film on rocks and ich. ::warning, it's a long one::

Having several issues...
First, A 100 gal FOWLR, sump, water params perfect... In this tank I had a powder brown, 2 yellow tangs, a purple tang, a midas blenny, a fiji foxface, 2 pajamas, a flame angel, a coral beauty and 4 cleaner shrimp along with others you'd find in a clean-up crew. Had a problem with ich (obviously from stress of 4 tangs but all but pb were small, between 2-3 inches.)
OK, so the ich is 1 thing... Brine shrimp was being soaked in garlic and all were eating like little piggies. Approx 2.5 weeks before "the incident" i noticed a film covering the rocks. a flowy, clear but noticeable film. Guy at LFS tests my water himself, says everything perfect and this film is anaerobic die-off, increase the flow in the tank and it'll go away and will not kill my fish. 2 weeks later, 2 of my fish quit eating. Next day, dead. Everyone else in the tank ate that day... that night. Boom. Next morning, everything but the fiji, the blenny, the 4 cleaner shrimp and 1 yellow tang are dead (again, they all ate that morning). I tested my water after removing bodies, ammonia barely off (b/c of the bodies i assumed) everything else, perfect.) Could it be the ich? Shouldn't kill like that especially since all were actively swimming and eating.
Following advice (not of the LFS), I xfer the remaining fish to a 55gal and start medicating for the ich (b/c it still can't possibly be related to this film) and the tank needs to set. The blenny dies that night (likely the stress from move). I used the "all-natural ich attack" i'd found for 2.5 weeks and the ich never fully went away. And in the 100 gal, the film remains to this day despite adding 2 more powerheads to the 2 I'd had in there already b/c i needed "more... more is better". I do have pics of this film I'll try and pull off my camera in the morning.
I've since moved the fiji and tang back into 100 gal where the shrimp have resided through it all, and he's doing fine. Still with the occasional spot or 2 of ich but not rubbing on anything. Today I, against my better judgement, added a couple newbies. Still having doubts about this film though. It's not killed the foxface yet, but they're really hardy anyway. Any thoughts?

 

please include actual tank water parameters.will help me and others understand your system better. why aren't you testing your own water? go buy some test kits and maintain those params yourself. easier to isolate problems when YOU know whats out of whack right?...

also how long has the tank been setup? what do you have for filtration? got skimmer? are you doind water changes? how regularly?

how were the fish added? all at once ? two at a time? one by one?...

sounds like a spike in excess nutrients or mayb stray voltage. hard to say.ich is not as big as an issue as some think. all you have to do is keep the fish well fed and water prestine and ich won't stand a chance. by the way what was the main diet of your fish? tangs mainly. were they only getting brine in garlic?

the film is likely not the culprit to the deaths.what color is the film? im thinking cyanobacteria or diatoms or maybe dinoflagelates

lots of questions but were gonna need it to help you out

 

Hello and welcome to 3Reef !

I agree with NU-2Reef - please respond to those specific questions before we begin guessing. Parameters, and entire set up will help you get the best answer - pictures of the rock's may help as well.

 

Thanks for all your help!

 

I do not think the film plays a part in the demise of the fish. You may or may not have Marine Ich or another pathogen or a combination of a couple.

Your right stress will usually make the already present disease symptomatic.

Honestly is sound like you are not getting good advice from the LFS regarding disease identification or treatment for Marine Ich. Lowering the salinity to 1.021 will do nothing to treat for the disease.

Good luck with the new additions, I would really try to enhance their diet with some selcon and other foods besides brine.

The only way to get a handle on how to deal with Marine Ich is to research it. This link provides some of the facts regarding it.

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/fish-diseases-treatments/23132-marine-ich-myths-facts.html

 

your link takes me to a login screen where it wants me to enter your password.

 

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b97/ash7249/140.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b97/ash7249/139.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b97/ash7249/138.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b97/ash7249/136.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b97/ash7249/135.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b97/ash7249/134.jpg


better?

 

I do not know much about tangs, but that one almost looks like it has some laterial line disease going on. What are you feeding it?

 

I know this is not going to help but I just have to......:-/



ITS THE TANG POLICE...RUN!!!!!!

arty-smi:

JJL

 

Either brine or mysis soaked in garlic. Purple algae every 2 or 3 days.