Please Help, this is breaking my heart - Page 2

hawk · #11 09-01-2004, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asmodeus

If it is ICK then dont you have to leave the tank free of fish for months or so

Just curious

mike

If it is ick 6 weeks min. It's a pita but I would just do it, why set yourself up to repeat the same problem your having now over and over again. Remove the fish to a properly set up Qt, let the main tank tank go fallow. Follow one of the treatments for ick, make sure the life cycle is broken. Down the road QT newcomers.

Captainhemo · #12 09-02-2004, 07:26 AM

Thanks fro everyones suggestions but it was just too late, I woke up this am and the larger fish had died during thenight, and the smaller one was just barely ahnging on, he passed a hour or so later. I'm sorry I didnt post sooner to save everyone from wiritng but I really want up to it. I was really surprised at how attatched I was to two fish I had only had for a month, I'm gonna really miss them

I still dont know what it was that killed them. The spots ont he fish were very small, almost looked like dust ( sorry I dont have a pic). It was all over them today, even a bit on their eyes. I felt so bloody horibel that I counldnt help them but even with everything I was reading I couldnt figure what it was. It kinda seemed like ich but I dont know . Does ich usually koll this fast ? There was absolutely no sign of anything worng until last fri night when I cam e home and the larger fish had lost most of his color ( it retuned the next day). After that, they just started acting strange at times , swimming eratically, etc as i metioned above.. Both fish were still eating well at non yesterday.

These fish were the only 2 fish I have have ever had in the tank. I have had them 4 weeks to the day. Now, does this mean that they had to have the disease when i purchased them m ? O r is it possible that I introduced the ddisease on some live rock Everything I have ever purchased for theis tank came from the same place (they arecurrently on holidays so I cant check if they are having problems) as well. The only new things I introduced recently was 2 weeks ago ai added another 9.5 lbs of olive rock and a red mushroom, nothing since then.

So, now that this has happened I guess its time to get a Q- tank although Im not sure it would have helped in this case as the fish were fine for so long. Now I guess I have to let t he main tank sit for qutie some time , I m hoping the desease will not be able to survive indefinately w/o a host fish Seems like I just fisnhed doing that as I hd just comploeted cycling the tank before I got those 2 fish

Anyhow, thanks to all of you whol tried to hlep me with this, I really appreciate it. Hopefully I'll figure out what exactly it was and where it came from. I'll also be investing in a Q'tank I guess although I had only palnned on have about 4 fish intotal and they all came from the same dealer, but I guess that really dosent matter in the end, they should probably all spend some time in the q-tank before being allowed int he main tank

What an upsetting day

muck · #13 09-02-2004, 07:30 AM

Sorry for your loss man. That sucks...

Captainhemo · #14 09-02-2004, 07:39 AM

Yeah it does suck, the worst part was sitting there for 2 hrs with the small fish at the glass as he died. Not something I really want to repeat . Like I said before, I would have never believed fish could be such pets , they really do get little personalities and earn to r recognize different ppl .

I was just looking athe picture avove in this post of " moo" and the spots looked similar to the ones on her, except today there was alot more of them. I am ssuming that it was probably ich, I hope my delaers fish will be ok when they return home from their trip

Doug · #15 09-02-2004, 01:29 PM

Sorry about your fish.

Sure sounds like ick, esp. on the eyes in the latter stages. However its strange they were fine for 4 weeks and then developed it. Usually it comes from a fish with it being introduced to the tank, thus the quarentine.

I cant remember off hand the time needed fishless to make sure your ick free. I think its about 6 weeks also.

muck · #16 09-02-2004, 01:52 PM

yes its 6 weeks minimum...

Captainhemo · #17 09-02-2004, 09:52 PM

Hi
I went back through my juournal and I actually got the fish 4 weks ago today, so it would have been 3 weeks to the day that I fist noticed something wrong ( that was the night the larger fish was all pale when I came home but still no sign of any wiite dots or spots on them)
How long do you all usually keep new fish in a q-tank ? I'm really surprised that something didnt show up sooner.
When I look over my "journal" , I was correct, the only things added since the fish was the 9 lbs of live rock and the one little rcok with a red mushroom and what appears to be a type of zoo.

From looking at this info, I'd assume the fish must have had the disease when i purchased them or at least had already been carrying the disease . Would this be a correct assumption ? I was under the impression that my dealer had already had these fish for some time before I picked them up as they were getting very low on fish stocks and had been plainning to bring in another large amount of fish very soon. Also, like I mentioned , anything that has been added to my tank, has all come from the same place so I should be able to easily trace the deisae back , something in their tanks must be sick or carrying the disease. I'll see what I can find out as soon as they return form their holiday.
.

hawk · #18 09-02-2004, 11:39 PM

Hi, have you seen this article?
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/
It gives a good explaination of ick's life cycle, how to treat and how to prevent. Also gives the how to's and why to QT.

Captainhemo · #19 09-03-2004, 12:21 AM

No, I havent read that one yet, will read it thisevening though . Thanks fro the link

Hey , one thing I wanted to ask, is it best to toally leave the tank as is for a period of time say 6 or 8 weeks without adding anything at all ? Or do I just need to refrain from adding any fish ?
What I am geting at is I'm wodering if I can adda coral or two during this period of time or can they also be affected by ich ?
I had just beeen planning on adding a small coral in the near futre but now that this has happened I'm not sure if I should just leave it totally along for .All my water chemistry is still fine, ) ammonia, 0 nitrtietes, and less than 10 ppm Nitrates PH 8.2
Hehe not sure if I can handle looking at my tank of rocks for another couple months , need a little color or something to look at . Pretty amazing how much 2 little fish can add to the overall appearance of something. Going back to watching the hermits and sanils is gonna be tough

hawk · #20 09-03-2004, 03:03 AM

Technically I believe ick can come in on rock or coral, but not nearly as likely as coming in on a fish. It does need a fish host to complete it's life cycle. If there is no fish in the tank the paracite will die, so theres no reason not to add to the tank as long as everything else is ok. Just start counting the "fallow" days once the last piece is added.