Bad news! Fingers crossed.

tangs_tank · 02/27/2012, 11:59 AM

So, I have one Royal Gramma and 2 clowns in QT for about 3 weeks. Unfortunately the Gramma came down with Ich. I have to be blamed. I walked in one morning and the temp was 64!! The heater was unplugged. I raised the temp back to 78.

Well I started Cupramine 48 hrs ago and Gramma is laying on bottom of tank, still breathing tho.

When this is all said and done (after WEEKS more of QT) I'm hesitant on introducing these fish in my DT, should I be?

Past couple of days I've been real disappointed and almost changing my mind to an all coral tank. But what good is it without fish. BTW, my tanks is still in cycling(monitoring) stage 6 weeks now. So I am new to this and I know the temp most likely caused this.

What to do?

sporto0 · 02/27/2012, 12:09 PM

Just make sure there is no Ich left, it sucks your Gramma is hurting, but it is imperative you don't let the parasites into your display tank, you'll never get rid of it if you do. & a reef tank needs fish in it as well, not as many of course, but they play their part in providing nutrients for coral consumption. Good luck.

aleonn · 02/27/2012, 01:37 PM

+1 I'd wait to make sure.

In case the temperature drops significantly next time, I'd slowly raise the temperature over the course of a few days, instead of all at once. JMO though, as a fast rise in temperature may significantly decrease the capacity of oxygen carried by the water. Even though a few days probably have passed since the heater incident, I think it's a good idea to add an airstone to the QT.

tangs_tank · 02/28/2012, 11:07 AM

Well, thanks for the responses but the Gramma died. Will be keeping the two clowns in Cupramine for up coming week. They seem to be swimming normally and eating they have been even tho the Gramma was infected. Hope Cupramine does its job.

Sk8r · 02/28/2012, 11:12 AM

Follow the dosing directions and length of treatment recommended with the cupramine. Not all species can survive cupramine---angels don't do well with it. Suggest you go over to the Fish Disease forum and read the stickies, which will tell you what happened. The 64 degrees did not cause the ich: it's an animal, a parasite. It is in your display tank, and that tank has to be fishless for 8 weeks to get rid of this stuff. If it gets a fish to feed and breed on, it will be back.

randomfishguy85 · 02/28/2012, 11:22 AM

i believe the fish were never in the op display tank. everything happaned in thier quarantine.i dont know if this is good advice or not, hopefully someone will correct me if im wrong, but maybe since they are already in qt, you should use some prazipro after the cuprimine treatment is done. If the clowns do have any internal parasites, that will get rid of it and it isnt a really harsh treatment. some people proactively treat, some dont , its your decision. Just a thought

tangs_tank · 02/28/2012, 11:37 AM

Thanks guys. The fish was never in DT, my DT is only in 6 weeks of cycle. I have gone over some of the stickies and have learnt a lot. Now, should I have done medicated preventative measures in QT?? Since I felt it was ich I used cupramine, should I use prazipro??

BigCountry74 · 02/28/2012, 11:56 AM

How did the Ich get there? LFS? Which fish brought it in?

danil · 02/28/2012, 12:08 PM

this question (preventative treatment in QT) was debated so many times I lost count of it. There is no yes or no answer. Its up to you. Generic approach - if your life stock cost hundreds (or thousands) you have to do whatever it takes to prevent parasites get into the DT hence you do preventative treatment, longer quarantine time, all kind of treatments etc. If your life stock is 'common' you can go with regular QT procedure and treat only if something is wrong.
Right your gramma died from ich not from temperature drop. Any stresses negatively effect fish with sickness though.

danil · 02/28/2012, 12:08 PM

dp.

tangs_tank · 02/28/2012, 01:33 PM

Bigcountry Im not sure if it already had ich when I bought him. He was the weakest one of the 3 fish I acclimated and put in QT. Although Im sure the temp drop didn't help with stress either.

The thing is when I first saw him "scratch" himself on pvc pipe I assume something was wrong. I didn't want to misdiagnose him, and did some asking and reading. I finally decided it was ich and treated with cupramine, .3ppm. It didn't last 2 days after.

