OK, this isn't related to goldies, but it is an emergency and I thought more people would see it here. Hope it's OK to ask this here? I have a clown fish in my nano reef tank that has begun hiding out instead of hanging around in the front of the tank like it used to do. Has had a small piece of tailfin missing for a couple of weeks now. Didn't think much of it at first--figured one of the shrimp might have taken a nip out of the fish. But now the hiding behavior and what appears to be a couple of spots of ich. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, ,20 nitrates in the tank. At the advice of people here after I lost my damsel I am not supplementing with anything now and have been feeding the clowns nothing but saltwater fare since I got them. Brine shrimp, cyclops, and an occasional saltwater flake food. I have no idea how to treat a fish in a saltwater tank. And is there any way to treat the whole tank for ich with corals in it? There is one other clown in the tank, three peppermint shrimp, several turbo snails, and a variety of corals--rock polyps, zoos, candy cane coral, kenya tree, and xenia. I suppose I could set up a little two gallon saltwater tank for the sick clown if I have to, but won't the ich still be in the tank? And won't the remaining clown become infected? I don't know what to do but I need to do something.

I am sorry to hear you are having problems.

I am going to move your thread to the tropicals so that the experts there will see it quicker over there.
Unfortunately I haven't much knowledge on them. Good luck with the fish.

I just read somewhere that adding less salt to a marine tank will help kill ich. It's funny 'cause you do the opposite for a freshwater tank--you add more salt!

I have had marine ich in my tank.With you having inverts you will have to QT your affected fish or remove inverts during treatment.You will need to obtain a med specifically for marine fish for example eSHa oodinex which is invert friendly but better to remove to QT.Check your water quality to ensure its specific gravity/salinity is correct and also your ammonia,nitrates and nitrites are fine.

To break the ich cycle, you need to have your main tank fishless for 6 weeks. As long as there are fish in there, the ich will continue to be able to reproduce and thrive.

You might try Seachchem Garlic Guard or Kent Garlic Extreme - these alone have broken the ich cycle in some tanks I'm familiar with, and they are invert-friendly. Just follow the directions.

Dave

Dave even meds that say invert friendly may not be as safe as made out.QT is best option and treating separate.

Yes, I agree, but I shudder to think of 2 clowns in a 2 gallon QT for 6 weeks since the OP said that was his option. That is why I suggested garlic. I *know* it is ok with inverts, I use it in my tanks as a preventative.

Dave