Ich Outbreak!

[andiesreef]

The sad thing about all of this is that people go fallow and still get ich a week later or even 3 days later. Keep doing research on here. It’s a cluster of contradicting information. People have success quarantining and not quarantining. People quarantine and the fish die in quarantine due to stress, but they don’t tell you that. Well the honest ones do. Anyway, to answer you initial question because you have no other option than your display you’ve got two options. Lower your salinity to .009, and raise the temp in your aquarium to at least 82degrees, OR/AND try some medication that won’t hurt your corals something like Herbtana/Paraguard. Some People will say it works and some say meds don’t work. There’s so much information. You just have to TRY something. It may work and it may not. Look for failure so you can learn what you did wrong and can learn from it.

I've tried raising the temp in FW setups before with good results. Also, I could throw together a quarantine tank if need be. I have ParaGuard on-hand but i don't know if any ich med is truly "reef-safe". I'll probably remove them, treat for 2-3 weeks, and go fallow for 45-76 days (unsure).

 

[arking_mark]

i'll look further into the 45 day fallow plan. thanks for all your help. you've also said you've gone fallow 3 times, was it because the ich containment plan fell through? just trying to be the lowest-risk i can be. also, can i used cycled media in my QT?

Once before I started being careful and QT'ing.

Once from a local reefer where I just observed the fish b4 adding to my tank.

Once from cross-contamination.

Yes to using cycled media if you are doing doing the typical QT with Copper. However, you won't be able to add the media back to your display tank.

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[StPatrick89]

I've tried raising the temp in FW setups before with good results. Also, I could throw together a quarantine tank if need be. I have ParaGuard on-hand but i don't know if any ich med is truly "reef-safe". I'll probably remove them, treat for 2-3 weeks, and go fallow for 45-76 days (unsure).

Hyposalinity works well too.
godspeed on fallow. I just hope it works out for you.

 

[Peng1606]

It’s really up to you how much risk you want to take... some ppl advocate ich management and they get lucky, and some have tried that and lost lots of fish.
For me personally, I treat all fish and quarantine for 21-30 days depending on species. I also quarantine all inverts and corals for 45 days before placing in display. Yes, I have lost fishes in quarantine - some to disease like uronema and some for no obvious reason. Ppl say they don’t quarantine because the fishes get stressed and die etc... but lots of ppl place fish directly in tanks and they also die after 1-2 weeks (enough posts here on R2R showing that). Fish die regardless from of shipping stress, methods used to catch them etc. But I would rather they if they die from disease that they are in quarantine than infect my 750 gallon system.
I have been keeping marine/reef tanks since 2003 and have tried all the different methods... not quarantining/ ich management/ etc etc. But with my current system and 80+ fish I cant afford a disease outbreak and wipeout.

 

[andiesreef]

thank you so much. i hope it works too

Hyposalinity works well too.
godspeed on fallow. I just hope it works out for you.

 

[andiesreef]

I've never had Ich in my Marine tank in about four years of saltwater fish keeping - however I would spend the $100 or so bucks to get a quarantine tank; it is 100% worth it even it it just sits in your garage most of the time. I run just a small 10g tank, filter with Purigen, heater, setup an airstone, and dose Ich-X on all arrivals for their first week of two week quarantine. No gravel/sand and do a 50% water change every day (do give them something to hide in though). Running purigen lets me setup/breakdown the tank without cycling and aggressive water changes seems to keep problems at bay. Interestingly I run the same method on my freshwater fish and actually had some new freshwater arrivals breed in their quarantine tank.

I set up a quarantine tank earlier today. Consolidated some FW tanks and threw together a 10 gal with an airstone, heater, and filter. Waiting for the salt to settle and will add in fish tomorrow. Can I use cycled media from my DT as that's all I have right now? And what else do you do during the 2-week quarantine? Also, do I need to go fallow?

 

[arking_mark]

If you don't go fallow, you need to do ich management as it will always be in your tank.

See above...

 

[Peng1606]

I set up a quarantine tank earlier today. Consolidated some FW tanks and threw together a 10 gal with an airstone, heater, and filter. Waiting for the salt to settle and will add in fish tomorrow. Can I use cycled media from my DT as that's all I have right now? And what else do you do during the 2-week quarantine? Also, do I need to go fallow?

I only use sponge filters in my quarantine and they work great. A small bowl of sand if it’s a wrasse that needs sand. Other than that I add microbacter 7/biospira. Also have seachem safe/prime to neutralize ammonia, copper power and Hanna copper checker. All equipment and quarantine tank is in separate room far from my display to reduce chance of cross contamination.
I usually change 30% water once a week with new medicated water so copper levels don’t drop. Other than that it’s minimal maintenance for me.

 

[R33fDaddy]

Hi, I've read this thread and I'm somewhat of an Ich Expert. I don't believe in Ich Management at all, it's pretty silly if you really think about it. We spend thousands of dollars in this hobby and no one wants to have that money go down the drain by trying to "manage" ich. Did you already get a QT Tank?

