Ick or Something - In tough fight

[Gravel]

Well I am battling my first reef ailement and its been a so-so battle thus far. I have appreciated the advice received thus far, but I am always looking for additional suggestions/improvements.

Basic state of affairs:
3 of 7 fish sick:
Basslet: faded color and white bumps - scratching and yawning
Kole Tang: reduction in slime coat and white spots
fathead anthias: white spots

Inverts (shrimp - urchin), lps, and sps corals in tank. Getting fish out of the tank is not an option at this point. Too many things would have to be disturbed.

approach:
All fish are still eating - metronidazole, kent and seachem garlic added (half and half) to food - upped feeding to three times daily (from two) - but not quantity of food.

Reduced salinity from 1.025 to 1.023 to this point. Questions as to whether I should go lower? Some say I can go down to 1.019, others say that is a waste of time

Any risk/reward for upping temp from 81F?

pH - 8.1-8.3


Any thoughts or guidance are welcome as I tune this approach. I figure if I can get through two more weeks without a loss then I can beat this thing back.

Rich

[dustin]

Hello,
Some questions. How are the fish breathing? Panting, or darting around or anything like that? Id check for some of the standard things like ammonia, nitrate etc. Id also do some small, consecutive water changes. Like 5-10 gallons every day/other day for a week, see if things start looking better.

Maybe Ive over simplified my formula for correcting problems, but whenever I having something going on that I cannot seem to pick up from a test kit, or just not obvious to me, I do this small water change regime. I never had to do more than 4 changes before I see a signficant improvement in my livestock.

If your fish have got some type of infection, well then a hospital tank dosed with something good or maybe a dip could be your solution.
Good Luck

[Gravel]

Dustin,

You are right on target with this. Someone else suggested the same to me today. I have done a 20% tonight and will follow with another 20% on Thursday. I am planning to continue this Thursday-Monday 20% routine until things improve. This represents a 4 fold increase over regular maintenance.

Nitrate measures zero in the tank. I trust test kits like I trust my dog around food at the moment.

Some of the fish have unfortunately deteriorated since my last post. Basslet (very near and dear to me) has gone missing and the fat head has stopped eating. The kole tang is still going strong and pecking around the tank although the slime coat is definately decimated on the fish (sandy appearance to the fish).

All other fish appear to be ok, but medicated food is in the tank and I have started with Kick Ick on a hail mary for the victims. I am going to continue checking the tank and hopefully will see some improvement, but at this point, I am hoping to stem the flow.

I am disheartened after this plus the killer algae outbreak.

My freshwater tanks are sooo much simpler.

[Joel]

My freshwater tanks are sooo much simpler.

I'm assuming that is a relatively new tank so I'll just encourage you to be patient and everything will work out. After the system stabilizes it should be close to as easy to maintain as your freshwater tanks. I've been in salt for ~5 years now and am finding it just about the same as fresh now. There is a lot more stuff to test for, and a lot more and more expensive equipment to initially buy but it is definately worth it in the end.

[Rick O]

Howdee stranger. Long time.

You may want to post this in the General Reef Discussion forum.

Is it possible to remove the sick fish and treat them in a hospital tank? I have a 20g you can borrow.

[Gravel]

Rick: I wish. The tank would have to be pulled apart to get the fish out of it. Too many hiding spots.

Possible flawed thinking but...
Coming back to my fresh water experiences, sometimes in this situation pulling the fish out cause more harm than good.

I also wouldn't want to put the other fish into a highly stressful situation else I may end up with more problems... or, god forbid, I may already have other problems at this stage.

[sfletch3]

Okay, I have kept several tanks for about 20 years; mostly freshwater and three reefs over that time span. I have never had marine Ich (Ick). I didn't think it was possible. After reading all the threads here, I must be wrong. So now for the dumb questions.... everything I can find to read about this indicates that Ick (Ichthyophthirius multifiliis) is a parasite that lives in freshwater. All articles indicate that a means of prevention is to maintain a high PH (>7.8) and to dose non-iodized salt. If this is true, how is it possible for this parasite to survive in a marine environment?

[JennM]

Marine Ich is Cryptycaryon (sp?) irritans.

Rich, what do you think prompted the outbreak? New fish, temp swings? Tinkering in the tank? I know you've had algae issues, could too much human intervention have prompted the outbreak?

It's not a new tank -- something had to trigger this.

Jenn

[Joel]

I'm assuming that is a relatively new tank

I'm guessing that I should stop assuming.

[Gravel]

Being that I wasn't here in Atlanta the week it started to happen, I cannot speculate on the temp swings. I can tell you that the tank doesn't drop below 78F (tested during last nights chill). The tank usually is around 81F after lights on, and was that way before I left for vacation for well over a week.

I am now eliminating the temp swing with some heater tuning. Unfortunately the house doesn't automatically switch from heater to AC.

I hadn't messed with the tank any more than normal in the two week preceeding the trip. The major algae collection was done 3 weeks before I left with NO ill effects (other than to the algae).

The only change was the new tang, which is covered at the moment. The tang came in healthy and had been in Jenn's tank for weeks beforehand. He was not actively feeding when I left, but had no signs of ill-health. Still, probably a very dumb move on my part, and now I will pay dearly.

Rich

[sfletch3]

Cryptocaryon irritans

Thanks for the info. I really wasn't sure what everyone was talking about. I was able to find some interesting articles on the web about these crazy critters. The link below has some interesting ideas on how the fish break out, ways to cure and thought about how to prevent. Thanks again, I learn something every day!

http://www.aquarium.net/0297/0297_2.shtml

[Gravel]

Fletch:

Trust me, you do not want to learn from experience with this stuff.


Rick:
I do appreciate the moral support and offer.

Joel:
This was all easy until recently. It seems when the downturn comes, its a rough road downhill and lightening speed. Count your blessings and give yourself credit for maintaining a balance in your system. However, never take success for granted.

Rich