2024 Ohio Reef Frag Swap

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Author Topic: ich!!!  (Read 3368 times)

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Offline Warhawk937

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ich!!!
« on: May 10, 2018, 17:21:14 »
Wow it only took 5 months for ich to show up in the tank looking to get rid off some fish and to buy a qt system.  anybody have old 20gl tanks laying around? filter small skimmer?

Offline Heinbaughb

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Re: ich!!!
« Reply #1 on: May 10, 2018, 22:33:23 »
I wish you luck. I've been dealing with it for a long time now. It did the conservative route initially by setting up a 20 gallon QT and treating my fish with Cupramine followed by 76 day fallow period. Somehow it came back even with very careful selection of my inhabitants. Maybe on a snail from a LFS, maybe a coral frag, hard to say. Seems like some people never get it and some people like myself never get rid of it. What I can say is that with feeding healthy food (frozen mix, lots of nori on a clip) and using a cleaner wrasse, I haven't had any loses. You're welcome to borrow my 20 gallon with a lid and light but it will need a better filter. My kole tang ended up getting HLLE during the quarantine even with constant water changes.  Adding live rock helps with keeping the QT stable but you'll need to monitor the copper treatment closely. Hope that helps.

Offline Warhawk937

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Re: ich!!!
« Reply #2 on: May 11, 2018, 10:21:44 »
I appreciate it.  Question.  I am a complete novice but diligent.  I keep water parameters very tight and feed well this time around.  I had in outbreak 10 years ago that wiped out a tank.  It was the deciding factor in selling off the equipment although I was constantly dealing with crappy water conditions and did not take very good care of it back then.  The ich out break started with two sunset damsels after I added 3 lair tail anthias from (GERBERS)   Only have noticed white spot on damsels and a firefish.  the rest of the tank mate: foxface, trio of anthias, mely wrasse,  lawnmower blenny, pink spot goby.  all seem fine right now.  The Bio load Will be to much for any qt system I can put in my house.

questions? options recommendation.
Should I:
let it play out. see what dies if any  before letting the tank fallow?

Mercy killing the damsels and fire fish Ive read that ich is painful for the fish.

The 2 fish I want to be standing when this is all done is the foxface and wrasse. Will they be able live for 8 week in a 20 gallon system?









Offline Heinbaughb

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ich!!!
« Reply #3 on: May 11, 2018, 11:17:23 »
That will have to be your call as a hobbyist. Keeping the stress low and fish eating is most important. Sometimes trying to catch them and putting them in a small QT with less than ideal water conditions is worse than doing nothing at all. I definitely wouldn’t mercy kill them. If you feel like setting up a QT wouldn’t work well for your situation, just keep feeding them good quality food and keep the stress in the tank low. Some people say ich is alway present but when a fish is added with a low immune system/poor resistance to it, you’ll end up with an outbreak. Head over to reef2reef and their philosophy is copper and QT + fallow period. So just do what works best for you. You could always add copper to your DT if you don’t want corals anymore and switch to a fish only system. Alternatives to copper are tank transfer, CP and hyposalinity treatment. If I were you, I’d just ride it out and don’t add any more fish for a while.


120 gallon mixed reef.

Offline Warhawk937

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Re: ich!!!
« Reply #4 on: May 11, 2018, 15:26:07 »
reply thank for your advice ill just keep going business as usual see what happens. ill give an update in month if anybody would be interested.

Offline Heinbaughb

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ich!!!
« Reply #5 on: May 11, 2018, 16:37:32 »
Lazy sometimes has a frozen ocean gumbo he sells and Gerbers sells Rods frozen mix. I’d try to feed one of those foods and keep a clip of nori in the tank. Cleaner shrimp/wrasse may also be worth a try. Somehow my cleaner wrasse has been spot free this whole time. Good luck. Just remember it comes in cycles so it may go away in a couple weeks but will likely never be totally out of the system.


120 gallon mixed reef.
« Last Edit: May 11, 2018, 22:57:08 by Heinbaughb »

Offline Warhawk937

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Re: ich!!!
« Reply #6 on: May 11, 2018, 22:17:27 »
thank for talking of the ledge.  Im going to ride it out and avoid adding fish for the next 5-6 weeks and see what happens.

Offline Agame43

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Re: ich!!!
« Reply #7 on: May 13, 2018, 00:04:46 »


  I feel for you! - I have had Ich as well come and go - not much fun at all. I use MEDIC from Polyp Labs - reef safe and typically a 10 day cycle I believe. DIDO above, feeding well is very crucial -  feed a lot, seems to keep the stress low. the Medic is a powder -  add at night and early AM. I soak my food in Selcon, crush up real garlic(soak food in this - feed as well) I use a Ginger powder as well. I do use Dr.G's Anti Parasitic caviar - some fish eat it some do not, it has medication in it as well. You can soak you algae sheets with Selcon, the product shown is SELCO and the other is SELCON.

Offline Agame43

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Re: ich!!!
« Reply #8 on: May 13, 2018, 00:05:23 »
  Pics are bad sorry.

Offline Warhawk937

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Re: ich!!!
« Reply #9 on: May 13, 2018, 19:59:50 »
Thanks I'll wait another week and see what happens I bought some of lazys reef gumbo and am feeding 3x a Day and adding vita chem to the food and nori  I'll order  those products.  Did you have success with that routine?

Offline soldiers4christ50

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Re: ich!!!
« Reply #10 on: May 13, 2018, 23:51:56 »
I second rick on the polyp lab medic. I used this product with great results against ich in my reef tank. Did not harm a single coral in my tank and cleared the ich as a precaution even when ich cleared up I treated my tank every other month.

Offline Warhawk937

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Re: ich!!!
« Reply #11 on: May 18, 2018, 21:59:55 »
So I have started the medic treatment and I’ll give it a month after that I’m giving away some fish as I cannot qt all of them.  Fish up for grabs:

3 lair tail Athias
3 sunset damsels
1green chromes
Lawnmowers Benny
Pink spot goby
 I will qt a melenarus wrasse and a Fox face any suggestion on tank size that will keep them alive for the 75 days while the ick works itself out?

Offline Humphrey

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Re: ich!!!
« Reply #12 on: May 19, 2018, 20:13:14 »
20 gallon if they are not too big easy I’d think

Offline lazylivin

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Re: ich!!!
« Reply #13 on: May 19, 2018, 22:37:30 »
So I have started the medic treatment and I’ll give it a month after that I’m giving away some fish as I cannot qt all of them.  Fish up for grabs:

3 lair tail Athias
3 sunset damsels
1green chromes
Lawnmowers Benny
Pink spot goby
 I will qt a melenarus wrasse and a Fox face any suggestion on tank size that will keep them alive for the 75 days while the ick works itself out?

6 weeks is plenty of time. The internet is getting silly with info about ich.

Offline Gary

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Re: ich!!!
« Reply #14 on: May 19, 2018, 22:58:23 »
Normally the strong will survive. Never given up hope. Modern chemistry will prevail! I have used a UV sterilizer to kill ich in the free swimming stage before. I don't believe it eradicated the ich but I have not had a reoccurrence for years, plus I only add fish from Lazy's quarantine tanks.

 

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