ADVISE NEEDED! Will this clean up my tank?

[Vertigo]

I have lost my last clown fish this morning, I dont know if it was ich or brooks. I have a red-head gobey in the tank along with 3 hermits and 1 emerald crab,1 turbo snail, 2 other small snails, I have a frog spawn, candy cane coral, some button polyps and some zoos. I have read that you can let the tank empty of fish for 6-8 weeks and the parasite will die out. Should I remove the red-head gobey from the system? It has the parasite on him still he just wont die! I need advise on this one someone please help! The system is just over a month old and I made a mistake and stocked it too quickly with fish when I shouldve listened to everyone on here and not my LFS. Can I get some advise here please? Thanks

[quy_nquyen]

did you see any white dots on the clown? over the last few days have you noticed a change in their diet, perhaps lost of appetite?

 

how long have you had the fish?

tank parameters

how many fish did you add and how big is the tank?

[Vertigo]

This is a 12 gallon DX modded with a seaclone 100 protein skimmer, 900 MJ mod. I have 4 fish that were small, I only for 1 day. The rest of the time I had 3 fish ( 2 Oc. Clowns and 1 small red-head gobey) The clowns had spots from day 1. They didnt eat for about a week. At the end they did slow down on eating some. Tank was tested here and at LFS and I was all good to go. Salt levels were a little high then @ 1.028. I have lowered that to around 1.023-.024ish.

[RBuddha]

Unfortunately in this hobby you learn by killing things. Chalk it up to inexperience or bad luck it just happens sometimes. I personally think fish should be the last addition to a tank since they are more sensitive to water conditions and frankly its more traumatizing to see a fish die than a piece of coral. I had a clownfish for years but eventually it died after i moved to another house and the heater went nuts and fried everything in my temporary bucket before i could get my aquarium set up.

 

If the clown had spots from day 1 then you shouldnt have bought it but its an easy mistake to make. Buying healthy fish is important and sometimes you'll get one that looks fine and 2 weeks later is dead for no reason.

[quy_nquyen]

i run my salt at 1.026-1.027

 

IMO 4 fish is a bit crowded for a 12 gallon. This may make the fish stress and thus making them more vulnerable to ich especially clownfish.

 

it seems to me as though you picked up an unhealthy specimen.

 

i had a similiar problem with clownfish and firefish.

in the past i havent had much luck with clownfish. normally died within 2 weeks after i got them (id rather not tell you know many i went through before i got a good one). They all ended up getting ich or had ich from the start. As they died overnight, the water got polluted and killed my firefish. At the same time i had a sixline in the tank which lived. The firefish, and sixline never showed any signs of ich (no dots or lost of appetite)

 

im not sure if you should take out the goby or not, as some fish are more resistant to ich than others. Just keep a close watch on the goby to make sure it's eatting well plus not developing any spots. dont get any other fish for at least a month to a month and a half to allow the ich to die off.

 

do you have temp swing throughout the day?

[Vertigo]

Thanks guys. My temps are steady at 78.7-79.3 I think that I did get an infected fish. I mean the fish lastnight I knew was in trouble, it has something all over it. Its color was dull like more see through. It was breathing hard and I just didnt have the heart to put it through a FW dip and med it. It was Prefect looking the day before though. Nothing was on it at all!

[Vertigo]

Should I leave the gobey in or take it out I wonder?

[Vertigo]

bump^^^^

[Eole00]

I would leave the fish in your tank

Monitor the fish very carefully at least once a day. During that time do research on marine fish diseases. Figure out what killed the others. If its ich you may want to consider the non-chemical alternatives to eradicating it. A skunk cleaner shrimp will eat ich. But do not add the shrimp until you are SURE it is ich and it is present on the fish. Keep your bioload very low for the next few months and let your tank settle in a bit. If nothing appears on your goby in 2 months you should be safe. Remember to go slow.