HELP! My saltwater aquarium

[MaryAnn]

Hello everyone I am new to these saltwater groups
I live in Mississippi I have not been in the saltwater aquarium
But a year and I have read a lot about it ... I am having the biggest
Problem right now with algee and ick im about ready to give up ...
I have lost 4 fish and now my tang is bad I bought him from my LFS
And he had ink and I didn't know it and now everyone one in my tank has it.. I have tried different so called MDS and nothing seems to be working so I ordered Rally and kick ick I treaded the tank this morning my clownfish seem to be doing some better the are swimming around now not just laying in the bottom. .
I have tested the water and everything is good so I dont get it ,
All my corals are doing well all but my mushrooms they dont seem to like t

 

[Therapy]

Never had an Ick outbreak. As with any disease, try to keep stress to a minimum. Cover the tank if needed to reduce stress and let its own defenses to work. (along with meds) But pay attention if it dies, naturally remove ASAP. Or quicker.

Perhaps others have more advice.

 

[cracker]

Hi Mary Ann, Sorry about the Ich out break. we really need to know specifics on the water tests, what is the origin of the water You use? Two things are going on the fish have ich and the shrooms aren't looking so good ,right? we can help but need more info. How big is the tank, what's the lighting/ filtration?
1st, even if the fish are looking better don't buy any more for a while and don't buy any more from that LFS! I'm not one of the experts here but they will drop in .They will want recent water test results and such. Good Luck and don't give up yet!

 

[Therapy]

Algae is an excess nutrient issue. (or improper lighting) Keep away from natural window light and tell us about filtration. Size tank. Nitrite/nitrate levels. etc. Please give us all info about your setup so we can help you.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

to ReefSanctuary, a real Sanctuary of reef forums, with lots of very nice members

Start a tank thread & share your tank with us so we can follow along, we love pics

Ich a real bummer... but you can beat it... read the post referenced in this link you can trust them as the "definite proven answers to ich"

Lee Birch's (Chemist and Microbiologist) Advice on Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans)

 

[MatroxD]

Ugh.. ich.. Like others have said, such a massive pain and downer! It's really hard! At least it has been and was for me for the longest.. Honestly, this is the most difficult of your two problems by far.. But here is what "helped" me.. It didn't solve it completely, but it has, over time, given me confidence in aquiring new fish..

I feed medicated food that I mix myself(on to that in just a sec), on top of NLS Thera and algea max pellets every day.. I try to feed "treats" to them(jumbo freeze dried krill), on top of their daily medicated food and pellets.. I also, about a month ago began feeding Spirulina 20 flakes once a day, and every last one of my little vultures seems to inhale them.. I also feed a full sheet of nori at least 3 to 4 times a week(2 veggie clips) and that doesn't last long in the tank either..

But the medicated food I mix and feed, is simply PE mysis, freeze dried blackworms, Selcon, Seachem Metroplex, a little ground up freeze dried Krill, Seachem or Brightwells garlic, and on occasions LRS Fish Frenzy.. I mix it up, slap it in a ziplock bag, and break off chunks for them every morning about 2x1 to 2x2. It doesn't last long, and as soon as it pretty much his the water, it's gone. I had to buy a gourmet grazer to stop them from fighting.. But this was the big first step for me a while ago, and it helped massively!

I only have feed them once in the morning, and then my auto feeder gives them pellets 2x throughout the day.. These things combined have pretty much(knock on wood) eliminated my ouch issues.. Yes, my Mata Tang may show a spot of I add something new to the tank(I don't know why he does this) every once in a blue moon, but that's it..

And your algea issue is easy.. Lol.. Go buy some high capacity gfo and a reactor.. Run it for a while(may honestly take a few months once the rock stars leaching), keep it low as possible(like 0.01 on tests, and I highly recommend the Hanna 736 ulr checker), and it will rectify itself, that is, as long as your using di water.. Use the brs calculator to help with how much you should use.. But that is probably the easiest method short of Lathanium Chloride, which has its own things that can cause problems if your not careful.. Once again, it may take a while, but you can get the algea under control..

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[DaveK]

We get more questions on SW ick than any other disease. Your ick problem is caused by several factors, among them incorrect treatment.

See these threads on the disease and it's treatment -
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forum/index.php?threads/fish-with-white-spots-that-went-away.57175/
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forum/index.php?threads/marine-ich-myths-and-facts.23132/
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forum/index.php?threads/curing-fish-of-marine-ich.52236/
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forum/index.php?threads/a-hyposalinity-treatment-process.23131/
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forum/index.php?threads/copper-treatment-use-problems.23130/

To summarize, you must treat in a quarantine tank. You must treat all the fish. Hyposalinity or copper are the only for sure treatments that work. The main tank must not have fish for 8 to 10 weeks so the parasite can die off from lack of a host.

In my opinion products such as Rally and kick ick are close to worthless.

As for the algae issue, we are going to need a lot more information to really help you with your specific problems. However here is a post I have previously written on algae control -

DaveK's Standard Lecture #2 - Algae Control

Algae control comes down to controlling nitrates and phosphates. If you have a problem with algae it is because these two nutrients are out of control. Do not think that just because your test kits read zero or low values that you do not have a problem. In many cases the algae is removing the nutrients and growing. This is why there is a problem.

Here are possible sources of nitrates and phosphates -

Feeding, especially flake food and not rinsing frozen foods before feeding.
Using tap water to mix salt. Always use RO/DI water for this.
"Dirt traps" and "nitrate factories" in the system.
Low quality carbon can leach nutrients.
Low quality salt can sometimes add nutrients. This is unusual today.
Livestock load on the system

Here are possible ways to remove nitrates and phosphates -

Water changes. Change 1/2 the water and you reduce the nutrients by 1/2.
Skimming. Remove the waste products before the biological filtration need to break then down.
Nitrate and phosphate removal products.
Deep sand beds.
Refugiums.
Algae Scrubbers.

Each of these has advantages and disadvantages. Most people that control algae well use many of the above methods.

There are also other items that can effect algae growth rates.

Good clean up crew.
Other livestock that eats algae.
Low general water quality, especially when the readings are off.

Lighting, sometimes you can reduce it, especially in FO or FOWLR systems.
Old light bulbs. Colors change as they age and this can be a factor.
Water flow. More flow will often help keep algae down.
Manual removal. Very important, especially when there is a big problem.