dori has a little bit of ich

[Travis8896]

Ok I got this beautiful blue tang from a friend a week and a half ago I noticed the ich a little while ago but didn't realize what it was until joe(twisted) came over and confirmed it was ich. I don't have a qt setup yet but I was wondering what all can I do to prevent it from spreading to other fish and how to treat it. I am getting some green seaweed that I plan to soak in garlic before feeding to the tang what else can I do?

Would a cleaner wrasse help control the ich the lfs has one at a decent price and was just wondering?

Please don't tell me my tank inhabitants are doomed I have a sailfin tang, a pair of maroon gold banded clowns, a spotted mandarin, 4 green chromis, a yellow coral goby, 2 fire fish gobies, a tri color wrasse, a bangii cardinal, 2 freshwater mollies I converted over to salt, and a 6line wrasse

[Ashlar]

Well, there's no magic cure that you can dump in your tank to make the ich go away-- at least not one that won't kill the coral and inverts.

In a perfect world, you'd be able to set up a qt for all your fish, treat them with either hyposalinity or copper, and wait 6 weeks for the ich in the main tank to die.

Short of that? Feed well and hope. Getting the regal tang out won't really help, the parasite is already in the system.

[Travis8896]

Will the food help them fight it off? And I have a 40gallon Hex I'm planing on setting up but I don't think that's big enough for all the fish

[Ashlar]

Like any animal, being well fed does help fight off parasites, but it will likely always be in your tank, in one stage / fish or another.

[Travis8896]

Ok do u think the cleaner wrasse would help any I've read that some say yes some say no

[Ashlar]

Not really, no.. the bumps that you see on fish aren't the parasite itself; they're the inflammation under the skin, like a fire ant or mosquito bite (except the parasite burrows under the skin).

[Travis8896]

Ok would the 40 hex be a big enough qt. For all the fish?

[Ashlar]

I wouldn't, if I had those fish, no. I'd do about 1/3 of your fish in that size qt, especially if you do end up doing hypo or copper.

[Travis8896]

Ok so for now just feed them and pray. What should I do if gets worse

[charlieweaver]

I have the same problem but I have all fish in qt now and i am treating. I did read you could do hypo in The display. Just setup the 40. And put all live rock, corals, and inverts in the 40. Then do hypo in the display tank? 

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[volcano]

Ok so for now just feed them and pray. What should I do if gets worse

If it gets worse, you will have no choice but QT.  I would take all the fish out and QT anyway if they were my own. With that amount of fish, I would use multiple QT's.  A tank can be crypto free, no matter what anyone tells you.  Just be sure to treat them properly and allow the parasite in the DT to die off.  QT's are cheap and easy to set up and they make it convenient to treat using copper or hypo.  Your DT should sit fallow for  6 - 9 weeks.  At 9 weeks you run a 99% chance of being crypto free.  Good luck!

[Travis8896]

With only 1 40gallon to use how should I qt the fish and does anyone have an extra qt tank I can use?

[volcano]

I'm not sure where you're located.  However, I have a few 10 gallons and a 20 gallon tall.  I'd sell them to you very cheap because I need the room.

[Travis8896]

I'm near lima ohio

[volcano]

I'm in Lebanon, just south of centerville.

[Travis8896]

Do u have filters for.them?

[volcano]

No, nope filters.  However, you can put hang on the back filters on them for about $30 each.  The 20 gallon tall is a drilled tank.  If you don't want to use a sump for it, you can buy a cap to screw over the bulk head at lowes or The home depot for $1.00.

[Travis8896]

Thanx but I'm only 16 I don't have the extra cash

[volcano]

They they're $40 for all.

[Travis8896]

Ya then I'd need the filters

[Mussin]

Ill tell you what I used when I had an ich outbreak from my old "dori"..  I used a product called kick ich..  It is reef safe.  Read up onit and give it a try, I did and every fish that didnt have ich never got it.  I did loose the hippo,  kole tang and 1 clown who had it bad before I started the treatment.  It worked for me, thats all im gonna say about it.  Just throwing it out there...


Jeremy

[Travis8896]

Ok where can u buy it from can u get it from jacks or pets plus?

[Bucknutz]

Ok where can u buy it from can u get it from jacks or pets plus?

Tropical Reef in Toledo normally has kick Ich in stock.

[Travis8896]

Well I was going to get it but for my tank its $50 a bottle

[ReefFrenzy]

Well I was going to get it but for my tank its $50 a bottle

Before you spend the money, please jump over to Reef Central in the Disease Forum and read the stickies posted by Steve Norvich (Snorvich) as this parasite has a well documented life cycle. There is tons of information written on what works, and 3x as much faulty info floating around about how to "manage" Ich.

If your fish has ich, then your system has ich as well.

If you want to cure it for good, you need to QT the fish with Hypo, Cu, or Tank Transfer method and let the tank run fallow for 8 weeks.

