# ich!! help please



## bruno (Feb 8, 2012)

ok i had a fresh water tank for a few months i bought a new fish then all my fish had ich within a few weeks anyways i tried some stuff that the pet store down the street sold me ans all m fish ended up dieing so the fish tank was just taking up space in my living room I emptied the tank now its been sitting empty for a month or so i want to start a salt water tank its 55gal octagon tank and i want to know will the ich still be there if so how should i clean out the tank 

thank you


----------



## GwenInNM (Feb 2, 2011)

bruno said:


> ok i had a fresh water tank for a few months i bought a new fish then all my fish had ich within a few weeks anyways i tried some stuff that the pet store down the street sold me ans all m fish ended up dieing so the fish tank was just taking up space in my living room I emptied the tank now its been sitting empty for a month or so i want to start a salt water tank its 55gal octagon tank and i want to know will the ich still be there if so how should i clean out the tank
> 
> thank you



No, ich can not survive without a host to live on. Are you sure you want to attempt a salt water tank at this time? Fish shouldn't necessarily die of ich. Is it possible your tank wasn't cycled, and you lost them due to that stress that comes with it (in addition to ich)?? 

I would imagine there is a large commitment to getting a salt water tank set up and successful. Just saying 

Gwen


----------



## bruno (Feb 8, 2012)

GwenInNM said:


> No, ich can not survive without a host to live on. Are you sure you want to attempt a salt water tank at this time? Fish shouldn't necessarily die of ich. Is it possible your tank wasn't cycled, and you lost them due to that stress that comes with it (in addition to ich)??
> 
> I would imagine there is a large commitment to getting a salt water tank set up and successful. Just saying
> 
> Gwen


thank you.... yes thats probly the reason as a i was looking around on this website i learned about cyclying the tank ....and yea i think im ready for a salt water tank ive been doing research for a few weeks now thanks again


----------



## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

bruno said:


> ok i had a fresh water tank for a few months i bought a new fish then all my fish had ich within a few weeks anyways i tried some stuff that the pet store down the street sold me ans all m fish ended up dieing so the fish tank was just taking up space in my living room I emptied the tank now its been sitting empty for a month or so i want to start a salt water tank its 55gal octagon tank and i want to know will the ich still be there if so how should i clean out the tank
> 
> thank you


If your going Saltwater from Freshwater, the answer is no. There is a difference between FW Ich and Marine Ich. One cannot live in the others environment.
Items needed for Saltwater Set-up:

Dry Rock, there are a few hitchhickers onLive Rock that people want to stay away from, so they opt for using Dry Rock, or Dead Rock. Macro Rock is a good place to start looking for that. Either way oyu go you will need a minimum of 1lb per gallon
Replacement filter media like filter floss and activated carbon (if you get a filter)Multiple Powerheads (2 or 3) 10x your water volume for just a Fish Only With Live Rock, and at least 20x your water volume for a Reef Tank. So lets say your going reef, and you have a 100g tank, you would need flow in that tank at minimum of 2000gph, or 2 1000gph powerheads.
Protein Skimmer, rated at 2 times your water volume
Saltwater Test Kits. 
Reef Test Kit. Tets for Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, PH, Phosphates, Calcium, ALK and Magnesium.
Saltwater fish food. Mysis Shrimp, Squid, Cyclopease, Algae Sheets, Romaine . Flake food is not really a good food to feed your marine fish.
Aquarium vacuum. This one is iffy. Most don't use one, if you have enough flow in the tank you won’t need one
Rubber kitchen gloves
Fish net
Two, clean, never used before, 5-gallon buckets
Aquarium thermometer, digital being the best.
Brush with plastic bristles (old tooth brush) - needed for cleaning the live rock if you don't get Fully Cured Live Rock.
Power Strip, possibly GFCI outlets by the tank.
Optional but definitely recommend getting a Reverse Osmosis or RO/Deionization filter for the make-up water, and a barrel for storing the water.
Possibly a Quarantine Tank for your new fish. They sit in here for a few weeks to kill off parasites and bacteria, to keep it from getting in your main tank
Heater rated for your size tank.
Saltwater Mix. 
Marine SaltSaltwater Hydrometer or even better a Refractometer, which is more accurateAquarium filter (not absolutely necessary if running with adequate amounts of live rock, but nice to have if you need to use a mechanical filter or activated carbon, etc.)
Aquarium substrate such as live sand or crushed cora. Some go bare Bottom, others choose the 2-3" bottom, others, more advanced will try the Deep Sand Bed, which is over 6" deep.


----------



## bruno (Feb 8, 2012)

i only have a 55gal tank but that sounds exspensive sorry to bother you but how much would you say it would cost to get salt tank up and running befor fish? 
and thanks for the list i needed that


----------



## Tazman (Jan 15, 2012)

I would look around $500-600+ (assuming you are in US or Canada), I am in the process of setting up and cycling a 32 gallon tank. 
It depends on whether or not you get used or new equipment (new being better)

Protein Skimmer and rocks will probably be the biggest expense before the other equipment is added in.


----------



## bruno (Feb 8, 2012)

yes im in the US. Wow thats more then i expected guess i better save up some money first .
thanks


----------



## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

while you save its a great time to do more reading for research.


----------



## bruno (Feb 8, 2012)

very true


----------



## Tazman (Jan 15, 2012)

Do not waste money on cheap skimmers either. I got a free one from a friend of mine who paid $55 for it new. Having done research prior to setting my tank up, I found the skimmer is useless.

It was free so cannot complain but am looking at about $125 for one rated at 65g or 2x my tank volume.

Live rock is cheaper in the US than Canada so I would look at paying around $5-8 a lb for that, you dont have to get all live rock, dry marco rock is cheaper but you will still need a lot for that tank...I paid including shipping $135 for 40lb's and $14 for 2 small pieces of live rock (2.5lbs)

So there is about $280 straight off on just a few essential pieces...factor in powerheads, heaters (you need 2 or 3), saltwater test kits, buffers perhaps and live sand. It adds up quickly.

As mentioned, save and continue the research, it REALLY pays off...almost 6 months from when I started researching until last weekend when I got the tank going. The research paid off though as putting it all together was a breeze because I knew how to do stuff in advance. 
If you are going to have a sump, you can also spend the time building that, if you have it already. 
Patience is the key and you will enjoy it 100% more if you do the research now and not skip over things.

Keep a little journal on stuff like treating algae outbreaks etc, fish care, etc.

Hope this works out for you


----------



## jeffnsa (Jan 3, 2012)

You do not need a skimmer right away unless you will have sps corals, then it is a must. Also the amount of rock that most people say you can be detrimental to the tank unless you have massive water flow by trapping too much detritus in the rock. A salt water tank can be set up relativly cheapif you want soft corals and some lps. Research and find the BEST lighting set up for your tank bcause you will want more different types of corals and it beats going through a couple of different lights. Look into a refugium to grow out different types of algea to either feed your herbavores and also for filtration.THE NUMBER ONE THING IS TO TAKE IT SLOW.


----------



## bruno (Feb 8, 2012)

yea im sure it pays off i cant wait to get it started
and thanks again for the help


----------



## bruno (Feb 8, 2012)

hey
do you guys know if a tropical fresh water tank is any cheaper ?
or what i would need to get 1 going


----------



## GwenInNM (Feb 2, 2011)

bruno said:


> hey
> do you guys know if a tropical fresh water tank is any cheaper ?
> or what i would need to get 1 going



Yes, it's cheaper. I'd think about what you want it to look like. Do you want a natural look of sand? Playsand is very cheap (Home depot) but it does require lots and lots of rinsing. The look is nice though. If you do gravel, I'd recommend a pea size gravel, keeping substrate as natural for fish as possible. Recommended amount if one lb. per gallon of tank. So, a 20 gal tank, would need about 20 lbs of gravel. If you want plants, you need to make sure you have a good florescent bulb. They aren't that expensive, and if you post in the planted tank section, you'll get help with that. Or read stickys on the forum about starting a planted tank. You can buy plants slowly, they aren't that expensive ($2.99-8.99 a piece or less, depending where you get them etc). You need a filter, a heater and rocks or driftwood, which again, if you find your own rocks and rinse them well over boiling water, there is no cost for that  You need to be careful with some rocks, as they can change your water ph etc. I used slate that I stacked, and it is fine in tanks.

You need a good declohrinator (Prime) and a 5 gal clean bucket, a siphon to do water changes ($10.00). There are always other little things to pick up, but you could easily get started with just that.

Did I miss anything, anyone?

Gwen


----------

