Please help diagnose problem

[Rtrn2Sndr]

Hi folks.
I have 3 damsels and 1 volation lion in my 55g and noticed today that they all developed something that looks like little white speckles of dust all over their bodies... they're also not as active... the damsels and the lion are just sitting in one spot and not moving around the tank like they usually do...


any ideas??

the only thing i did with my tank in the last week was feed the fish 5 ghost shrimp 2 days ago...

[vtec si]

Sounds like ICK! Can you give us any more info. Water prameters, the system and, any recent changes?

Martin

[Rtrn2Sndr]

ammonia is 0, nitrite is 25 and ph is 8
temp is 79 and salinity is 1.024
how do i treat ick??
its a fish only tank. no inverts.
i have a wed/dry filter and a protein skimmer

[Reefland]

Yup, sounds like Cryptocaryon Irritans to mee too. Here is an excellent discussion regarding the lifecycle and possible cures:
Copper Treatment Question

[zhenya]

ammonia is 0, nitrite is 25 and ph is 8
temp is 79 and salinity is 1.024
how do i treat ick??
its a fish only tank. no inverts.
i have a wed/dry filter and a protein skimmer

Hi,

I'm quite sure you meant to say that your NO3 is at 25ppm and not Nitrites(NO2).
Do a search using keywords such as Ich or Cryptocaryon, I am sure you'll get some threads discusssing it.

here's a link for you to browse and get familiar with Cryptocaryon irritans.
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/tr...marineich.html

[Poseidon]

Careful with the lion fish... They grow VERY fast, and your 55 will quickly become cramped for him, if he makes it through the ick treatments. I don't think Copper treatment is recommended for lion fish either so your options are very limited...

[Rtrn2Sndr]

how about freshwater dip for all 4 fish? will that help, or is the ick in the water and will reinfect them?

[Reefland]

They will become infected again as the Cryptocaryon irritans are still present in the display. The only way to ensure they are gone is to leave the tank fallow for at least 6 weeks.

In the meantime, you might research garlic as a food supplement which might help. ;)

[Rtrn2Sndr]

ok, ive done some reading...and learned that since i dont have any inverts, i can just lower my salinity and cross my fingers.
i will also add garlic to food... the fish dont seem to be in the mood of eating anything right now though.---not a usual occurance with my damsels.

thanks for all the help.
-alex

[Reefland]

Alex,

If you have any liverock it would not be a good idea to use hyposalinity in the display. For the cost, you might be best off setting up a small 10 gallon aquarium with very basic equipment, treating the fish there and leaving your main tank fallow. This is by far the best way to cure ICH.

Good Luck!

[Rtrn2Sndr]

no LR present. just lava and tuffa. i have work tomorrow and have to go to sleep, but am still staying up working on lowering the salinity. so far ive changed at least 35 gal. with fresh water... the SG is 1.009-1.010

the temp is 79ish, and i added a pH buffer to bring it back up to 8.3

I had to dispose of one of the damsels (the sergent major) he was in really bad condition and I wanted to put him out of his misery. i feel terrible

i really hope the lion makes it. i love that fish.
thanks once again for the help.
-alex

[Rtrn2Sndr]

One more quick Q...
would it hurt if I add some sort of ICK medication in the tank??
(once again, there is not LR and no inverts)

and what type of meds are recommended?

Thanks,
-Alex

[Reefland]

It wouldn't hurt but it's not likely to help either. What is more harmful is the rate at which you lowered the salinity of your tank. If you read through the links you would have found that the salinity of the water needs to be lowered slowly, over the course of a couple of weeks and after treatment, slowly raised back to NSW levels. It appears from your post that you have changed the specific gravity of your water from 1.02x to 1.009 within a matter of hours.

[Rtrn2Sndr]

It wouldn't hurt but it's not likely to help either. What is more harmful is the rate at which you lowered the salinity of your tank. If you read through the links you would have found that the salinity of the water needs to be lowered slowly, over the course of a couple of weeks and after treatment, slowly raised back to NSW levels. It appears from your post that you have changed the specific gravity of your water from 1.02x to 1.009 within a matter of hours.

I didnt notice that from what i read. whoops.
If i took a few weeks to lower the salinity, my fish would already be dead though...

[Poseidon]

Well if they make it through the osmotic shock, then they might make it through the ick too... Only way I can make a comparison is like the "bends" when you are diving and come up to fast the nitrogen in your blood explands and causes trouble. What you did is in effect the same, Saltwater has a much higher density then fresh, so you changed the amount of pressure exerted on the fish. It may cause the fish to swell inside and suffer internal damage, especially to their swim bladder...

[Rtrn2Sndr]

UPDATE...
I treated the tank with a med called Quick Cure by Aquarium Products (I used this one b/c this was supposed to be safe for use with the Volitian Lion)
It seemed to work immediately getting rid of the dust-like spots pretty much after the 2nd treatment.
Everything looked just fine, I kept the salinity down at 1.011 and temp at around 80... until I got home last Thursday and my Lion was swimming in weird circles. He thern started swimming sideways and upside down and looked very confused.
He didnt seem to have any of the Ick on him, but still didnt seem to be in good health.

He died overnight.

Currently, I have 2 damsels left and am scared to add any new fish until I know the Ick is GONE!! how long do I have to keep the low salinity and the high temps? how do I know when the Ick is gone? and how do I prevent this from happening again?

Is it possible that the Ick was introduced into the tank from live ghost shrimp I bought the day prior to the outbreak??

(I thought Ick cant live in freshwater?)

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks ahead of time.
-Alex

[Rtrn2Sndr]

UPDATE...
I treated the tank with a med called Quick Cure by Aquarium Products (I used this one b/c this was supposed to be safe for use with the Volitian Lion)
It seemed to work immediately getting rid of the dust-like spots pretty much after the 2nd treatment.
Everything looked just fine, I kept the salinity down at 1.011 and temp at around 80... until I got home last Thursday and my Lion was swimming in weird circles. He thern started swimming sideways and upside down and looked very confused.
He didnt seem to have any of the Ick on him, but still didnt seem to be in good health.

He died overnight.

Currently, I have 2 damsels left and am scared to add any new fish until I know the Ick is GONE!! how long do I have to keep the low salinity and the high temps? how do I know when the Ick is gone? and how do I prevent this from happening again?

Is it possible that the Ick was introduced into the tank from live ghost shrimp I bought the day prior to the outbreak??

(I thought Ick cant live in freshwater?)

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks ahead of time.
-Alex

ANYONE??

[TerryB]

You should find this comprehensive series of articles on the subject helpful. If the fish are not doing well in hyposalinity it is usually a case of low pH. The pH tends to drop in low salinity so it should be tested daily and buffered as needed.

http://www.marineaquariumadvice.com/...um_fish_1.html

Cheers,
Terry B

[rayjay]

It wouldn't hurt but it's not likely to help either. What is more harmful is the rate at which you lowered the salinity of your tank. If you read through the links you would have found that the salinity of the water needs to be lowered slowly, over the course of a couple of weeks and after treatment, slowly raised back to NSW levels. It appears from your post that you have changed the specific gravity of your water from 1.02x to 1.009 within a matter of hours.

FWIW, I've always dropped the s.g. fairly fast, like in two to four hours depending on how much time I have.
I've never had a problem in so doing.
HOWEVER, to bring the s.g. back up after 6 or more weeks of hypo, I take at least 10 days and more, to get back to the original s.g..