Ich Question

Limi310

Limi310

Superstar Fish
#1
Nov 30, 2005
1,101
5
0
46
Charlotte, NC
#1
So I got a coral beauty 3 weeks ago. I have him in a QT tank. When I first got him I thought I saw a few white spots but wasn't sure and it's been gone this whole time and he's looked really good. Tonight I look in the tank and he looks salted :(
My problem is I don't have a biological filter other then LR. I can borrow some bio balls from my dad tomorrow but is there anything I can do in the meantime to help? Temp, Lower salinity a little, etc? I was thinking of doing the hypo treatment once I have access to my dads filter media. Obviously if I do that now or use meds, I'll kill everything on the LR. Any suggestions? Thanks!
 

OCCFan023

OCCFan023

Superstar Fish
#2
Jul 29, 2004
1,817
5
0
35
New Jersey
#2
I would recommend putting him into QT tonight and throw either a scrap peice of live rock ( I dont think you have any though) but if you did just use that until tommorow when you can get a seeded peice of bio balls or filter media to use.

If the ich isnt bad (if you just noticed it tonight) I would venture to guess you would be ok to hold off until tommorow when you could have a disposbal filter in the QT that could be exposed to meds/hypo without loss of biological life on the rock.

If you really feel the need and looks like it is pretty bad what you could do is take some lr and a spare hob filter and do hyposalinity tonight with a bump in temp in the QT and then once the QT is done you can empty the QT and keep the rock in for an extra few days to prevent any ich from possibly being carried back into the tank. The live rock would loose some life but nothing that wouldnt come back (and your main tank may have a slight bump in nitrate which a careful eye and a water chnage will help)

Im sorry I cant be more of a help I feel I just reiterated what you asked. Best of luck with the coral beauty as I know how much you like him.
 

T

TheFool

Large Fish
#4
Apr 19, 2006
323
2
0
#4
Well Centropyge are somewhat sensitive to copper so hyposalinity is your best bet. You should be looking to get down to 1.010 over the next 24, 48 hours, and I hope you have a decent hydrometer or refracto.
As far as filt goes, if the live rock was cheap and fairly barren, I'd keep it in, the various bacteria are fairly unfussy about salinity. Stuff like sponges, stars are not going to like it tho. Pods and algae will survive ok Make sure you keep an eye on your kH tho'. It's a bit of a judgment call about the liverock, but I've hypoed some of mine a few times and it has not been an issue. Keep an eye out for distress, ammonia tho - try to be fairly smart about this and you should be ok.
 

Limi310

Limi310

Superstar Fish
#5
Nov 30, 2005
1,101
5
0
46
Charlotte, NC
#5
Thanks guys :) Yes he's already in a QT.
My salinity was 1.025 so I brought it down to 1.021 and bumped up the temp to 82. I'll get the filter media tonight and do another water change. I definitely prefer the hypo method over meds so I will try that first. It wasn't too bad so far....you have to look really closely to see it. Wish me luck :)
 

Limi310

Limi310

Superstar Fish
#6
Nov 30, 2005
1,101
5
0
46
Charlotte, NC
#6
My fish has been in 1.010 since Sunday but still has white spots. How many days does it usually take for them to disappear? He is eating and acting normal and breathing regular.
I did a water change last night and plan to do another tonight.
Thanks
 

Limi310

Limi310

Superstar Fish
#8
Nov 30, 2005
1,101
5
0
46
Charlotte, NC
#8
He looks MUCH better today then he has the past 2 days.
Since I posted on 10/20, it got pretty yucky...but it definitely appears to be improving.
The only bad thing I did was forget to use reef buffer in the FW when I started the hypo - so the tank pH is about 7.8. Hopefully I didn't stress him out further. I'm going to slowly raise it back up with water changes.
 

OCCFan023

OCCFan023

Superstar Fish
#10
Jul 29, 2004
1,817
5
0
35
New Jersey
#10
sorry havent been on a while, but would like to apologize for being a dumbass in the already in qt department :D. Glad to hear that the treatment is comming along and also this proves the benefit of qting new fish, nothing was exposed to the display.
 

Joe Fish

Joe Fish

Superstar Fish
#11
Apr 21, 2006
2,126
1
0
Penn State
josy.isa-geek.com
#11
What size QT are you using? I'm currently using a 10 and a 15L. The parameter seems to be stable in the 15, but the nitrites are giving me an issue in the 10. Could these be coming from my sponse filter has too much crap in it? Are you going the hypo route only? No copper? Are you using a refracometer?
 

Limi310

Limi310

Superstar Fish
#12
Nov 30, 2005
1,101
5
0
46
Charlotte, NC
#12
It's a 10gal. I borrowed a filter cartridge (white floss stuff) and some bio-balls from my dads tank and stuck them in a HOB.
How many fish in your QT and how often are you changing the water? Lots of people use sponge filters in their QT. If it's really dirty try squeezing it out in a bucket of tank water. Did you have the sponge in your main tank before putting it in the QT?

Right now I am just trying hypo. I want to avoid meds if at all possible. Plus I've read Angels are sensitive to copper. So far it seems to be working...CB looks better everyday. I have a lab grade floating glass hydrometer.
 

Joe Fish

Joe Fish

Superstar Fish
#13
Apr 21, 2006
2,126
1
0
Penn State
josy.isa-geek.com
#13
I have 3 in my 10 and 4 in my 15. I change the water usually ever other day of about 2 gallons. I'll squeese the filter to see if that helps the nitrites. Yes i did have it in my main tank for a while. I put some bio media in my display tank to get the good stuff on it. Then I will put that in the QTs to help.
 

Limi310

Limi310

Superstar Fish
#15
Nov 30, 2005
1,101
5
0
46
Charlotte, NC
#15
Hmmmm...he looks worse tonight. Most of the white spots are back but they are very small. I've been reading about ich vs. velvet but am still a little confused. He has white spots, but you have to look closely and it does almost look like he has a 'haze' over his blue back :(
Wondering if it's time to try meds? Can I put in the meds at the low salinity?
Is there a brand you recommend? Thanks
 

Limi310

Limi310

Superstar Fish
#18
Nov 30, 2005
1,101
5
0
46
Charlotte, NC
#18
Update:

Don't want to count my chickens before they hatch...BUT..it appears that (Thanks to Ryan's recommendation of Lifeguard) my Coral Beauty is now disease free. He is happily zooming around the QT (as much as one can zoom in a 10gal).
The Lifeguard product really did seem to work wonders. It was a 5 day treatment and he showed immediate improvement after day 1.
Now I've been working on slowly getting his salt level back up to marine level and hopefully soon he will be back in the main tank eating all the algea that I am letting grow for him :)

Thanks Ryan!!
 

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