Replacing Fish

[Joshua I.]

Well if you heard I got ICH again so now with my fish dead but one damsel I'm going to leave the tank for 100 days maybe take him out till times up I have snails and shrimp plus two hermits what fish do you guys recommend I have a 55 gallon I want something nice and pretty hardy any thoughts

[Joke]

How many fish did you lose?

[billdogg]

If you don't take the damsel out your tank will never be rid of Ich - the minimum is 72 days fallow. Put it in a hospital tank or return it to your LFS.

As to what to stock the tank with AFTER 72 days fallow - that is up to you. What would you like to see in there?

[mikeatjac]

Originally Posted by billdogg

If you don't take the damsel out your tank will never be rid of Ich - the minimum is 72 days fallow. Put it in a hospital tank or return it to your LFS.

As to what to stock the tank with AFTER 72 days fallow - that is up to you. What would you like to see in there?

Don't return a fish to a LFS is it was exposed Ich.

[gone fishin]

Originally Posted by billdogg

If you don't take the damsel out your tank will never be rid of Ich - the minimum is 72 days fallow. Put it in a hospital tank or return it to your LFS.

As to what to stock the tank with AFTER 72 days fallow - that is up to you. What would you like to see in there?

I agree with Bill.

[Dmorty217]

Originally Posted by mikeatjac

Don't return a fish to a LFS is it was exposed Ich.

The store already has Ich, that you can count on

[billdogg]

Originally Posted by billdogg

return it to your LFS.
?

Originally Posted by mikeatjac

Don't return a fish to a LFS is it was exposed Ich.

Originally Posted by Dmorty217

The store already has Ich, that you can count on

^^^My thought exactly^^^

The only safe assumption is that ANY and ALL fish you purchase are at least carriers and should be treated accordingly. My personal preference is for TTM combined with Prazipro

[Joshua I.]

I lost 4 fish this time and if i take him out he will have to go to my LFS

[CStrickland]

Also, a damsel might make it hard to restock the tank. After he's had the whole thing to himself for a while there's a good chance he will be territorial and try to kill any new additions. Starting from scratch will allow you to add more passive fish first, so they can get settled, followed by more aggressive ones. If the most territorial fish is the last one you add, he is more likely to tolerate the other fish that he might kill if they are added to "his" tank.

I had a good mix of fish in my 55. Iirc it was a melanurus wrasse, chalk bass, starry blenny, clown, watchman/shrimp, and a pair of firefish. The wrasse was big enough to be a main attraction, and the others occupied diff parts of the tank like down on the sand, hopping on rocks, hovering in one place midwater, and swimming around a lot. These are all hardy fish and a good mix of shapes, sizes, and color. That diversity of appearance and behavior is what makes a tank interesting to me.

PS I've added antibiotics to my QT. I had a nasty worm that survived prazi, and grew in the intestines for a month or two without symptoms before killing the fish. I'm hoping that feeding focus+metro will avoid that in the future.

[Joshua I.]

How was the wrasse btw would he go well with others i hear there good with ICH because they live in the sand and i was thinking about a leopard wrasse but the melanurus looks great

[CStrickland]

Mine wrasse is very patient with other fish, he doesn't pick fights or anything. He will eat snails if I don't feed him enough, but no other issues. That thing about ich and sand sounds like BS to me. My fish don't get ich because it isn't in my tank, no other reason. Also it was fun to watch the wrasse grow up because their colors change at puberty (or whatever you call it when fish are mature).

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by Joshua I.

How was the wrasse btw would he go well with others i hear there good with ICH because they live in the sand and i was thinking about a leopard wrasse but the melanurus looks great

Solve your existing problem before buying new fish. Also, learn to QT before buying new fish

[Joshua I.]

I know but i want to be ready when the time comes does that wrasse go well with other wrasses like the leopard and would anyone recommend an online order also how do i get this damsel out he's so fast

[FirstContact]

Draining half the tank would slow him down.

[mpderksen]

Perhaps since a damsel is small, you could treat him like a new fish and do TTM etc. and then QT him while the DT is fallow. Then when you put him back you've got a fresh environment and a healthy fish! What kind of damsel? Aggression due to territory establishment is a concern, as mentioned above.

[CStrickland]

Originally Posted by Joshua I.

I know but i want to be ready when the time comes does that wrasse go well with other wrasses like the leopard and would anyone recommend an online order also how do i get this damsel out he's so fast

I like how you post. I feel like I'm back in undergrad reading ee cummings

Good luck catching the damsel! There's a search box in the top right of your screen, you'll find all kinds of ideas like traps and special hooks and draining the tank etc. this is a hard thing that many people have posted helpful tips for doing.

[ThRoewer]

Damsels are easy to catch with traps or hooks.

I would also make sure if your problem was truly ich and not something worse.

Finally, 72 days is not the minimum fallow period, but rather 74 days - you got to calculate the life time of the possibly hatched infectious stages in. Though best is to go 3 full months. Though even that hasn't been enough in all cases.

[Joshua I.]

I'm just going with 100 days