Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

I had it twice (my fish did that is) and it went away once (the one time I got a fish from B&B) and the other time it wiped out every fish I had except a yellow coris wrasse. My water quality was good enough to keep any coral that I put in there and my tank was overstocked both times. Sometimes it just happens but when you add a new fish there is a much larger chance of something like that occuring moreso when the new fish is not healthy or came from a system that contained other fish that weren't healthy.

Jeremy, what have you done so far and have you been able to remedy the ick problem?

Well, I woke up this morning and was missing 2 of the damsels. There was no sign of ich on any of my oldies and the ich spots on the remaining damsels looked more like scars from ich. When I first noticed the problem, there was 2 heavily covered damsels and several damsels with small amounts of ich. All the damsels stayed together but kidof avoided the really sick 1s (these are the 2 I think are missing). My wife bought the garlic and I am running the UV sterilizer nonstop. I will know more in the morning about their health.

Jeremy

it will take a couple of wks before you know since lots of the damage is to the gills that you can not see.

What size is the tank ?

snoopdog wrote:What size is the tank ?

I think the tank he is using now is like a 190 gallon with a 75 or 100 gallon sump/refugium. His tank is one of the few that I have not seen in person. It sounds like a good place for a meeting real soon before everything goes into the big tank.

A before and after party

tbmoore wrote:A before and after party

Sounds good to me. He will need a couple of (hundred) frags from each of us to get started filling that 900 gallon tank filled. I can't even imagine having to do a water change, it would be like completely draining and refilling my tank each time.

Inspecting the fish this morning, it looks like the ech is clearing up. I have done nothing yet (except a UV sterilizer). I can still see a little on a couple of the damsels fins (much much lass than 2 days ago). All of the other fish are still looking healthy. I will soak the food as suggested just in case. There are still 2 damsels MIA. Maybe the disease was too much taken over them.

The current tank is a 190 with a 75 gal sump/fuge as Scott mentioned.

The waterchanges shouldnt be too bad on the new tank. Should be as easy as opening 2 valves. Thats the good part about building from scratch. I have a method I am considering using to where waterchanges are automatic. All I will need to do is add salt to a mix tank 1 time a week.

As fas as a meeting here, my wife would kill me. However after the move, you guys are welcome to have it at the new place (should be within 4 months). The only problem there is the tank will not have much lighting. I will probably only have 3ea 400 watters on it.

The new house is much closer to the city anyway (off Belengrath).

Thanks to all with the help on the ich problem.

Jeremy

The ich problem is not gone....It is going thru a cycle...keep feeding the garlic for several months at least.....keep the uv going...It will most likley show back up in a few days to a wk....

Jeremy, its Andrew from B&B. Is the angel you are referring to that Genicanthus angel I sold to you? I was afraid there would have been some aggression from your fish. Like everyone else said, please keep a close eye on the fish and make sure that the infection does not take a turn for the worst. If conditions do persist and the fish stops feeding, you should remove it to some sort of quarantine. I realize that it is a hassle to catch these fish, but it may be necessary. A formalin treatment in quarantine would be preferable, as these fish are not very amenable to copper treatments. Also, the green chromis usually come in in fairly rough shape. They are usually ridiculously stressed by the time they reach the store. Also, the fact that we keep salinity unnaturally low would explain some of this. But you must realize that this malady is fairly common in green chromis damsels-that is, the sudden disappearance/probable death. Do keep an eye on them and feed them heavily.

Hello Andrew,

The Angel is feeding well now. It took 5 days for him to eat but now I feel like he will survive. He is even running the other fish off from his corner. The Ich is clearing from the damsels but I now see 1 spot on my Regal. I do have a cleaner shrimp (big guy) who really earns his pay. I think all will pull through.
Just a note: I have added a ozonizer to the skimmer. Maybe this will help the UV sterilizer kill the waterbound parasites. I am only going to run it about 3 hours today, and 3 tomorrow, and take a break till Tuesday.
1 question about the garlic juice, How long do I soak the food for? And do I soak flake, pellets, brine, and mysis all in it?

Thanks,
Jeremy

After looking at the receipts, it took 8 days before I saw the Genicanthus eat. He is eating like a pig now. I guess he is trying to catch up.

Jeremy

Might want to keep that UV for the long run, sounds like it is doing it's job.

I think you are right. I am now planning on running 1 on the new tank. Them suckers get very expensive once you get up above 40 watts.

Jeremy

And to think that I didn't take a free, nearly new commercial UV unit because it was too big. <kicking myself in the ass> It was only 500 watts so that probably wasn't big enough huh? </kicking myself in the ass>