I feel like my aquarium is slowly dying

So these past two weeks have been the worst for me. I still a new reefer, (6 mouths) and my aquarium has gone to shambles. Water quality is perfect nitrates are 5-10 ppm but besides that everything is good. I had a HUGE algae bloom and I dont know why, however it is getting under control, I think???? Then I have lost three fish from ich (2 mated clowns and cardinal fish) what should I do about ich, I have a chromis still left, and I bought xtreme garlic. how should I use, when should I add more fish. I just so frustrated I feel like im going to lose a big investment ((

 

i think everyone that starts off this hobby goes through this stage at one time or another, just keep up on water changes and dosage and add some more fish, once it gets established it will be much more stable and things like this wont happen. hope that helps

 

No water is "perfect" Post every parameter you can test for.

As for your ich, soaking the food in garlic for about an hour before you feed it is the best thing to do IMO. Don't get the ich treatments at the pet store. If your fish is eating and acting normal, it should pull through. If your chromis does die though, the best thing to do is leave your tank fishless for 6-8 weeks (longer the better) to allow the parasites to die off completely. Either way, don't add another fish for a while.

We'll help you figure it out!

Ivan

Edit: In addition to what bvb-etf-luva said, some things just happen in new tanks. I noticed this with every tank I set up. Until the one year mark, things would just look bad and I could never figure out why. Just give it time and things will usually work themselves out.

 

imo i wouldnt leave the tank fishless, that messes up the biological filtration because there are no waste products. to keep it cycling always have at least one fish in, even at the stage its at it is still cycling.

 

There are ways to keep the bacteria levels up without fish. If you leave one fish in the tank, the ich parasites will never die off. If you're concerned with the bacteria, drop a shrimp in the tank every now and then.

 

to rid your tank of the parasite just dose daily with a store bought medication, you have nothing to worry about. ich is not an extremely serious parasite compared to some and is easily treated. a medication is all that is needed. it is not necessary to tear up your tank and lose all your progress. keep the existing fish alive as best as you can and if they happen to die, then simply replace them with another small inexpensive fish. if you have inverts in the tank dont dose with anything copper based. also dont buy any expensive fish as that would be quite a risk to take.

 

I agree with both of your posts. The only way to rid your tank of ich with medication is using copper. If you plan on doing a reef tank, it will not live. Inverts have a low tolerance of copper.

Leave the tank fishless for 6-8 weeks and just add some food every so often to keep the bacteria alive and reproducing.

 

I know of many people whom have tried using non-copper treatments and they have all failed. Non-copper treatments are a waste of money.

 

non copper treatments work just as good as copper treatments, they are just a little more pricey, they work just as good if not better. you just have to get the right kind, not the cheap crap. its worth a try i would think. and most likely it will work. but if not then do what they said.

 

The used the Ruby ich meds that cost $50 a bottle. They don't work well at all.

How can you say they work better than copper treatments when it is the copper that kills the ick?