Post Ich Disaster

[jackalexander]

So I had gone through an ich outbreak and long story short, I had a few unfortunate deaths. My powder brown, cleaner wrasse, clownfish and damsels. The only survivor was my diamond goby and probably because they are quite disease resistant and he was constantly getting cleaned by my shrimp. He got ich and beat it with ease. So i’m wondering what’s the next step? Will I have to go fallow/ only my goby? Would I have to wait the full 72 days or would it be shorter because it was eradicated from the goby?

 

[Jesse O.]

So I had gone through an ich outbreak and long story short, I had a few unfortunate deaths. My powder brown, cleaner wrasse, clownfish and damsels. The only survivor was my diamond goby and probably because they are quite disease resistant and he was constantly getting cleaned by my shrimp. He got ich and beat it with ease. So i’m wondering what’s the next step? Will I have to go fallow/ only my goby? Would I have to wait the full 72 days or would it be shorter because it was eradicated from the goby?

Sorry to hear about your loss, it can be really hard to lose fish that we care for. I would recommend breaking down your tank and cleaning/ bleaching it to remove any trace of the disease. Alternatively you could use copper treatment to kill the disease in the tank without having to break it down. Be smart about what you do and make sure you are confident that the disease has been dealt with because you don't want any more casualties.

 

[spfahnestock]

Sorry to hear about your loss, it can be really hard to lose fish that we care for. I would recommend breaking down your tank and cleaning/ bleaching it to remove any trace of the disease. Alternatively you could use copper treatment to kill the disease in the tank without having to break it down. Be smart about what you do and make sure you are confident that the disease has been dealt with because you don't want any more casualties.

I am not sure that I would go to this extreme. If it was me and I have been in this situation before I would let the tank run its course for 30 to 60 days and then start rebuilding. I would not sacrifice all the beneficial bacteria that I had worked on for something like this.

 

[Tamberav]

So I had gone through an ich outbreak and long story short, I had a few unfortunate deaths. My powder brown, cleaner wrasse, clownfish and damsels. The only survivor was my diamond goby and probably because they are quite disease resistant and he was constantly getting cleaned by my shrimp. He got ich and beat it with ease. So i’m wondering what’s the next step? Will I have to go fallow/ only my goby? Would I have to wait the full 72 days or would it be shorter because it was eradicated from the goby?

Ich is still present if the goby is. Just because the goby does not show signs doesn’t mean it isn’t there. It only takes one. The goby is asymptotic not cured.

Remove the goby and go fallow. You can try a shorter period of 6 weeks if you turn the temp up to 82.

 

[Familyman2010]

So I had gone through an ich outbreak and long story short, I had a few unfortunate deaths. My powder brown, cleaner wrasse, clownfish and damsels. The only survivor was my diamond goby and probably because they are quite disease resistant and he was constantly getting cleaned by my shrimp. He got ich and beat it with ease. So i’m wondering what’s the next step? Will I have to go fallow/ only my goby? Would I have to wait the full 72 days or would it be shorter because it was eradicated from the goby

Ich is still present if the goby is. Just because the goby does not show signs doesn’t mean it isn’t there. It only takes one. The goby is asymptotic not cured.

Remove the goby and go fallow. You can try a shorter period of 6 weeks if you turn the temp up to 82.

I had an Ich disaster as well and unfortunately lost all. Quite disturbing and I know the feeling. I turned up the temp to 84 and left my tank empty for 2 months to ensure there was no parasites to take my new family away. Best to be patient in this case.

 

[Clownfish_Boy]

Alternatively you could use copper treatment to kill the disease in the tank without having to break it down.

Wouldn't copper make a reef tank uninhabitable for inverts ?

 

[Familyman2010]

Wouldn't copper make a reef tank uninhabitable for inverts ?

yes it would. Removing to another tank is the only way to treat Ich with copper

 

[jackalexander]

Ich is still present if the goby is. Just because the goby does not show signs doesn’t mean it isn’t there. It only takes one. The goby is asymptotic not cured.

Remove the goby and go fallow. You can try a shorter period of 6 weeks if you turn the temp up to 82.

i can’t move the goby anywhere else unfortunately. None of my other tanks are hooded and they are known to be extremely suicidal..

 

[Familyman2010]

i can’t move the goby anywhere else unfortunately. None of my other tanks are hooded and they are known to be extremely suicidal..

Do you have corals?

 

[jackalexander]

Do you have corals?

yes, hammers, gsp, montipora, acros, etc..

 

[Familyman2010]

yes, hammers, gsp, montipora, acros, etc..

Okay no copper treatment. Unfortunately if you cannot remove the goby and run with no fish your going to take the gamble with Ich and hope your fish you get going forward has strong immune systems to fight it off

 

[tehmadreefer]

That wasn’t ich, as Ich doesn’t kill fish. Most likely velvet.

 

[PSU4ME]

I agree, suspect velvet over ich.

Do yourself a favor and rehome the goby and take your tank fallow. Different time lines depending on the temp you want to run it at. Temp is likely determined by what’s remaining (coral wise).

once you run fallow, take a look into a QT or buying QTd fish

 

[vetteguy53081]

So I had gone through an ich outbreak and long story short, I had a few unfortunate deaths. My powder brown, cleaner wrasse, clownfish and damsels. The only survivor was my diamond goby and probably because they are quite disease resistant and he was constantly getting cleaned by my shrimp. He got ich and beat it with ease. So i’m wondering what’s the next step? Will I have to go fallow/ only my goby? Would I have to wait the full 72 days or would it be shorter because it was eradicated from the goby?

Do the fallow and 72 days is no longer an industry standard. You can do 50-60 days

 

[Tamberav]

i can’t move the goby anywhere else unfortunately. None of my other tanks are hooded and they are known to be extremely suicidal..

can just put some netting over it or make a QT out of a plastic bin with a plastic top. All my QT tanks are plastic bins and tap water with prime.

This way the bins are lightweight, don’t break easy and can be repurposed to hold other items if not used any longer. Lids are tight fitting. I do hybrid TTM.

Besides it sounds like you have velvet and not ich.

Otherwise just give the fish to the LFS but let them know it was sick so they can put it in their QT/copper treated tanks.

 

[jackalexander]

can just put some netting over it or make a QT out of a plastic bin with a plastic top. All my QT tanks are plastic bins and tap water with prime.

This way the bins are lightweight, don’t break easy and can be repurposed to hold other items if not used any longer. Lids are tight fitting. I do hybrid TTM.

View attachment 1973323

Besides it sounds like you have velvet and not ich.

Otherwise just give the fish to the LFS but let them know it was sick so they can put it in their QT/copper treated tanks.

Going to buy some stuff for the QT i want to setup. Unfortunately, my LFS doesn’t even run their tanks with copper. it’s terrible watching fish after fish die and suffer from diseases.