[dreams]

okay, i had set up a hospital tank.....put the fish in & lowered the salinity....the fish ended up stressed, the ammonia was going crazy.....i moved them back to the main tank

in the process, i lost 3 fish

the hospital tank has been up and running for a week....i added live bacteria.....will test that in a week or so

i am now treating the main w/ ich-attach, garlic-EX, & i got 2 cleaner shrimp...i haven't been able to do a full treatment of the ich-attack, because, out of the blue, the system became unstable & was having ammonia readings (newbie being too gungho, i would guess)

i got it back stable & started the treament again this morning

....at this point, i kinda wish i woulda just treated the tank & be done w/ it.....my poor blennie still seems traumatized about the whole tearing apart their home thing

i am having a really hard time justifying doing that again, moving them to the hopital tank

any input on this?

[BubbaWPB]

The only way to ensure you tank is to be free of ich is to remove the fish and treat them while your tank remains fallow for 6 weeks.

You can attempt to control the ich with the ich attack and/or adding UV, but there are definitely no guarantees, and it does not irradicate the ich bug from your system.

IMO, it is better to have a traumatized fish than a dead one.

Do a Reefland search on "ich" and you'll get some very nice links to informative sites. Good luck!

[dreams]

thanks bubba...

i understand what you are saying....losing the 3 fish has rubbed me the wrong way, i guess

i have the HT still running, the ammonia is at 2.0.....will try to get that under control

the question i have....which works better lowering the salinity or using copper?

if i put copper in the tank, i know it will kill about everything, but what about algae & good bacteria?

can i put a couple pcs of rock from my main tank in there, so the fish are a little more compfy & my blennie has food?

thanks again

[almostdiva]

Dreams,

A hospital tank should be bare-bottomed and with nothing in it that can't be medicated (no substrate or live rock). Put coral skeletons or pvc pipes or other "inert" items (some people use small, red clay unglazed flower pots) that can handle the situation if you need to medicate.

Did you treat with anything yet? Most of the common meds will mess with your water parameters. When you set up the hospital tank, you should also have a 5 gal bucket of pre-mixed salt water on hand to do small water changes every 2 or 3 days (like a gallon).

do follow Bubba's suggestion on a thread search. One of the best/easiest ways to set up a hospital tank is to buy a cheapie sponge filter and just keep the sponge part in your sump of your main tank all the time. Take it out when you need to set up the hospital tank. You will then have an "instant" biological filter.

Your fish can handle a little stress from being moved better than it can handle a parasitic disease. Keep everyone in quarantine a FULL 3 weeks AFTER you see no evidence of ich.

Good luck!

Rebecca

[charlesr1958]

Here a few links I put together on both subjects, hope they are of use to you.

Quarantine Tanks

Marine Ich

Chuck

[dreams]

thanks guys....

i am treating w/ ich-attack, as we speak....my water parameters are holding steady & my inverts are all doing good

this was what i found on ich-attack:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/med.htm

when i set up the HT, i thought i covered all the bases.....but , after i added the fish, theys started stressing.....too many fish for the size, i think?....i spent all that day doing water changes, because of the ammonia spike

finally, when the angel looked like he was a goner, i tranfered them all back.....they all actually looked pretty good, eating, active & getting their color back....but, in the end, i lost three of them

that tank is still cycling....i did add bacteria, hoping to hurry it along here & will do another water change

(please take me seriously, when i say i tried to save those fish....i was for a 48 hr period, trying to get the ammonia problem under control & then, trying to get them safely back to the main tank....it was heartbreaking for me)

[almostdiva]

Originally Posted by dreams

thanks guys....
(please take me seriously, when i say i tried to save those fish....i was for a 48 hr period, trying to get the ammonia problem under control & then, trying to get them safely back to the main tank....it was heartbreaking for me)

You're welcome! I'm sure you did, and I'm sure it was heartbreaking...

We have ALL lost fish. All you can do is learn from the loss and keep going. It's part of keeping aquaria, unfortunately.