Ich Please Help!!

[dawneanddonv]

A couple of days ago I noticed that my black Damsels looked like they were speckled with sugar. Went to LFS and they gave me medicine to put into tank. The next day woke up and one of the Damsels died. Went to church and came home and to my dismay was my tomato clown fish on the bottom of the tank being eaten by my hermit crabs. Woke up the next morning and all the fish in the tank except for the yellow tang were breathing heavy. Immediately went to LFS (another one this time) and got copper medication. Removed the rest of the black Damsels and put them in a ten gallon QT tank with the blue Damsel ( a total of 3 fish in that tank). Moved the Yellow Tang and Blue Cheek Sleeper Goby and Grouper into a 30 Gallon QT tank that we had purchased Sunday. Monday we lost both of the black Damsels and the Grouper. Monday night we noticed that the Goby and the Tang were not eating and were breathing very heavy and were visibly distressed. Thought maybe that the water in the tank was not cycled enoughed so we moved them back to the main tank. Woke up this morning and both the Tang and the Goby looked good but the Goby is still very itchy. What should I do with the fish (Tang and Goby)? They will not eat in the QT tank but will eat in the main tank. I know the Goby is sick and it is just a matter of time before the Tang exibits signs also.

 

[ndepratt]

what type of "medicine" did you put in the tank?

 

[queenangel77]

Also... How new is your tank. It says that your new to salt water. That is ALOT of fish in a new tank. There is no way that your bio load could have kept up with all the fish if they were all added at the same time. how much live rock do you have? Did you try a fresh water dip on the remaining fishies? The tang is probably not eating do to the fact that he is in a 10Q. That will stress him out eaven more, and ich can be caused by stress. Fidh will not eat if they are stressed. Eating is the best cure for ich. if i takes putting him back in your main tank to eat, then i would do that (in my opinion). Once ich is in the tank, you cannot get rid of it, unles you leave the tank sit empty with no fish for 6-8 weeks. Putting the fish back in the tank will not harm him more then he already is.

 

[dawneanddonv]

The medicine we put in is Cupramine from Seachem. We have had the tank up and running for about 5 months now and have about 90-95 lbs. of live rock. Everything was going fine. All levels were fine kept PH between 8.0 and 8.2 and temp between 78 and 80. Ammonia was 0 and Nitrites were at 0 but a little spike in Nitrates. Just enough to measure. We added the fish slowly about 1 every 2 weeks due to money(had to wait on pay check). All was well but did notice that fish would itch. Kept telling my hubby but he would say "you get itchy don't you". STUPID. Not gonna listen to him anymore.

 

[queenangel77]

The medicine we put in is Cupramine from Seachem. We have had the tank up and running for about 5 months now and have about 90-95 lbs. of live rock. Everything was going fine. All levels were fine kept PH between 8.0 and 8.2 and temp between 78 and 80. Ammonia was 0 and Nitrites were at 0 but a little spike in Nitrates. Just enough to measure. We added the fish slowly about 1 every 2 weeks due to money(had to wait on pay check). All was well but did notice that fish would itch. Kept telling my hubby but he would say "you get itchy don't you". STUPID. Not gonna listen to him anymore.

Did you try dipping them in fresh water for a few minutes?

 

[dawneanddonv]

I did a fresh water dip when I first noticed the white spots.

 

[yote]

What medication did they sale you to put in your display?I sure hope it wasnt the cupramine.
If the fish will eat in your display,leave them in your display and feed foods soaked in garlic.
When you move a fish from the display to a QT,that fish is stressed.Stress is what brings on problems with sick fish.If they stop eating,then its time to QT them.

 

[daugherty]

all your rock and sand are garbage now because of that medicine

 

[Bifferwine]

Yeah, if you used any medicine that contains copper in your tank, you will not be able to keep any inverts in it ever again, unless you get rid of all your rock and sand :( Copper is fatal to inverts, even in small doses. That means, no snails, crabs, shrimp, starfish, corals, anemones, clams, etc. Basically, nothing but fish. Sorry to say, but your rock is no longer "live"... Copper should never ever ever be used in a display tank.

