Is this ich again?

[lucid]

Found one of the clownfish this morning laying on its side on the bottom, he's struggling. Should i keep the lights off for a few days possibly, to help reduce stress? Is there anything i can do for them, or just wait and hope they survive? THey look like they have few to slim spots on them now.

[NoobtoSalt]

Found one of the clownfish this morning laying on its side on the bottom' date=' he's struggling. Should i keep the lights off for a few days possibly, to help reduce stress? Is there anything i can do for them, or just wait and hope they survive? THey look like they have few to slim spots on them now.[/quote']

 

I've never had to turn the lights off to ensure the stress level was down.

 

They are either going to make it or not. It doesn't sound like much else you can do here is going to increase your chances from here on out.

[lucid]

Alright, well i'm just hoping for the best. As i left the clown was laying on its side breathing fast and the cleaner shrimp was cleaning him. Hopefully he will magically pull through. Haven't seen the tang yet, i think he's hiding out.

[lucid]

Got home, had to put him in the compost :(. tried feeding the remaining clownfish and tang but neither ate, just the firefish. Both look like they have less parasites on the surface of their scales, but thats probably due to the slightly warmer temperature.

[NoobtoSalt]

Got home' date=' had to put him in the compost :(. tried feeding the remaining clownfish and tang but neither ate, just the firefish. Both look like they have less parasites on the surface of their scales, but thats probably due to the slightly warmer temperature.[/quote']

 

Too bad. Sorry for your loss. Just a suggestion but don't go out and try and replace these guys for awhile. Get your tank settled in before you dump a bunch of money on fish. First hand experience for me.

[lucid]

Too bad. Sorry for your loss. Just a suggestion but don't go out and try and replace these guys for awhile. Get your tank settled in before you dump a bunch of money on fish. First hand experience for me.

 

For sure, i thought we would be good since we waited 2 months, guess not. Anyway is it possible to replace the 5 watt UV bulb with a 10 watt? And also thinking about moving the UV to pull from the tank rather than the dirty fuge. Good idea? Also what are the best way to get rid of the critters on the glass? They were all over the dead clown when i came home.

[NoobtoSalt]

For sure' date=' i thought we would be good since we waited 2 months, guess not. Anyway is it possible to replace the 5 watt UV bulb with a 10 watt? And also thinking about moving the UV to pull from the tank rather than the dirty fuge. Good idea? Also what are the best way to get rid of the critters on the glass? They were all over the dead clown when i came home.[/quote']

 

The little critters are good in your tank. Keep them. you can scrape them off but you don't want to get rid of them completlely. I don't believe you can switch your bulbs out with a larger size either. If you have an option I would just return it and get a larger one or run without it. I haven't run a UV filter and "knock on wood" I haven't had any major issues. Sure my tank gets ich once in awhile but the fish always seem to come back.

[lucid]

Would it be wise to move the Sterilizer from the fuge to pump from the DT so its getting cleaner water? I just feel like its stirring up a lot of stuff in the fuge and not being as effective.

[lucid]

All three fish are now dead. The firefish, however, are still alive as ever. How could ich appear randomly, and kill three fish in just 3 days?

[jgf86123]

That's the joys of ich

[ReeFit]

All three fish are now dead. The firefish' date=' however, are still alive as ever. How could ich appear randomly, and kill three fish in just 3 days?[/quote']

 

Here are my suggestions.

 

First your tank is very new. It takes 5-6+ months for a tank to establish a harmonious biological bacteria and stabilized environment. You will continue to have problems with Ich off and on until your system becomes more stable.

 

Get rid of the UV sterilizer until your system becomes mature, right now its probably doing more harm to your system than good by killing off good bacteria along with the bad and causing your system to be unstable. Fish typically don't get ich unless their immune systems are getting attacked or they feel extreme stress.

 

Read up about ich, it is a very complex parasite and when you can visibly see it, its already several stages advanced in your tank.

 

I recommend not adding any fish for 5-6 weeks and get your tank parameters and dosing spot on before adding any more. Add fish slowly. 1 every week+

 

Don't use any kind of ich medicines or antibacterial / antibiotics in your reef, it will only mess up your biological bacteria and will slow your systems mature time dramatically.