Semi new- Need help

[AlohaJacklyn]

Aloha from Hawaii.
I apologize in advance dor the length of this post. It's a lot of information but I have a lot going on.

I'm not super new to reef tanks but my BF has more of the experience. I'm mostly into saltwater but slowly learning more about corals so go easy on me. I'm a perfectionist so I obsess over keeping perfect parameters and testing often. My BF is more laid back and just does the weekly, partial water changes and thinks it will fix everything (and most of the time it does). He's not really the kind to post for help but Im knowledge hungry and need to know EVERYTHING so I can perfect it so here's my post.

We have four tanks and a QT. One is his reef tank, one is my saltwater tank (no corals), one is our octopus tank and one is a newly established reef tank (2 months), which is what I will be talking about today.

The tank in question has a couple BTA's, mushrooms, leathers, kenya tree, zoas etc. We also had a yellow tang, wrasse and clown pair (along with typical cleanup crew like hermits). Recently, he purchased a new live rock from a 'friend' who was moving. After putting the rock in, we noticed ich (or what looks like it) pretty soon after. It spread FAST. I ordered a reef safe ich treatment but before it arrived, I woke up to find most of the fish died suddenly through the night I posted the video of my clown on a few pages but I'm getting conflicting info on what disease it looks like. I will add a video to help identify it. Advice on how to proceed treatment with the remaining fish (reef safe) would be appreciated. I would ideally like to get everything out and just keep corals but I can't get the cleanup crew without disrupting the corals

The parameters are:
Salinity- 1.024
PH 7.4 (do I need to raise it?)
KH 7
Calcium-450
Phosphate/ammonia- 0
Nitrates- 40 now that the fish died but doing a partial water changes now.
*Am I missing anything?

One nem will stay tucked in while the other is fully spread out and then they will swap but rarely are they both in full spread at the same time. I have no idea why. And he's starting to get a good bit of algae growth showing up quickly as well. Anything I should change, add or do?

I'm kind of nervous because one of the sick clowns were in my fish tank for a few days before we really noticed the ich however I'm convinced he had ich before going into my tank. Should I start to treat my fish now, even though I don't see signs of ich yet? I'm scared it will show up fast like his tank did and kill all of my tangs. My tank stays perfect so I don't want to experience what his tank is doing.

lastly, I was reading up on alkalinity and saw where it said it's "beneficial to add alkalinity every so often". What does this do, should I be adding it and how do I know when I need it? I read it needs to be dosed equally with calcium but his calcium levels tested a little elevated so that information confused me.

I know it's a lot to answer and I have a lot going on so I appreciate any input.

 

[TheSheff]

Aloha from Hawaii.
I apologize in advance dor the length of this post. It's a lot of information but I have a lot going on.

I'm not super new to reef tanks but my BF has more of the experience. I'm mostly into saltwater but slowly learning more about corals so go easy on me. I'm a perfectionist so I obsess over keeping perfect parameters and testing often. My BF is more laid back and just does the weekly, partial water changes and thinks it will fix everything (and most of the time it does). He's not really the kind to post for help but Im knowledge hungry and need to know EVERYTHING so I can perfect it so here's my post.

We have four tanks and a QT. One is his reef tank, one is my saltwater tank (no corals), one is our octopus tank and one is a newly established reef tank (2 months), which is what I will be talking about today.

The tank in question has a couple BTA's, mushrooms, leathers, kenya tree, zoas etc. We also had a yellow tang, wrasse and clown pair (along with typical cleanup crew like hermits). Recently, he purchased a new live rock from a 'friend' who was moving. After putting the rock in, we noticed ich (or what looks like it) pretty soon after. It spread FAST. I ordered a reef safe ich treatment but before it arrived, I woke up to find most of the fish died suddenly through the night I posted the video of my clown on a few pages but I'm getting conflicting info on what disease it looks like. I will add a video to help identify it. Advice on how to proceed treatment with the remaining fish (reef safe) would be appreciated. I would ideally like to get everything out and just keep corals but I can't get the cleanup crew without disrupting the corals

The parameters are:
Salinity- 1.024
PH 7.4 (do I need to raise it?)
KH 7
Calcium-450
Phosphate/ammonia- 0
Nitrates- 40 now that the fish died but doing a partial water changes now.
*Am I missing anything?

One nem will stay tucked in while the other is fully spread out and then they will swap but rarely are they both in full spread at the same time. I have no idea why. And he's starting to get a good bit of algae growth showing up quickly as well. Anything I should change, add or do?

I'm kind of nervous because one of the sick clowns were in my fish tank for a few days before we really noticed the ich however I'm convinced he had ich before going into my tank. Should I start to treat my fish now, even though I don't see signs of ich yet? I'm scared it will show up fast like his tank did and kill all of my tangs. My tank stays perfect so I don't want to experience what his tank is doing.

lastly, I was reading up on alkalinity and saw where it said it's "beneficial to add alkalinity every so often". What does this do, should I be adding it and how do I know when I need it? I read it needs to be dosed equally with calcium but his calcium levels tested a little elevated so that information confused me.

I know it's a lot to answer and I have a lot going on so I appreciate any input.

I would personally try to get the fish out and treat them accordingly. Ich can be somewhat "dormant" and sit on things for a while so i'm not surprised that rock had ich on it.

Phosphate should never be at 0, especially with corals in the tank. The easiest fix for this is just to feed more.

As for as the nem question, it's hard to say what to do. Its best to wait at least 6 months before putting a nem into a new tank.

For your tank, I would just continue to watch the fish very closely for the next couple weeks to identify signs of ich if it does show up.

Corals absorb alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium, softies generally absorb the least, while hard corals absorb these much quicker. Just adding alkalinity is not the right thing to do. These all have to be added. The best dosing solution for newer people IMO is all for reef, the dosage is measured by testing alkalinity, and is an all in one solution to dosing.

Hopefully this answered a couple questions!!

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

we noticed ich (or what looks like it) pretty soon after. It spread FAST. I ordered a reef safe ich treatment but before it arrived, I woke up to find most of the fish died suddenly through the night I posted the video of my clown on a few pages but I'm getting conflicting info on what disease it looks like. I will add a video to help identify it. Advice on how to proceed treatment with the remaining fish (reef safe) would be appreciated.

If it spread fast but took a while to start killing fish, then ich is probably a good guess; if it spread fast and killed fast, then it may be velvet. Regardless, I’ll leave any actual diagnosis and treatment to the experts #f#fishmedicere on R2R, but be aware that you may need to pull any exposed fish out to treat them with copper in a QT while running the DT/DT’s fallow for a good length of time (minimum of 45 days at 81F; 60-76 days is the current recommendation).

Am I missing anything?

Most people test Magnesium as well.

Should I start to treat my fish now, even though I don't see signs of ich yet? I'm scared it will show up fast like his tank did and kill all of my tangs.

It depends a bit on the disease - for velvet and most other diseases (flukes, brooklynella, internal parasites, etc.), the sooner you treat the better; for ich, I’d recommend treating immediately, but some people follow Ich Management protocols (this works fine when done properly like Paul B does, but if something suddenly stresses your fish, it can lead to a disease outbreak, which is why I personally recommend treatment).

 

[Sharkbait19]

If fish are dying, it’s a good time to start treating. A pic/video will make ID much easier and allow for a better treatment plan.
The good news is that copper treats for both ich and velvet, so I would get all fish into copper treatment as soon as possible.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Aloha from Hawaii.
I apologize in advance dor the length of this post. It's a lot of information but I have a lot going on.

I'm not super new to reef tanks but my BF has more of the experience. I'm mostly into saltwater but slowly learning more about corals so go easy on me. I'm a perfectionist so I obsess over keeping perfect parameters and testing often. My BF is more laid back and just does the weekly, partial water changes and thinks it will fix everything (and most of the time it does). He's not really the kind to post for help but Im knowledge hungry and need to know EVERYTHING so I can perfect it so here's my post.

We have four tanks and a QT. One is his reef tank, one is my saltwater tank (no corals), one is our octopus tank and one is a newly established reef tank (2 months), which is what I will be talking about today.

The tank in question has a couple BTA's, mushrooms, leathers, kenya tree, zoas etc. We also had a yellow tang, wrasse and clown pair (along with typical cleanup crew like hermits). Recently, he purchased a new live rock from a 'friend' who was moving. After putting the rock in, we noticed ich (or what looks like it) pretty soon after. It spread FAST. I ordered a reef safe ich treatment but before it arrived, I woke up to find most of the fish died suddenly through the night I posted the video of my clown on a few pages but I'm getting conflicting info on what disease it looks like. I will add a video to help identify it. Advice on how to proceed treatment with the remaining fish (reef safe) would be appreciated. I would ideally like to get everything out and just keep corals but I can't get the cleanup crew without disrupting the corals

The parameters are:
Salinity- 1.024
PH 7.4 (do I need to raise it?)
KH 7
Calcium-450
Phosphate/ammonia- 0
Nitrates- 40 now that the fish died but doing a partial water changes now.
*Am I missing anything?

One nem will stay tucked in while the other is fully spread out and then they will swap but rarely are they both in full spread at the same time. I have no idea why. And he's starting to get a good bit of algae growth showing up quickly as well. Anything I should change, add or do?

I'm kind of nervous because one of the sick clowns were in my fish tank for a few days before we really noticed the ich however I'm convinced he had ich before going into my tank. Should I start to treat my fish now, even though I don't see signs of ich yet? I'm scared it will show up fast like his tank did and kill all of my tangs. My tank stays perfect so I don't want to experience what his tank is doing.

lastly, I was reading up on alkalinity and saw where it said it's "beneficial to add alkalinity every so often". What does this do, should I be adding it and how do I know when I need it? I read it needs to be dosed equally with calcium but his calcium levels tested a little elevated so that information confused me.

I know it's a lot to answer and I have a lot going on so I appreciate any input.

Can you post a video of the sick fish?


The pH is pretty low. Trouble is, pH test methods are often not very accurate. Can you try mixing up some fresh seawater and using the same measuring method in that? If you get a reading of above, say, 8.1 on the freshly mixed seawater, then the test is accurate and your tank pH is too low. The next thin you need to do is take some water out of the tank, measure the pH (assuming around 7.4) and then aerate it with an strong air stone for some time (usually overnight) and then measure the pH again. If it rose above 8, your tank has too much carbon dioxide in it and you need to add aeration.

Jay

 

[AlohaJacklyn]

Sorry, I thought the video attached.

Unfortunately, he died the morning after I did a fresh water dip for 3 minutes. I think he was too far gone already He had been in a QT for about 5 days but seemed pretty lethargic during that time.

Should I treat the entire QT (no corals in this one) with coppersafe?

At this point, I've gotten everything out of the reef tank except for a few of the cleanup crew. Going to keep it strictly corals from here on out.

How long should I let the reef tank cycle before adding any more coral? I had some nems and torches ordered 3 weeks ago and got a call they arrive tomorrow. Should I wait a certain amount of time before adding them?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Sorry, I thought the video attached.

Unfortunately, he died the morning after I did a fresh water dip for 3 minutes. I think he was too far gone already He had been in a QT for about 5 days but seemed pretty lethargic during that time.

Should I treat the entire QT (no corals in this one) with coppersafe?

At this point, I've gotten everything out of the reef tank except for a few of the cleanup crew. Going to keep it strictly corals from here on out.

How long should I let the reef tank cycle before adding any more coral? I had some nems and torches ordered 3 weeks ago and got a call they arrive tomorrow. Should I wait a certain amount of time before adding them?

Yes, that is very clearly advanced ich, Cryptocaryon. Was it being treated with anything?

Are there any other fish left in the QT? If so, then coppersafe would be the best treatment. If the tank is empty, you can just let it run fallow for 60 days.

You can add the anemones and corals to the reef tank, you'll need to get them into a good environment. Then, just let that tank run fishless for 60 days at > 80 degrees F.

Then, going forward, you should run an active quarantine on all new fish. this post explains that:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay