Ich Continued

Question
Told me I had to many follow ups and had to ask a new
question. If I do as you suggested and move the
invertebrates and rocks out, what about the live sand? Also
to make sure I understand, the invertebrates would be the
star fish, anemone, crabs, snails correct? Gobies are
considered fish, right?

Answer
Yes, the goby is a fish. The ones you mentioned would be what you would have to worry about. The live sand would probably not be as alive as it is now. There are many risks involved with treating your main tank with copper. Copper can be absorbed by the sand and can leech out into the tank over the next few months. This doesn't mean you will never be able to have corals in there. It is possible and your tank will not be ruined forever. Plan on not getting any corals for a while after treatment six months should be enough. You may have to do more frequent partial water changes and keep up on adding fresh carbon to your tank. If you can replace half the live sand after treatment and after all traces of copper have been removed you will lessen the chance of having problems in the future. This is all going to be allot of work and you may want to still consider buying a larger quarantine tank. It would make things easier. 30 gallons should be plenty. You don't need gravel for that tank or live rock or any special lighting. Just something to turn over your water and a heater. I know I seem like I am giving you mixed info but either way you do this it will pose some risk. Honestly if I were you I would just get a larger tank to quarantine my fish in for thirty days using copper and an antibiotic food and leave the main tank free of all fish for thirty days. This just seems much easier then worrying about copper and weather it may leach out into your tank in the future or when it would be best to eventually add corals and so on and so forth. Basically what I am saying is there are two options; quarantine your fish and treat them there or take out all your live rock and inverts and treat the fish in the main tank. Either way will kill the ich on the fish, it is all going to depend on what you would feel more comfortable doing. Just don't give up! I will help you through this which ever way you decide to go.