Hello everyone, I am new to saltwater. I purchased a nano tank that had been up and running for about a year. The only fish in it was a Fire fish but it had a bunch of crabs,snails cleaner shrimp and a bunch of corals. Everything looks healthy, corals are growing and parameters are stable. My wife and I decided it was time to add some more fish.
We purchased a clown fish from a local shop and he seemed to be doing great. He was sticking to the top areas of the tank but eating like a champ and looking healthy. So we decided to get a partner for him a few days later. The 2 took together and it was adorable watching them swimming and exploring the tank together! Until I got home from work about 6 hours later and they have white spots. Great I got Ich! Only a few spots on the small one about 6 or 7 on the bigger one. So I thew together a hospital tank as fast as I could with what I had and got them out of there. its a small tank with a heater (79º) an air stone, and a few plastic ornaments for them to hide. I filled it with about 2.5 gallons fresh R/O water and had the salinity to 1.015 (the main tank is at 1.025). I had Cupramine laying around so I put 4 or 5 drops in. The spots went away fairly quickly but came back on the big one, as of now i don't see any on the small one.
I'm not sure where to go from here. The fire fish in the big tank looks clean and has no spots. I don't want to treat the big tank because I'm afraid of killing off or harming my invertebrates. Getting the fire fish out of the tank is not really an option. I want to keep treating the 2 little dudes in the hospital tank, but I'm not sure how long they have to stay in there, some of the things I'm reading are saying months! would I be better off going with the API Ich cure instead of the Cupramine? Anyone have luck with either product? Is it normal for Ich to pop up this fast? ( I only had the 1st fish for 2 days and the 2nd fish for about 12 hours). Is this something that has been in the tank and the fire fish has been lucky enough to avoid it or do you think the new fish brought it along with them? Have any of you guys dealt with saltwater ich before. Any advice you guys can give me would be helpful and appreciated.
We purchased a clown fish from a local shop and he seemed to be doing great. He was sticking to the top areas of the tank but eating like a champ and looking healthy. So we decided to get a partner for him a few days later. The 2 took together and it was adorable watching them swimming and exploring the tank together! Until I got home from work about 6 hours later and they have white spots. Great I got Ich! Only a few spots on the small one about 6 or 7 on the bigger one. So I thew together a hospital tank as fast as I could with what I had and got them out of there. its a small tank with a heater (79º) an air stone, and a few plastic ornaments for them to hide. I filled it with about 2.5 gallons fresh R/O water and had the salinity to 1.015 (the main tank is at 1.025). I had Cupramine laying around so I put 4 or 5 drops in. The spots went away fairly quickly but came back on the big one, as of now i don't see any on the small one.
I'm not sure where to go from here. The fire fish in the big tank looks clean and has no spots. I don't want to treat the big tank because I'm afraid of killing off or harming my invertebrates. Getting the fire fish out of the tank is not really an option. I want to keep treating the 2 little dudes in the hospital tank, but I'm not sure how long they have to stay in there, some of the things I'm reading are saying months! would I be better off going with the API Ich cure instead of the Cupramine? Anyone have luck with either product? Is it normal for Ich to pop up this fast? ( I only had the 1st fish for 2 days and the 2nd fish for about 12 hours). Is this something that has been in the tank and the fire fish has been lucky enough to avoid it or do you think the new fish brought it along with them? Have any of you guys dealt with saltwater ich before. Any advice you guys can give me would be helpful and appreciated.
Last edited: