Hospital tank questions.

new2reefing123 · Jul 5, 2020

Forst time with ich. Please let me know if I should do anything besides what I am doing.

Removed all fish from DT to a 40g hospital tank. Added a hob filter with filter floss only(no carbon media), added a sponge filter and air pump to increase O2, added some PVC and other areas for fish to hide and relax, added Seachem ammonia alert badge, heater to keep them warm(same temp as DT, kept salinity the same as DT. Dosed some Seachem cupramine(slowly bringing up level over 48 hrs until I hit .4 .5). Also added a live rock from my main DT as it is loaded with BB(yes I know I will never be able to return the rock back to my main tank). Anything else I should do?

I will use a turkey baster to pull out any fish waste, as well as change filter floss as needed, will perform water changes every couple days to keep ammonia down.

My other question, during the fallow period in the DT, should I keep the skimmer on? Also, should I keep “ghost feeding” the DT to keep all the BB strong? I have a bunch of inverts, a ultra rainbow BTA as well in it. Should I keep the lighting schedule the same in the DT, or drop it down since no fish are in it? Yes I know that the anemone use light for feeding as well.

Again, this is my first time
With ich and having to do something like this, so any help/opinions from you all is valuable to me.

Thanks everyone.

AZMSGT · Jul 5, 2020

Everything looks great. You may not need to water change as much as you think. If you seeded your QT with the rock it could keep things under control.
Yes, keep skimmer on to aerate and keep PH up. Yes, ghost feed. Corals still want and need light. Keep the light schedule the same.

I too am doing practically the exact same process. It sucks.

new2reefing123 · Jul 5, 2020

AZMSGT said:
Everything looks great. You may not need to water change as much as you think. If you seeded your QT with the rock it could keep things under control.
Yes, keep skimmer on to aerate and keep PH up. Yes, ghost feed. Corals still want and need light. Keep the light schedule the same.

I too am doing practically the exact same process. It sucks.

Thanks for the response. Much appreciated. Yea, it does suck.

Big G · Jul 5, 2020

Cupramine can be a bit harsh on some fish. It's better if you can raise the copper level slowly with small regular doses instead of the 2 big doses Seachem recommends on the product. If the Ich is not bad, as in lots of spots, taking 3-4 days to reach therapeutic is better.

Stir the display tank's sand while going fallow. There is evidence that ich can survive in the anaerobic areas of the tank, like deep sand for example.