Reef Discussion

[Susan Bates]

Has anyone used this product ? i was reading about it on the net to help with ick. i treated with Medic for 20 days, looked like it was gone so stopped and purchased UV light and now it is back and i have more fish with it , help please....

 

[Agent M]

The breeding cycle of the ich parasites often means that it will reinfest fish if not broken. Its a total pain hey, but now you know that in your case the Medic didn't kill off everything and the breeding cycle wasn't broken.

Reduce your salinity to 1.020 today, and then 1.017 tomorrow and keep it there throughout your next treatment round. This is a very important step.

I would resume the Medic treatment - do you have enough left in the bottle to treat for up to 6 weeks?

 

[Susan Bates]

The breeding cycle of the ich parasites often means that it will reinfest fish if not broken. Its a total pain hey, but now you know that in your case the Medic didn't kill off everything and the breeding cycle wasn't broken.

Reduce your salinity to 1.020 today, and then 1.017 tomorrow and keep it there throughout your next treatment round. This is a very important step.

I would resume the Medic treatment - do you have enough left in the bottle to treat for up to 6 weeks?

thanks again you are so helpful. will reducing the salinity affect my corals, they are doing some well. i will get another bottle of medic

 

[Agent M]

It won't affect the corals - you can keep an eye on whether it is affecting anything negatively by watching any small invertebrates you have in the tank such as snails and worms. If they start to look a little floppy, you will need to increase it a little. They will give you a couple of days warning and come good again when the salinity goes up. Its unlikely you will experience that though.

You can lower salinity reasonably quickly. Increasing it needs to be done slowly over a few days.

I have my tank at 1.020 at the moment with anemones, sponges, shrimp, lots of little invertebrates, soft corals & a few LPS to no ill effect and I dropped it from 1.023 with a water change.

Medic has been around for a while but more recently its been promoted more in the shops from what I can tell. Obviously if you see any negative effects, do a water change and consider whether or not you need to halt dosing. I would do a big water change every 20 days until your 6 weeks is up. On the instructions it suggests using carbon at the end of the treatment as well to remove any medication left in the water.

Let hope this does the trick this time as it has been working so far. If not I'd set up a QT tank - catch the fish and do a full hyposalinity treatment - we know this works and then you can be done with the ich!

 

[Susan Bates]

It won't affect the corals - you can keep an eye on whether it is affecting anything negatively by watching any small invertebrates you have in the tank such as snails and worms. If they start to look a little floppy, you will need to increase it a little. They will give you a couple of days warning and come good again when the salinity goes up. Its unlikely you will experience that though.

You can lower salinity reasonably quickly. Increasing it needs to be done slowly over a few days.

I have my tank at 1.020 at the moment with anemones, sponges, shrimp, lots of little invertebrates, soft corals & a few LPS to no ill effect and I dropped it from 1.023 with a water change.

Medic has been around for a while but more recently its been promoted more in the shops from what I can tell. Obviously if you see any negative effects, do a water change and consider whether or not you need to halt dosing. I would do a big water change every 20 days until your 6 weeks is up. On the instructions it suggests using carbon at the end of the treatment as well to remove any medication left in the water.

Let hope this does the trick this time as it has been working so far. If not I'd set up a QT tank - catch the fish and do a full hyposalinity treatment - we know this works and then you can be done with the ich!

thanks again,i am doing a water change 2-3 times a week at moment because i have high nitrate. when would you suggest i turn UV light back on, i think i might be over feeding because i worry they are hungry

 

[Susan Bates]

 

[Susan Bates]

thanks again,i am doing a water change 2-3 times a week at moment because i have high nitrate. when would you suggest i turn UV light back on, i think i might be over feeding because i worry they are hungry

some photos for you to see

 

[Agent M]

thanks again,i am doing a water change 2-3 times a week at moment because i have high nitrate. when would you suggest i turn UV light back on, i think i might be over feeding because i worry they are hungry

What are your nitrate readings? have you had them cross checked with a test kit at the LFS? What equipment do you have in the sump for filtration?

And WOW - lovely tank! Looking fantastic :)

With feeding - what are you feeding, how often and how much? If you are enjoying feeding the fish and have the time, a way you can reduce the amount of food given is by hand feeding or feeding with a tool directly to the fish. I find I have to add a lot more food when I broadcast feed than when I target feed.

 

[Susan Bates]

What are your nitrate readings? have you had them cross checked with a test kit at the LFS? What equipment do you have in the sump for filtration?

