Aquarium wiped out!

[cesar]

I've been on this site talking about a problem that I had in my tank. First, I noticed that a yellow tang had some salt looking thing on him. I thought right away that it could be Ich. Then just 1 day later it was completly gone. So I purchase a blue tang and noticed that it got that salt looking thing about 3 minutes in the tank. I thought to myself, this has to be Ich. So I go to my LFS and purchased a hospital tank. I bought medication called AXO ICH (or something like that). This thing turns your water denim jean blue. Well I think I got the medication too late because the day that I got the medication my blue tang was upside down already . Well I noticed that ever since placing the medication all my fish have gone belly up. My question is, could it be the medication killed my fish or can it be that the tank was too poluted with ich? Also would like to mention that I had purchased an anemone that died like 2 days before the blue tang did. Could it also be that the anemone that died released some kind of toxins to the water that could have killed my fish? I also did a water change of about 10% before placing the blue tang. So thinking of all these things what do you think happened? Any advise will help!

[Samper]

The only thing I would recommend to get rid of ich is copper. The other medications are very iffy. Did you use the right dosage?

How were your fish behaving, heavy breathing, acting like zombies, eyes cloudy anything like that?

[cesar]

Well the fish were acting ok until I placed medication. I noticed that the clowns were trying to swim to the top but they couldn't get there. As if they were very heavy. My LFS advised me to use 40 drops of the medication, and the bottle also instructed me to do so. When the blue tang was about to expire he was heavy breathing, as well as the others that expired. The reason I didn't use cooper medication was because my LFS recomended that brand.

[Samper]

Any reviews I could find on axo ich in what little time I have here at work were all in German. You've been in and out of the hobby for 15 years so I'm sure I don't have to preach to you about lfs advice.....

Were the fish breathing very heavy before you added the medication? If so Ich loves to attach gills and makes it very hard for fish to get the oxygen they need from the water resulting in heavy breathing.

If they started breathing like that after the medication I can only assume that somehow it took the oxygen out of the water.

[cesar]

Actually they WERE acting weird before the medication. The blue tang died breathing heavy and that was one day before the medication. I spoke to the LFS and they advised me that the medication did not kill them. What happened was that the Ich had gone too far without being noticed. I think it took me like 1 1/2 weeks before I could determine that it was ich. Due to the fact that the first time I noticed it on the yellow tang, it went away in 1 day or so. I took no action since it was gone. That caused all my livestock to die.

[Samper]

I'm gonna agree with you but most of us have been in your shoes, me not too long ago. Always put your fish in a q tank and keep an eye on them for a while before putting them in the main. Do the same with uncured LR also to reduce the chance of reintroducing the parasite. Your tank should be fallow (fishless) for 4-6 weeks. Any parasite will have lived out it's life cycle and not been able to procreate. It is possible to speed up this process but the 6 week recommendation is to be on the safe side. Then it's safe to reintroduce fish.

[cesar]

Should I discontinue buying any fish at this point, even though the ich has gone away? In other words, am I going to need to cycle the tank again? Also, do you think it's possible that since I placed that yellow tang in the tank and got Ich quite fast, do you think that's the reason that I got Ich on all my fish? See I've had my tank up without any kind of tangs and I never had an ich problem. But when I got my first tang I noticed the ich. I heard that tangs are proned to carry Ich fast. They seem to be kind of sensititve. I hope I dont have to cycle my tank again. I dont need to replace my sand do I?

[saltjunkie]

no advice here.. but like mentioned above.... do not buy new fish for 4-6 weeks.....
just because you dont see ich now, does not mean it isnt there...

they have a life cycle in the water colum.. and without fish.. they will expire.. but not if you jump the gun and add fish righ away....

Good luckk..........

[Samper]

http://www.reefland.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12695

http://www.reefland.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12661&highlight=ich

http://www.reefland.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12537&highlight=ich


Found these links in another post on ich. Read them, learn about the life cycle of the parasite and what it does to your fish, learn about treatments and prevention before you even think of buying anything else fish wise.

[cesar]

I still have one black and white stripe Damsel that is still hanging there, should I let him stay there or do you think that the Ich will still stay in the tank until it has wiped out the entire tank?

[Sueet]

I still have one black and white stripe Damsel that is still hanging there, should I let him stay there or do you think that the Ich will still stay in the tank until it has wiped out the entire tank?

As long as there are fish in the tank with the parasite, the parasite will continue to prosper. You must remove all fish from the tank, treat with copper in a separate quarantine tank (no substrate, no carbon based filtration) and keep all fish out of the main display. If you add more fish to that tank, the parasites will immediately latch onto them and if not kill them, at the very least begin the parasite life cycle all over again. If you run a uv sterilizer, it *could* speed up the time limit, but to be safe, honestly, I'd say minimum 6 weeks fishless in the main display.

Oh and... Not trying to be mean, but several people have given you advice, and links with very good information, but you are not paying very good attention, or you wouldn't be asking this question. Please, if you are going to ask, DO SOMETHING with the answers you are given... Don't be lazy and expect everyone else to do your research for you.... You will lose ALOT of money (dead livestock etc.) by not doing the reading yourself.

[cesar]

Not being lazy, just getting other's advise. You know, that's all.

[Sueet]

Not being lazy, just getting other's advise. You know, that's all.

Getting advice is fine, it makes alot of decisions a great deal easier. But when it's obvious that you're not doing the reading, you risk alienating all of the people who DID take the time to read the info, and imparted their knowledge and time to you. I'm just saying that if you ask, pay attention to the answers is all.

[cesar]

Well I have read the links that have been given to me. But as you can see Im just a bit worried and fustrated. No need to insult anyone with your lazy comments.

[Sueet]

Well I have read the links that have been given to me. But as you can see Im just a bit worried and fustrated. No need to insult anyone with your lazy comments.

I was not intending to insult you, but rather trying to point out that you are in effect insulting the people who are trying to help you. But I am sorry if you saw it that way, I'll say no more.

[Samper]

.........me neither.

[saltjunkie]

dang, if none of us talk... how will this message board work????


lol ;)

[smpolyp]

I've read bits and pieces and the heat is not helpng the problem.
For my $.o2.
Ick can be dormant in a tank for some time.
Precautions as suggested are well worth the investment.
Hospital tanks must be stable biologically and temp before they are treatred.
Salinity should be considerd for the impact it can have on PH of the main tank and hospital tank.
If this has been done then it maybe safe to treat the fish.

It may soud confusing,but most of it is preventative.

[Reefland]

Hospital tanks and Q-tanks are the key words in this entire thread. Q-Tank will ensure that the fish being introduced is not carrying any disease or parasite and a hospital tank will provide you with a place to put a sick fish for treatment without any worries that the other fish or inverts will be effected by whatever treatment is used.

I've never heard of the AXO ICH personally nor would I have used it. To treat a fish with ich it's best to remove them to a hospital tank and treat them with hyposalinity or Cu and leave the display tank void of any fish for 4-6 weeks.

[cesar]

Thank you saltjunkie. Also great information reefland