ISSUES!!!!!!! part 3

First off, calm down and be patient!!! You're going to be okay, the tank will improve with patience! That's advice bit number one! lol Alright, do you have filter socks in your sump? If not, that'll help catch all/most particulates in the tank. Also, you do need more flow. Return pump flow is pretty well nominal unless its only used for closed loop. If you want to keep SPS, you're going to need at least 1800 gallons per hour of flow in the tank. For your tank, the Koralia is a good choice, but I really don't recommend Maxi Jets for tanks of your size. With flow, it really depends on how much you're willing to spend. You could easily get away with two mp40's (what I would do if I had tons of money). On the other hand, tunze makes great pumps that are dead quiet and move water like crazy. So, in sum, more flow, filter socks, and patience, dude!!

 

+1 on filter socks. my tank looked terrible after i filled it the first time. im using a sugar fine sand and it was from another system. was dirty and full of powder. after 3 days of looking like crap i was about to call it quits. nick sold me a couple and after 4hrs it was almost crystal clear!

 

All fish can be host for the life cycle to continue to grow. It just affects others more adversely than others. If all the fish are not treated and the tank is not left fallow this will be par for the course.

 

Mandarins are generally not prone to ICH. Soak all your food in garlic and feed.

 

there are a few threads here to help guide you. however i think you should do some research on the web. you are going to need to get your fish into a QT/hospital tank and treat them for ICH. there are a few different ways. Copper or Hypo-saliniity have been known to work well. the main tank will need to sit empty of fish for up to 8 weeks for the lifecycle of ICH to run its course. with no host to live off of they will die. and with your fish being rid of ICH from the QT/hospital tank. they will not bring it back to the main tank.

 

If you have ich in your system, all the fish will have it. The most stressed fish will show it. Almost everyones system has ich in it, but its only apparent when fish are stressed ime... Are those fish fighting with another? What size tank is it?

I agree with the qt tank and slow introduction of fish. The single most important thing for fish.

Dont worry about the mandarin and clowns, the lionfish will just eat them soon enough.

 

garlic doesnt treat ich. it only promotes fish to eat, which in turns will keep them healthy and hopefully naturally fight off ich. but to wipe out ich you need to QT and leave the tank fishless. you might beat ich, only to have it beat you in a month.

 

It will. Even a little dwarf could take all but the bigger clowns or mandarins... Give it time and it will.

 

Just saw ur avatar... If thats a volitans it will eventually be able to eat even big clowns... Better think about a contingency plan.