[leebca]

My hope is that you and other readers can appreciate the need to use a quarantine system to prevent such losses.

The thing to do is pretty much what you have in mind. It all starts by going through this post and following the links it directs you to: Curing Fish of Marine Ich

Adding two fish at once to the DT system isn't such a good idea. The system needs time to adjust to the biological stress of each fish, before the next is added. Best to go slower in the future.

If you're going to use on hospital tank, then it should be large enough, but not too large, for all those fish. Not knowing the size of each fish, I can't tell if the 55 is right or the wrong size. Follow the guidelines given in the quarantine post.

All can be treated with Cupramine. Make sure you have the right copper test kit to control and keep an eye on the copper level during treatment. VERY important.

Good luck with this!

[lewk]

Thankfully for me, everyone in the tank is on the small side. Yellow tang is probably 2 inches long, percula 1.5, bangaii 2, tri color wrasse 2, and red cap is about 1.5.

I just changed the DT water and added about 25 gallons of DT water in the hospital tank. Cupramine arrived on Friday, so I think I'll try and catch the fish tomorrow and begin their hospitalization.

Percula looks a little bit better today, but the tri color just started flashing yesterday.

Wish me luck...