Fsih dying, help please (emergency)

hello forum, I need help asap. I have a 55 fowlr DT thats been running for 5 months. It is stocked with 50 lbs of lr, sand, medium CUC, tang, anthias, goby, flame angel and 2 clowns. Recently i had an Ich outbreak in the DT and this morning I found my sandperch dead and 14 hours later (right now) my b/f is on his last couple of minutes of life, he's gasping for air really bad. Might be dead in a few.

I've been measuring all parameters in the DT and everything's good. I also have been supplementing them with garlic and selcom in their food. I also have been doing alot of wc in the past week to try to syphon the cyst that has fallen to the sand bed. I also raised the temp to 82 degrees because I heard it will help alot.

The tang was the last fish I introduced in the DT and the first one I noticed with the Ich, they except for the tang and b/f the rest are ok. The tang looked like he had rid of the ich a day or two ago but today its coming back, I can see it all over his body. DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO AT THIS POINT, HELP PLEASE!!!!

 

I know you said they are all good but what are they ammonia, Nitrate, nitrite, ph, phosphates, salinity. Are you having a bacteria bloom that might be giving you false readings?

 

I did a parameter chech last night and the ammonia was 0, ph 8.2, nitrite .25, nitrate 5 and phosphate .25, salinity .025
These are the readings as 10pm last night

 

If you have a nitrite value, at some point you also had a detectable ammonia value as well. Even a brief decline in water quality will some times allow Marine Ich to gain a foot hold.

Sounds like too many interventions at once. I would put the temp back down to 78-80, raising the water temp in going to make no significant difference at all, why stress everything even more.

If you have been vacuuming the sand bed or disturbing it I would stop that as well. While an interesting intervention for Marine Ich (some say a proven method if done right) you might be stirring up the sand bed too much and causing an ammonia or nitrite value.

Frequent water changes are probably not needed either and are adding to the stress.

Good food, reduction of stress (decline in water quality, changes in SG, pH and temp from frequent water changes) will do more to help than the wc and the elevated temp.

Sound like your pushing your limit on the fish front as well.

Just be patient, might try a UV filter I have heard good things about them ( I know the parasite is not in the water column) but UV seem to be of some assist.

Good luck, hope the rest of the fishes make it.

 

I agree with corailline I would reduce the water changes to maybe once a week to try to get your No2,No3, and phosphates down. If your adding garlic to your food maybe do more feedings in small amounts not to pollute your tank the main thing I have experienced with ich is to keep stress down I had a hippo tang get it really bad after moving a tank and the rest of fish never got it but kept stress down and water quality up and he recovered.

Are you having a algae bloom or cyano problem at all by chance? If so it can give you false readings for you ammonia, No2, and No3 if you have a really bad outbreak.

 

What kind of Tang is it????

 

Ok, I'll stop doing so many wc. I have a uv sterilizer in my system, don't know if it's helping at this point. I do not have an algae bloom, I use ro water.

 

it is a whitecheeck tang

 

do you know if the whitecheeck is a Acanthurus japonicus or Acanthurus nigricans.
A. nigricans &A.japonicus

Both are notorious ick magnets with the japonicus seaming to be more pron.
not to be a total Tang police but a 55g is not really big enough for either of the whitecheek tangs (and in IMO no tangs are suitable in a 55G)

you may be experiencing ick because of this. They simple need more room.

I would also stress that 5months is not a long time for a new reef tank. It takes time for the denitrifying bacteria to catch up to the bio-load. You may want to see if your LFS will take the Tang back and see if your system stabilizes

Sorry
J

 

The tang is an A. Nigricans, Also I already have a 90 tank that im setting up any time now thats why I got the tang because I new I was going to get a bigger DT. As far as the nitrifying thing, are you saying that I should be putting shrooms in the DT or corals, can't follow????