There isn't much more you can do at this point for your fish. I think you unfortunately may have been given some bad advice by your LFS. Usually once the fish show symptoms and you medicate, it can be too late. Your best bet is to keep them eating. As long as the fish are eating, their chance of survival is good. Garlic extract will boost their immune system. Supplements like Selcon will give them vitamins and amino acids.

 

[ccCapt]

I think everyone pretty much gave you all the bad news.
Calcium carbonate (sand, live rock, coral skeletons, etc) will absorb copper and then eventually leach it back out. I wouldn't trust using that rock in a reef tank, but it may be OK for fish only. Toss the sand. It's not worth trying to keep.
My suggestion is to take the fish out of the main tank and put them in the 30g qt. Watch the ammonia levels in the qt. You may have to do lots of water changes until it cycles. Treat them with the Cupramine and make sure you have a test kit to check the copper levels.
While the fish are in qt, I would run lots of CupriSorb on the main tank and try to remove as much copper as possible. Keep it with no fish for at least 6 weeks. The tank itself should be OK, but I don't think you will ever get all the copper out of the rock so that it won't affect corals/inverts in the future. If you want a reef, using the rock you have now would not be a good idea.

 

[1geo]

Read up on Brook and Ich. Brooklynella is a parasite that has very similar symptoms to various forms of Ich which includes Marine Velvet are also parasites. Brook is treated with Formalin and Ich is treated with copper. Some of the symptoms are rapid swimming, swimming at the top of the tank and gasping for air, fading color, sometimes spots on the body but not always, sometimes lesions on the bodybut not always. Brook can take your fish in a matter of days, Ich takes a little longer but it too will kill. If one fish in your tank has either of these parasites then ALL of you fish have the parasite even if they exhibit no symptoms and they have to be treated or eventually they will die. That means setting up a treatment tank with copper in it and giving them Formalin dips. The tank the fish came out of also has the parasite in it and all of the fish have to be removed from the tank for a six week period to stop the life cycle of the parasite. The eggs of the parasite are in the bottom of your tank and can lay there dormant for up to six weeks. When they hatch they have to find a fish host or they will die. After six weeks the tank is safe for new occupants. Get on Google and read and read and read some more about these parasites and how to treat them and do it now before you lose all of your fish. There is NO Quick answer, there is no one day cure or one chemical cure. These parasites are difficult to get rid of so from now on, QT your new arrives for three weeks before you put them into your tank. Read, read and read some more before you do anything.

 

[1geo]

Are you sure your fish have Ich and not Brook? Below is a writeup I did for another posting hopefully its helpful.

Read up on Brook and Ich. Brooklynella is a parasite that has very similar symptoms to various forms of Ich which includes Marine Velvet are also parasites. Brook is treated with Formalin and Ich is treated with copper. Some of the symptoms are rapid swimming, swimming at the top of the tank and gasping for air, fading color, sometimes spots on the body but not always, sometimes lesions on the body but not always. Brook can take your fish in a matter of days, Ich takes a little longer but it too will kill. If one fish in your tank has either of these parasites then ALL of you fish have the parasite even if they exhibit no symptoms and they have to be treated or eventually they will die. That means setting up a treatment tank with copper in it and giving them Formalin dips. The tank the fish came out of also has the parasite in it and all of the fish have to be removed from the tank for a six week period to stop the life cycle of the parasite. The eggs of the parasite are in the bottom of your tank and can lay there dormant for up to six weeks. When they hatch they have to find a fish host or they will die. After six weeks the tank is safe for new occupants. Get on Google and read and read and read some more about these parasites and how to treat them and do it now before you lose all of your fish. There is NO Quick answer, there is no one day cure or one chemical cure. These parasites are difficult to get rid of so from now on, QT your new arrives for three weeks before you put them into your tank. Again, read, read and read some more before you do anything.