02/27/2012, 11:59 AM	#1
tangs_tank Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Grayslake, Il Posts: 135	Bad news! Fingers crossed. So, I have one Royal Gramma and 2 clowns in QT for about 3 weeks. Unfortunately the Gramma came down with Ich. I have to be blamed. I walked in one morning and the temp was 64!! The heater was unplugged. I raised the temp back to 78. Well I started Cupramine 48 hrs ago and Gramma is laying on bottom of tank, still breathing tho. When this is all said and done (after WEEKS more of QT) I'm hesitant on introducing these fish in my DT, should I be? Past couple of days I've been real disappointed and almost changing my mind to an all coral tank. But what good is it without fish. BTW, my tanks is still in cycling(monitoring) stage 6 weeks now. So I am new to this and I know the temp most likely caused this. What to do?

02/28/2012, 11:12 AM	#5
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Follow the dosing directions and length of treatment recommended with the cupramine. Not all species can survive cupramine---angels don't do well with it. Suggest you go over to the Fish Disease forum and read the stickies, which will tell you what happened. The 64 degrees did not cause the ich: it's an animal, a parasite. It is in your display tank, and that tank has to be fishless for 8 weeks to get rid of this stuff. If it gets a fish to feed and breed on, it will be back. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

02/28/2012, 11:56 AM	#8
BigCountry74 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 1,761	How did the Ich get there? LFS? Which fish brought it in? __________________ 135g mixed reef (retired) http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2132815 Current 40g reef http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2483250 Current Tank Info: 40g bare bottom reef

02/27/2012, 12:09 PM	#2
sporto0 Moved On Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Pittsburgh, Pa. Posts: 2,924	Just make sure there is no Ich left, it sucks your Gramma is hurting, but it is imperative you don't let the parasites into your display tank, you'll never get rid of it if you do. & a reef tank needs fish in it as well, not as many of course, but they play their part in providing nutrients for coral consumption. Good luck.

02/27/2012, 01:37 PM	#3
aleonn Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 4,041	+1 I'd wait to make sure. In case the temperature drops significantly next time, I'd slowly raise the temperature over the course of a few days, instead of all at once. JMO though, as a fast rise in temperature may significantly decrease the capacity of oxygen carried by the water. Even though a few days probably have passed since the heater incident, I think it's a good idea to add an airstone to the QT.

02/28/2012, 11:07 AM	#4
tangs_tank Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Grayslake, Il Posts: 135	Well, thanks for the responses but the Gramma died. Will be keeping the two clowns in Cupramine for up coming week. They seem to be swimming normally and eating they have been even tho the Gramma was infected. Hope Cupramine does its job.

02/28/2012, 11:22 AM	#6
randomfishguy85 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Ajax, Ontario Posts: 522	i believe the fish were never in the op display tank. everything happaned in thier quarantine.i dont know if this is good advice or not, hopefully someone will correct me if im wrong, but maybe since they are already in qt, you should use some prazipro after the cuprimine treatment is done. If the clowns do have any internal parasites, that will get rid of it and it isnt a really harsh treatment. some people proactively treat, some dont , its your decision. Just a thought

02/28/2012, 11:37 AM	#7
tangs_tank Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Grayslake, Il Posts: 135	Thanks guys. The fish was never in DT, my DT is only in 6 weeks of cycle. I have gone over some of the stickies and have learnt a lot. Now, should I have done medicated preventative measures in QT?? Since I felt it was ich I used cupramine, should I use prazipro??

02/28/2012, 12:08 PM	#9
danil Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Concord, CA Posts: 935	this question (preventative treatment in QT) was debated so many times I lost count of it. There is no yes or no answer. Its up to you. Generic approach - if your life stock cost hundreds (or thousands) you have to do whatever it takes to prevent parasites get into the DT hence you do preventative treatment, longer quarantine time, all kind of treatments etc. If your life stock is 'common' you can go with regular QT procedure and treat only if something is wrong. Right your gramma died from ich not from temperature drop. Any stresses negatively effect fish with sickness though.

02/28/2012, 01:33 PM	#11
tangs_tank Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Grayslake, Il Posts: 135	Bigcountry Im not sure if it already had ich when I bought him. He was the weakest one of the 3 fish I acclimated and put in QT. Although Im sure the temp drop didn't help with stress either. The thing is when I first saw him "scratch" himself on pvc pipe I assume something was wrong. I didn't want to misdiagnose him, and did some asking and reading. I finally decided it was ich and treated with cupramine, .3ppm. It didn't last 2 days after.