 

[andiesreef]

Hi, I've read this thread and I'm somewhat of an Ich Expert. I don't believe in Ich Management at all, it's pretty silly if you really think about it. We spend thousands of dollars in this hobby and no one wants to have that money go down the drain by trying to "manage" ich. Did you already get a QT Tank?

yup, 10gal QT

 

[R33fDaddy]

yup, 10gal QT

Do you have any Coral in your display Tank and if so can you take it out (and place it in Quarantine) if needed?

 

[andiesreef]

Do you have any Coral in your display Tank and if so can you take it out (and place it in Quarantine) if needed?

yes, softies and lps, and i don't have another QT.

 

[R33fDaddy]

yes, softies and lps, and i don't have another QT.

You basically have two options at this point.
1. Get rid of Ich and never have to deal with it again.

2. Try to live with it which I believe is impossible and will eventually force you out of the hobby or drastically limit the types of fish you keep.

Option one is a little more work but it makes the hobby so much more enjoyable.

If you want to totally get rid of ich forever I'll gladly help you. It's not expensive, it'll just take a little more effort on your part. I'll post all the steps here if you want to go this route.

 

[andiesreef]

You basically have two options at this point.
1. Get rid of Ich and never have to deal with it again.

2. Try to live with it which I believe is impossible and will eventually force you out of the hobby or drastically limit the types of fish you keep.

Option one is a little more work but it makes the hobby so much more enjoyable.

If you want to totally get rid of ich forever I'll gladly help you. It's not expensive, it'll just take a little more effort on your part. I'll post all the steps here if you want to go this route.

sure, i'd love to hear your method.

 

[R33fDaddy]

sure, i'd love to hear your method.

This is my process for totally and permanently getting rid of Ich.

1. You're going to need two more tanks in addition to your display Tank. I know, sounds like a lot to deal with but hear me out. Fish and Coral costs hundreds of dollars tossing 30 bucks into a couple Petco tanks is a small investment. Petco has deals which you can get aquarium for less than a dollar a gallon. Then you need a cheap sponge filter and a hang on back filter.

2. Take all Coral and inverts out of your display Tank and put them in Quarantine. For Coral Quarantine a 20 Gallon Petco tank should big enough. If you can get a small frag of gsp that would be great.

3. The second tank you bought will be your hospital tank. This is where you will treat any New Fish for Ich, Velvet, Flukes, Worms, injuries or anything. This tank is truly a Hospital or ER for your fish friends.

4. This is going to be the hard part but it's the most important. You have to dose your display Tank with Copper. Ich is in your tank and no matter what you do it will always be in there unless you dose that tank with copper. Leave your fish in that tank and get some Seachem Cupramine Copper. Follow the instructions on the label precisely. You'll also need a Copper checker and I highly recommend the one made by Hanna. You also need to wipe down your sump and clean off any salt creep. Clean any area on or around your tank where water pools in anyway. You don't want to give the ich parasite anywhere to wait out this process.

5. Once Copper treatment is over do a 50 percent water change. Get some Seachem Cuprisorb and put it in a high flow area in sump or just a high flow area. Keep testing your water until your copper level is barley detectable. Leave the Cuprisorb in your sump.

6. Now you're ready to start your new Quarantine process. Step 5 should last any where from 2 weeks to a month. So your Coral Quarantine has been sitting a little while with no fish. Now you want to go out a get a new fish. Trust me, you need this new fish friend. Get a Square Tail Tang (tiny one) they are cheap and phenomenal at eating algea. You need to put this fish through Quarantine; so it'll go into your Hospital Tank for Copper Treatment. After Copper treatment, treat the fish with prazipro. This fish should spend 30 days in your hospital tank.

7. After your new tang friend has done 30 Days in the Hospital Tank you can move him to your Quarantine Tank with all your Coral and inverts.

8. Monitor your new tang friend in your Quarantine tank for 60 days. If you don't see any white spots and the fish is eating and in good health then congrats you're now ich free. If not put your new friend back in the hospital tank for treatment and steps 6 and 7.

9. If you want you can put the Square Tail tang in your display but personally I would live him in the Quarantine Tank until he gets to big for it.

10. You can now start adding coral back into your display Tank. I'd do one frag at a time, just to make sure all elements (alk, mag and calcium) present in the water. GSP would be a great coral to put back in your tank first.

I also would throw away any cheap items that could have ich like Nets. Any equipment you can't replace should be soaking in a bucket with copper and bleach throughout this process. However I would just get all new stuff.

Remember, from this point on NOTHING EVER goes directly into Display Tank. Nothing. Not even Copepods, not Chaeto Algae, nothing! This is very important. Assume everything you buy has ich on it or in it.

I have six Tangs in my display tank with no problems at all. I also have a bunch of coral in my display and Quarantine Tank right now.

I'm sure you have questions. Ask away