i have had a saltwater tank for 2 years and just learned this

i highly recommend having a separate tank from your main tank for when you purchase new inhabitants place them into your quarantine tank for up to two weeks befor you introduce them into your main tank
a repost to my last thread THEY MAY HAVE ICH OR ANY OTHER DIEASE!!!
I AM PULLING MY HAIR OUT COMING TO THE FACT THAT I JUST WANT TO THROW EVERYTHING AWAY AND START ALL OVER

 

i second that.

 

it's a fairly basic rule of thumb in FW and SW keeping. I unfortunately don't have a QT but do my best to go to quality LFS's and try to watch any purchases for up to a week before buying them. So far I've been lucky with all my purchases.

 

you can buy a UV sterilzer, 10g qt, and ich meds (I think theres some that are reef safe).

I've gone through the same before, thats why I got to a point not to buy fish any more. just corals. fish can be a PITA after a while. IMHO for your future reference 12" inches of fish/eels/etc max for your 55g.

more fish = more stress = more poop= more water problems = more headaches = more deaths.

 

I've just learned this the hard way as well. After 5 years, I now have a fishless tank due to ich. My only survivor is in a qt where all new arrivals will be housed in the furture.

I would have "pulled my hair out" if my head wasn't already bald.

 

im not a big fish guy either, I have three fish for 109 gallons of reef

 

Would a UV Steralizer help this situation a bit? I am looking to add more fish to my tank and wondering if I should invest in a UV steralizer before doing so. Tank is just going to have fish and soft corals for a while.

 

Setting up a QT tank is very easy and takes less than a hour from start to finish.
Here is a link to a two part article on ich and various forms of treatment. Note the lifecycle of ich, QT should be on the order of 4-6 weeks not two.

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

 

I just follow tangster rule that he once told me, watch ur fish at the store ask them to feed it and see if it eats, put a hold on it for week or 2 then go back and place in bucket with half lfs water and my water then ever so gently place hand in bucket and lift into tank. Knock on wood, ive been doign this for past year and all my fish are happy and immediately started eating once in and no stress.

 

UV will kill whats in the water column. yes they will help on that aspect. to the best of my knowledge..