It sucks, but I have "been there done that" and re-booted my 180 system last year after a horrible outbreak of Ich. I treated the survivors for 4 weeks with Cupramine at .4ppm, left them in a QT tank for an additional 5 weeks and ran the 180 empty to starve all the Ich because there were no fish hosts.

I know many choose to add cleaner shrimp, Kick ich, cleaner wrasses, UV, etc.....all of which are a band aid.

What you see a cleaner shrimp picking at is actually the scar tissue after the parasite burst through the epidermis of the fish. The parasite is already burrowed in the sand waiting to hatch hundreds of new tomites to infect your newly added and stressed fish. UV is fine, but it only kills what runs through the filter.....the parasite lives in the substrate for the most part and since fish sleep in the same spot every night, that is why they tend to wake up infected and in worse shape than when they went to sleep.

If you wish to keep any of the tangs with a drier skin and less protective slime coat, you will likely see the parasite on your fish as the life cycle repeats unless you treat it for good. You may see the symptoms disappear as the life cycle progresses, but you are only a power failure, new addition (IE- Stress), or other trigger to cause a massive outbreak.

Education about this parasite can save a lot of heartache (and dollars) in this hobby. Hope the links on RC help.

Larry

[Travis8896]

Thank you Larry I learned a lot by reading those but I am still troubled by 1 problem and that problem is that I do not have a qt big enough for all my fish.

I need to find someone with a qt big enough for all my fish and see if they would let me borrow it or qt my fish for some kind or fee or trade.

Do you know anyone with a qt that I would be able to do that with and it be big enough to hold all my fish?

[Travis8896]

Still looking for someone with an established qt system the 2 tangs are already in a qt system but I have to get the rest of fish in a qt soon

[volcano]

Before you spend the money, please jump over to Reef Central in the Disease Forum and read the stickies posted by Steve Norvich (Snorvich) as this parasite has a well documented life cycle. There is tons of information written on what works, and 3x as much faulty info floating around about how to "manage" Ich.

If your fish has ich, then your system has ich as well.

If you want to cure it for good, you need to QT the fish with Hypo, Cu, or Tank Transfer method and let the tank run fallow for 8 weeks.

It sucks, but I have "been there done that" and re-booted my 180 system last year after a horrible outbreak of Ich. I treated the survivors for 4 weeks with Cupramine at .4ppm, left them in a QT tank for an additional 5 weeks and ran the 180 empty to starve all the Ich because there were no fish hosts.

I know many choose to add cleaner shrimp, Kick ich, cleaner wrasses, UV, etc.....all of which are a band aid.

What you see a cleaner shrimp picking at is actually the scar tissue after the parasite burst through the epidermis of the fish. The parasite is already burrowed in the sand waiting to hatch hundreds of new tomites to infect your newly added and stressed fish. UV is fine, but it only kills what runs through the filter.....the parasite lives in the substrate for the most part and since fish sleep in the same spot every night, that is why they tend to wake up infected and in worse shape than when they went to sleep.

If you wish to keep any of the tangs with a drier skin and less protective slime coat, you will likely see the parasite on your fish as the life cycle repeats unless you treat it for good. You may see the symptoms disappear as the life cycle progresses, but you are only a power failure, new addition (IE- Stress), or other trigger to cause a massive outbreak.

Education about this parasite can save a lot of heartache (and dollars) in this hobby. Hope the links on RC help.

Larry

I have seen a lot of Ich problems with keepers here and I too have been directing them to those stickies.   Excellent info you offered to Travis!

[Travis8896]

It was very helpful Info it is what made me.decide to pull all fish to clear the tank but I need a second established qt tank or I have to wait on the one to cycle

[charlieweaver]

You don't need a cycled tank I started a brand new tank for qt just a week ago because I'm doing hypo on all my fish. And you should be checking for ammo everyday and doing water changes almost every day or every other day. All my fish are doing great and have not seen any ich since sg reached 1.008 and I do see ammo about every other day so I do 5 gallon changes everyday.

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[Twizted1]

What cycles in a tank is not the water. It is the sand, rock, ect you put in the tank. When I set up my qt, I use water from a large water change out of my tank. Add fresh water to and a powerhead or 2 to get the proper salinity. Add fish. Qt tanks can be made out of anything. Those large tubs from Walmart, a brute trash can ect work good. Pylon a filter on it & do regular water changes. I think sometimes we make things in this hobby more difficult than it really has to be. And our fish are way tuffer than way give them credit. I know I do the same.

[Travis8896]

Charlie how big is ur qt? And Joe I have a 30 gallon tank to use 

[charlieweaver]

Its a 28gallon cube. And I have 2 tangs 3 damels 2 gobys and a royal gramma in there and its already starting to cycle its self well I can do changes only about every 3 days now before ammo starts to show.

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[Travis8896]

Ok thanks for the info I'll be setting my 30 up tonight or tomorrow