I think my fish r sick

[Sam.Caz]

I have two ocellaris clownfish, a yellow tang, two fire fish and a seahorse. I think they might have ich. Mainly the clownfish have a lot of white spots on them. Sort of cloudy looking. My tank is a 36gal and I just did a water change 2 days ago. I checked my levels which are
nitrates- 20ppm
nitrites- 0.25
pH- 8.2
ammonia- 0

I know all the LFS are closed but what should I buy to treat them?

[StevenSeas]

any way to post pics?

[justahobby]

Hey Sam, welcome to MAAST. First thing that stands out is your nitrites. How old is your tank? What kind of filtration do you have? How much live rock? How close together were the animals added?

Do you have a separate tank you could use to hospitalize your sick fish? Are they eating? Is the clownfish the only one you have seen spots on? How long since it was added to the tank in comparison to your other fish?

[justahobby]

Here is a good thread on Ich

http://maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=49040

[Sam.Caz]

The tank is about 3 months old. The clowns were the first added @ about 3 weeks. Yellow tang about a month ago and the two fire fish two days ago. I dont have a seperate tank and the filtration system is an aqueon brand not sure on the model im planning on getting a better one but I changed out the filter 2 days ago as well.They are eating great little piggies! But the yellow tang doesnt really have white spots but more of color loss. He is looking more white than yellow. I also have about 25 lbs of live rock. I'll try and put some pics as soon as I can put my baby to bed. He's fights sleep.

[BIGBIRD123]

Sounds like they are stressing from the levels being high...when a YT turns white, he is stressing.

[Sam.Caz]

So what should I do? A waterchange? Any chemicals I should add?

[Randy@pollyspets]

Was it one of the box 36 gallon bowfront Aqueon kits?

[justahobby]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the nitrites are happening from adding too much livestock too fast, overstocking and/ or overfeeding. It looks like you waited for a good amount of time from initial setup until the first fish. In the future, when you add a fish monitor the water very closely for several weeks because you might get a spiked nitrogen cycle each time (noticeable nitrites) in a smallish tank.

I could go over the steps for curing ich, but that link I posted says it all better than I can. And as for the tang, their yellow color can make it hard to see ich. The smartest bet is assuming they all have it.... except the seahorse. They are especially sensitive to treatments and not very prone to ich. So read up on seahorses and ich separately. Be sure to ask questions if you aren't understanding something, etc. Good luck : )

[Jordan N.]

When in doubt a water change is always a good start. I've never had to deal with ich so I'll let someone else comment on the chemicals --I believe a lot of the treatments include copper though so I would be VERY careful before adding anything to the display tank.

-Jordan N.

[Randy@pollyspets]

I would recommend a water change to start with as well. Don't do anymore than 1/4 to 1/3 tank volume in your water change. Any more than that you risk setting your bacteria cycle back. Also, tangs are more prone to ick than clowns, so look for shimmying or scraping by the tang. He's your best indication of ich.

[Randy@pollyspets]

You could use a product called organic ich attack, which includes no copper and is safe for sensitive fish such as seahorses/ inverts and corals. Good treatment if you catch the ich fairly early on.

[Europhyllia]

I would recommend a tank change in addition to the water change. ;) If you move some of that livestock into a tank that will accommodate their potential size more realistically you might find that water quality improves and both physical and psychological livestock stress decreases.

[Jordan N.]

I would recommend a tank change in addition to the water change. ;) If you move some of that livestock into a tank that will accommodate their potential size more realistically you might find that water quality improves and both physical and psychological livestock stress decreases.

I absolutely agree --Bigger is always better! :wink_smile:

If you can't upgrade then I recommend returning finding a new home for the tang and seahorse, the rest should be able to live quite happily in the current tank.

Edit: I should say that I recommend finding a new home for the seahorse either way --They just aren't suited to a community tank. Or you could upgrade and make the small tank a Seahorse species tank. :angel:
-Jordan N.

[justahobby]

I would recommend a water change to start with as well. Don't do anymore than 1/4 to 1/3 tank volume in your water change. Any more than that you risk setting your bacteria cycle back. Also, tangs are more prone to ick than clowns, so look for shimmying or scraping by the tang. He's your best indication of ich.

Free floating bacteria make up a very small percentage of bacterial diversity in our tanks. The majority, at large, are sessile and will be found on your live rock and sand. Which is why we buy LR and established sand. A 50% water change done correctly will likely not affect the nitrogen loving bacteria in our tanks.

It is very important to ensure good salinity (with a tested, accurate instrument), temperature, oxygen, and ph. Especially when dealing with sick fish.

Sorry Randy, not trying to pick on ya. :bigsmile:

[Sam.Caz]

Thanks everyone. I did lose a clown but I did get the organic ich meds. I did a small water change and took out the carbon from my filter. The tang got its color back so I hope everything goes well. Thanks every1 for all ur help, and Pollys pet shop.