fish with ick

[reef boy]

This past Saturday I got a 180 gallon tank to replace my 144 gallon half circle tank and along with the tank I got live rock, live sand, 3 shrimp, and 3 fish from the 180. It was up and running when I got everything and that was all in it. Right now in the 180 I have a mix of my live rock with the other live rock, live sand from when the 180 was set up before (it was only 4 months old), the 3 fish and 3 shrimp from when the guy had it set up, and all of my fish from my 144. There's hermits, snails, and 2 starfish from my 144 too. I had not seen the 3 fish that I got from the guy with the 180 until I went to pick up the tank so I didn't know they had ick. Right now a lot of my fish have ick now it looks like, and I think it's a combination of stress from the move and because the other fish have ick.

So after reading all of that, my question is, what should I do to start to eradicate the ick? If there is a product someone recommends or something else I can do, I'm open to suggestions. I don't know what to do because all of the 16 fish are probably infected at this point and the ick is in the sand and rock probably because of the different points in the icks life cycle. I need to do something that won't affect my livestock so I can't use copper. Please let me know if anyone has any suggestions for the tank.

 

[kschweer]

Some people have had success running a large UV to keep the ich "in check". The only way to really get rid of it would be to set up a hospital tank or tanks to treat the sick fish while leaving the display tank fishless for 72 days.


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[MadReefer]

I have used Rid-Ich with success. That being said it can do a number on your corals. I only kept LPS and softies in which they closed up for days and lost half a frog spwan coral. Be sure you have water as well because using the product requires many water changes. With such a large tank I would try to catch them and then treat them. Good luck.

 

[jgraz]

Like Kevin stated the only way to defeat it would be to pull all fish and let DT go fallow. With fish in QT you would either treat with copper or Hypo. Then you would have to be absolutely sure that anything you ever add to the system goes through a fishless QT including well anything.

Myself, well a fish here and there pops up with it now and then. I just look and say Huh. and keep on keeping on. Might I direct you to this thread if you plan on waiting it out.
http://www.njreefers.org/showthread.php?90965-A-discussion-on-Immunity

 

[reef boy]

Ok thank you all for the responses. After doing more research, I think I am going to take out my shrimp and anything that would be effected and then try hypo in the tank. This way they all don't have to be moved and I have a tank already set up to put my shrimp in. That's where I'm holding all of my coral already so I think it will be best if I do this. Any suggestions for when I start hypo? Do you think it will be alright I keep the live rock and sand in there?

 

[kschweer]

Do you have any coral in the tank?


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[jgraz]

Also, If I'm not mistaken. Hypo will wipe out any other life not a fish. Including the bacteria that keep your cycle going. Please look into that.

 

[art13]

I think the bacteria would be fine, I've seen other people do hypo with a bio filter with success. What I wound up doing is putting the fish in q/t, treating them with copper for I think 2 months, I used cupramine. I'd have to look back a bit, as I left the copper in long enough for the life cycle of ich to complete. The tank I left without fish for about 10-12 weeks. After that I put the fish in and everything was good after that.

 

[Reefabout]

Hypo-salinity or copper are the only proven ways to eradicate ich from an aquarium. Period.

Hypo salinity will kill all your inverts, worm population and will in fact disrupt your bacterial population, but not kill it off entirely. That being said, if you have corals in the tank, removing the fish via trapping or some other means is your safest bet. Like kschweer stated, 72 days is an excellent treatment period. Magic potions in a bottle like Rid-ich, garlic, etc. will only mask the problem until the next outbreak. A healthy, newly introduced fish will most likely display the signs of ich within days of being added to an infected tank. Most people say the new fish brought it in...even if it was properly quarantined. Nope. It was always there because the hobbyist relied on pepper sauce in a bottle. Fact is, if you do nothing at all you'd most likely still have the same results. As a logical person in a tougher than average hobby, ask yourself if those responsible for the health of the fish in a large public aquarium, fish holding facility or fish research center would use or endorse any of the common snake oils on the market. The answer is an emphatic "NEVER."

As a store owner with a conscience who knows better, I won't carry any miracle products claiming to cure ich and never will. These products simply prey on desperate hobbyists who are trying to find an alternative to the more labor intensive methods that work. As of now, there is no other proven method than copper or hypo. And as for garlic, it will only entice fish to eat; not kill parasites. That's why fishing lure manufacturers infuse it into worms and other artificial plastic baits. While some fish may build up an immunity over time, introducing new fish is usually the culprit to a new outbreak after months of what may appear to be success. A power outage, faulty heater, or any other change in the environment which could cause stress will more than likely make your fish more prone to an outbreak while their immune system is compromised. It's best to just exercise the patience up front and properly quarantine everything you add to your tank going forward. A large UV installed while the fish are in quarantine would help zap the stage of the parasite that is free floating, but will only kill that which passes through the UV unit itself.

Just my .02

 

[dan_k]

I know 3 people myself included that have had great success with Rudy reef kick ich. Just use as directed and never seen it again.
Reef boy I would at least give it a try AQ center has it in stock

 

[Sunny]

Andrew

I would suggest not using any chemicals as they just do not work. Hypo is the best way to go but, you need to get inverts and corals out. That said, you can do hypo for the 3 fish you have now. What will you do when you add more fish?

Ich is in every tank. There is no such thing as ich free tank. Well, maybe for a while but if you add corals, inverts, rock all these can bring in ich. Unless you have a QT for everything in the system you cannot avoid having ich. I do not know of anyone who has that kind of a system.

UV definitely helps but has to be sized properly.

Good luck.

Sunny

 

[reef boy]

Ok thank you for all the responses. I currently have all my coral in my frag tank, I would just need to remove the inverts. I think I'm going to be doing the hypo but the loss of bacteria concerns me. Do you think this be ok? I have 16 fish in the 180 right now but when I add more I'll set up a quarantine tank. I don't have room to set up a large quarantine tank that will be able to hold the 16 fish so I think hypo will probably be best. I'm going to look into getting a uv also

 

[art13]

just take the salinity down slowly, remove a few gallons and let your top take over, and lower it over the course of a few days, it won't kill off the bacteria, it will stunt them a bit if anything, much like copper does, i added seachem bacteria when i did copper treatments and never had an issue with bio filtration.

 

[reef boy]

Ok that's what I'm going to do thank you everyone for the great help!

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

You might want to add an ammonia badge to let you know if there is a spike due to any possible die off of bacteria. During hypo, pristine water quality is a must.

 

[reef boy]

Ok I'll look into getting one