And WOW - lovely tank! Looking fantastic :)

With feeding - what are you feeding, how often and how much? If you are enjoying feeding the fish and have the time, a way you can reduce the amount of food given is by hand feeding or feeding with a tool directly to the fish. I find I have to add a lot more food when I broadcast feed than when I target feed.

thanks it is my first attempt and is only 3months old. nitrate is around 20ppm. I feed twice a day in the morning 2 pinches of pellets and at night 3 cubes of brine shrimp with garlic for the fish and corals also seaweed with garlic for my tangs 1/4 sheet also twice a week i feed marine snow to corals, hope this is right, i have 10 fish and 24 corals,3 x sand star fish about 6x snails and anemone which i give him a small bit of green prawn every second day, my son said i have made my dogs fat and the grandkids so why not the fish. i am running 2 skimmers at the moment because i am not happy with them they are only up to 400lts each and i read i need a stronger one because my tank is 400lts but i can not work out what one to get, one is hang on red sea and the other is aqua one in the sump and i only have a small sump. you are really wonderful to help me with this, i am probably in over my head, but i needed a hobby to keep my mind active, i am disabled and i lost my son a little while ago, so i need this interest for my sanity.......what is left...LOL

 

[Agent M]

I don't believe in skimping on feeding either, especially for growing animals, I'm with you on that. I'm yet to hear of a marine fish dying from obesity, quite the opposite! As long as there is no left over food floating around the tank after each feeding keep doing what you are doing :)

20ppm is not a massive problem but I would keep trying to get it down. 2-3 water changes a week are not bringing your nitrates down which makes me think that as fast as you're removing wastes the tank is replacing them and that sounds like a lot of work!

You've probably been familiarising yourself with the nitrogen cycle or the process that results in nitrates forming. In short, you need to increase your filtration as its not giving you the results you want to have with water quality right now. Its hard to know where to start because there are so many options.

They fit into 3 categories worth researching:

- biological eg. live rock
- chemical eg. activated carbon
- mechanical eg, skimmers

Replacing your skimmer with one you are happy with is something I'd recommend only because its important you are happy with your tank! So if you can then go for it. There are some compact and short skimmer designs that may be suited to a smaller sump. I'm not very helpful with the equipment side I'm afraid. I like Tunze products because they are energy efficient, you can get parts without a drama and quiet. @NiCd introduced me to the brand, he's a good person to pester with equipment questions :D

Personally, I would suggest a Marine Pure block to increase your bio-filtration - this does the same job as your live rock, just in a smaller, neater package, no electricity required or noise produced and it will last. You could place a block under your skimmer in your sump. http://www.thetechden.com.au/MarinePure_Big_Block_p/900111.htm

You could also add a bag of Seachem Purigen to the sump.

There is also this product (free postage over $25): http://www.vitamingrocer.com.au/One-Only-Live-Nitrifying-Bacteria-for-Saltwater-p/306106.htm

You can use it to add a bigger amount of bacteria to your tank to bring the nitrates down. I'm yet to try it myself, have done the research and placed an order.

These are just a few of the many things you could choose or try.

Over your head? Nah ;) Learning about the creatures in the ocean opens up an entirely different world, one we can only visit and its a great escape from stress. It can be as simple or as complicated as you like. You'd be surprised how many of us find this hobby good for our mental health :)

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your son, I am sure he is never far from your thoughts xx

 

[ezza]

The aqua one skimmers don't work well. You need to change to a different one if you can. I have the same system and it just struggles to remove gunk.

I used Tri-Sulfa that I bought from pet barn after an LFS owner recommended it. I crushed 10 tablets for the 400L Aqua One Reef, treated once, it hurts nothing, Ich is gone, has never returned and it's all good. It's also very cheap between $10-$15.

https://www.worldforpets.com.au/products/46095

I would also recommend you just feed one cube of brine shrimp. I often mix one or two every 2-3 days in a small measuring cup with a squished up prawn or even just with the usual flakes/pellets and whatever liquid amino/vitamin thing and squirt it with a turkey baster around to the corals and anemones. You use less food and everyone benefits. Sometimes I mix mysis, prawn, spirulina and brine with water etc and freeze it into IceCube trays to give a more balanced blend. Then you just throw a cube in the tank or dissolve and target feed.

 

[Susan Bates]

The aqua one skimmers don't work well. You need to change to a different one if you can. I have the same system and it just struggles to remove gunk.

I used Tri-Sulfa that I bought from pet barn after an LFS owner recommended it. I crushed 10 tablets for the 400L Aqua One Reef, treated once, it hurts nothing, Ich is gone, has never returned and it's all good. It's also very cheap between $10-$15.

https://www.worldforpets.com.au/products/46095

I would also recommend you just feed one cube of brine shrimp. I often mix one or two every 2-3 days in a small measuring cup with a squished up prawn or even just with the usual flakes/pellets and whatever liquid amino/vitamin thing and squirt it with a turkey baster around to the corals and anemones. You use less food and everyone benefits. Sometimes I mix mysis, prawn, spirulina and brine with water etc and freeze it into IceCube trays to give a more balanced blend. Then you just throw a cube in the tank or dissolve and target feed.

thanks for your help, are the tablets you used ok for the corals?

 

[ezza]

Yes!!! The was absolutely no ill effect whatsoever on any thing in the tank. I researched it by reading as much as I could and it absolutely works fine. I was told to use it by the owner of an LFS too... It has worked.