# Please help me!!!



## miles martin (Apr 9, 2009)

hi i have a 55g saltwater tank. about 4 months old. about a month ago i bought a fish that had ick i think(little white spots all over) and with in a weak all 6 of my assorted fish died leaving some crabs, anenomes, star fish and a small snowflake eel. i was told to let the ick kill its self by not adding fish because it needs a host to survive.. so i did! then i added a yellow taild damsel. all went well. a week later i added a false percula clown. which looked lonly so i got him a friend that same day another clown. another week, i add 3 more damsels. then the first clown develops ick and dies. no other fish show signs of stress or ick! anoher week goes by and my last clown stops eating and hanging around the bottom. now my sand is coverded in dark red and light purple hairy (alage) i think!! is this bad??? is it possible for 1 fish to get ick die and not effect the others??? i only have a bio wheel filter, an air stone pump and a protein skimmer do i need a power head???could my brittle star fish and my eel be streesing my clowns??? because they do fine all day then look scared in the dark


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

Ich didn't die because your eel is a fish and can host ich. Yes all your fish have ich. A quarentine tank is your only option if you want to keep your inverts. The dark red and purple algae is sign of a nutrient problem... remove it and do 4 25% water changes over the next week. A powerhead would help as well. Your clowns could be scared of the eel, but what I think you are seeing is natural clown behavior at night.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

You will never succeed at keeping a saltwater tank until you understand this one thing:
Every fish in the petshop is infected with SOMETHING, and in your tank that something will spread like crazy.
You must quarantine and pre-cleanse all of your new fish before you put them into your main tank. If you don't, you will have nothing but problems. Naturally the guy at the petshop will never tell you that, but that's why we have the internet, eh?

On the plus side, most saltwater diseases are a lot easier to get rid of than most freshwater ones.


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## miles martin (Apr 9, 2009)

*thank you!!!*



Fishfirst said:


> Ich didn't die because your eel is a fish and can host ich. Yes all your fish have ich. A quarentine tank is your only option if you want to keep your inverts. The dark red and purple algae is sign of a nutrient problem... remove it and do 4 25% water changes over the next week. A powerhead would help as well. Your clowns could be scared of the eel, but what I think you are seeing is natural clown behavior at night.


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## miles martin (Apr 9, 2009)

*Thank you*



TheOldSalt said:


> You will never succeed at keeping a saltwater tank until you understand this one thing:
> Every fish in the petshop is infected with SOMETHING, and in your tank that something will spread like crazy.
> You must quarantine and pre-cleanse all of your new fish before you put them into your main tank. If you don't, you will have nothing but problems. Naturally the guy at the petshop will never tell you that, but that's why we have the internet, eh?
> 
> On the plus side, most saltwater diseases are a lot easier to get rid of than most freshwater ones.


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## miles martin (Apr 9, 2009)

*??*



Fishfirst said:


> Ich didn't die because your eel is a fish and can host ich. Yes all your fish have ich. A quarentine tank is your only option if you want to keep your inverts. The dark red and purple algae is sign of a nutrient problem... remove it and do 4 25% water changes over the next week. A powerhead would help as well. Your clowns could be scared of the eel, but what I think you are seeing is natural clown behavior at night.


ok so i am moving all inverts to a seperate tank> i did a 25% water change!! do i have any means of treating the fish for ick??? i dont want to lose them!! what stops the quarentine tank from getting ick when i put the new fish in there!! should i fresh water dip the fish and place them in the quarentine tank??can my quarentine tank have rock and corals?? every time i do a water change i clean the sand with the hose, should i not be doing this???


thanks!!!


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

Move the fish into a seperate tank... leave the inverts and corals and rock in the other. Use PVC pipe for your fish to use as hiding spots but that is it... no sand, and no rock or decor. Treat with copper, Coppersafe and a test kit for copper would work the best. Get it to 1.5-2.0. For immediate relief, give your fish a formalin dip, add a couple drops of formalin to a bucket half full of saltwater, aerate with an airstone, and put the fish in there for and hour.


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## miles martin (Apr 9, 2009)

*ok!!*



Fishfirst said:


> Move the fish into a seperate tank... leave the inverts and corals and rock in the other. Use PVC pipe for your fish to use as hiding spots but that is it... no sand, and no rock or decor. Treat with copper, Coppersafe and a test kit for copper would work the best. Get it to 1.5-2.0. For immediate relief, give your fish a formalin dip, add a couple drops of formalin to a bucket half full of saltwater, aerate with an airstone, and put the fish in there for and hour.


So for the formalin dip, do i do it to all the fish at once and place them back in the same tank??? or do i place them in quarantine???I read an article that said inverts can be carriers of ick!!!!! so will i have to treat my main tank besides the massive water changing?? do i need to take the protien skimmer and filter off the quarntine tank when i add the copper??


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

Ich can only be carried by fish... after the dip place them in the quarantine and use the copper only on the quarantine tank. A filter should be used on the quarantine but don't use carbon in the filter.


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## Hydr0 JoE (Jan 13, 2009)

TheOldSalt said:


> You will never succeed at keeping a saltwater tank until you understand this one thing:
> Every fish in the petshop is infected with SOMETHING, and in your tank that something will spread like crazy.
> You must quarantine and pre-cleanse all of your new fish before you put them into your main tank. If you don't, you will have nothing but problems. Naturally the guy at the petshop will never tell you that, but that's why we have the internet, eh?
> 
> On the plus side, most saltwater diseases are a lot easier to get rid of than most freshwater ones.


how do you pre-cleanse your fish? for freshwater and salt? im guessing it has to do with a quarantine tank?


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

Keep in mind your eel will eat anything that can fit in his mouth. Eels are predatory and best kept separate from your peaceful fish. 

I'm surprised you never QTed any of your fishes before putting them in ur display tank. Consider it a hard lesson learned.


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## Fishhorder (Sep 21, 2009)

TheOldSalt said:


> You will never succeed at keeping a saltwater tank until you understand this one thing:
> Every fish in the petshop is infected with SOMETHING, and in your tank that something will spread like crazy.
> You must quarantine and pre-cleanse all of your new fish before you put them into your main tank. If you don't, you will have nothing but problems. Naturally the guy at the petshop will never tell you that, but that's why we have the internet, eh?
> 
> On the plus side, most saltwater diseases are a lot easier to get rid of than most freshwater ones.



I do agree with the fact that all new fish should be quarantined before placing them in your established tank BUT I work in the trade (mom and pop store) and I/we don't sell any fish that is sick to anyone. If we get sick fish they are treated and customers are told that they are not for sale and if they survive their treatment and all is clear then they will be for sale but until then they are not. I also explain that one should ALWAYS have a hospital tank setup for those fish who seem to be touchie and are prone to get ICH when they are stressed. I've shopped (never bought) at different pet shops (mom & pop and chains) that I feel sorry for the livestock in their tanks. Not all of us are dishonest and out to get someone's money. I'm here to promote this hobby and have alot of loyal customers who buy saltwater fish from me and no place else and the reason they do this is because I'm honest and to the point with them.


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## cowetpets (Oct 15, 2009)

I am in the trade as well and we QT all new saltwater fish (in the back of the shop) for 3 weeks before we sell them. And so we do not get ich in the first place the salinity in all of the saltwater tanks is kept at 1.014-1.017 (ich cannot complete its life cycle in these conditions) UV sanitizers are also used to keep our tanks ich free.

And I agree that not all pet shops are out to get you. But a lot are and those are the ones to stay away from.


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