Possible Ich Situation Remedies?

[jacuglietto]

I recently came home to find that the only two fish I currently have in my 100 gallon FOWLR (Tomato Anemonefish and Skunkback Pseudochromis)are beginning to get Ich. My tank has tested in the preferable range for all of the standard tests, however I fear the dissolved oxygen levels might be low due to a quick water change I had to do with my RO/DI water. I have been letting air into the tank using a venturi valve on a powerhead.

I am going to go to the pet store today and pick up a 15-20 gallon hospital tank set up (tank / heater / PVC Pipe) and some copper medication. In the mean time, I have raised the temp of the tank to 78F and have made sure to inspect the eating habbits, which have been great.

My plan is to get these fish into the hospital tank, preferably with a divider and treat with the copper. I will use a powerhead/quickfilter that has been running in my tank as a filter and keep it on low speed, as I do not have a sponge filter on hand to pull out and use for this purpose.


My questions are:

Would a powerhead quickfilter be acceptable to use in place of a sponge filter since i have to get them out ASAP?

After keeping the fish in quarantine for about 4 weeks, will the Ich parasites still be thriving in my display tank with no hosts to attach to?

I also have a shipment of snails and macroalgae coming in in about 12 days, would it stilll be prudent to add these livestock?

Any advice would help.

 

[KathyC]

Yes it would be prudent to move them to a QT
It is best to leave the main tank devoid of fish for 6- 8 weeks to be sure the ich parasite has completed it's life cycle and is gone from the tank.

a few question:
-what was your temperature that you needed to raise it to 78 degrees?
-are both of these fish new to the tank? Assuming you hadn't QT'd them before adding.
-why do you feel there may not have been enough oxygen in the tank (that would be unusual considering you only have 2 fish in 100g of water), but more what would the quick water change have had to do with it? Was the water sitting for a long period of time prior to use?
- do you have a skimmer on the tank? (that is how the oxygen normally gets into our tanks)
- the use of a powerhead point up with it's flow 'breaking' the surface of the water works extremely well for gas exchange and should always be running like this 24/7 for the health of the tank.
-it is believed that snails cannot 'catch' ich, so go ahead and add them.

 

[h20 freak]

Ok well first you should read

this

and more importantly,

this

If you don't want to I'll sum it up


The second thread is a discussion on how it is believed that ich is always present and just waits for your fish to become susceptible(ie:when stressed, thats why most fish stores have some fish with ich,they where stressed from the shipping)

You said you brought the temp up to 78, how low was it before?

The process of catching your fish(which sounds like an ordeal in a 100 gal) and qt'ing will just stress them out more, especially catching them.

my post in the first thread I gave is my advice for you.

Many people have found that qt'ing can be worse then leaving things alone.


to answer your specific questions

Idk, I've never qt'd or looked into the topic even though I should for new fish

Like I said before, it is believed ich is always present

Sure, but I advise doing it at night so that you stress your fish as less as possible.


If you still want to qt, get a fish trap, thats probably the least stressful way of getting them out. Also, have the qt tank ready with tank water that is at the same temp of your tank.

 

[MikeyZO]

ditto.

 

[aznt1217]

Oh man... this sounds like my situation except you only have 2 fish on the line instead of 9

Anyway, before QTing I firmly believe catching him will stress the fish out more...

1. How new are the fish?
2. How many days has it been since you've seen the ich
3. Raise the temperature to 80-82 F (ich may possibly fall off)
4. If you don't have any inverts in the tank... it's time to do hyposalinity (dropping the salinity much lower so the ich doesn't survive)

What I suggest, feed garlic dipped food to your fish IMMEDIATELY see if they eat it. If they do that's a good sign. I am going through this exact situation ( you seem to be taking it better... I FLIPPED OUT), and I feel if you see the ich early enough and build the immune system up they can fight harder.

 

[jacuglietto]

Thank you all for your help. I got the two fish into a QT system relatively easy, and although keeping two fish in a small tank at the same time is not preferable, i feel i did what i had to do.

to answer some questions,
My temp was at 76, as I am running a fish only with live rock system, and I was under the assumption that the temp should be between 74 and 78.

These two were the first two in the tank (it had cycled for about 5 weeks, and they were my first additions this past weekend)

I did not QT them before adding, because i suppose i'm a moron.

no inverts, just LR, which i believe is compromised during hyposalinity, so im not sure if that would be practical in the display tank.

Now that I have the two in a QT and they have eaten, I will begin copper treatment in the morning and monitor them closely.

Interesting idea about Ich being in the system constantly, and after reading i happen to believe myself, but i would like to get these fish healthy before they go back in the big tank.

anything else you guys are willing to add would be a great help, thanks again.

 

[aznt1217]

I see you only had them this weekend. Highly doubt you have had to QT although it is recommended (I can't do it yet because financially I can't afford a running a QT tank).

-Hyposalinity wouldn't have affected the LR too much, the bacteria would still survive but the ich wouldn't.

-No problem using Copper Treatment you are doing the best thing possible and I am glad the fish are eating even after you took them out of the tank.

-As mentioned previously dip the food in garlic infused with some tank water. Boost that immune system up.

 

[jacuglietto]

The QT Setup only ran me 19 dollars from my local petland discounts. Picked up a standard 10 gallon (9.99) a glass lid(4.99) a corner filter (1.99) and a sponge from a small aquaclear powerfilter (1.99). I am seeding the sponge now in my display tank, and using a powerhead with a quickfilter to maintain the QT in the meantime. I threw in a few clean glass ball jars for hiding places, and used a heater that i had laying around. as for light, I've got a desk lamp shining on to it from about 10 inches back and it seems to do the trick.

Cant really say yet if I recommend using one or not, but so far, set-up was easy and the price was right.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS Quarantine new fish.

NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER Treat a display tank.

People here have tried the easy way out and failed. An easy QT/HT costs 20 to 25 dollars to purchase and set up when you need it. It's better than losing everything in your tank and rendering it uninhabitable for inverts and corals as I see it.

 

[basiab]

Don't bother seeding the filter because the copper will kill all the bacteria anyway. You have to keep doing water changes in the QT.

 

[Killerdrgn]

Don't bother seeding the filter because the copper will kill all the bacteria anyway. You have to keep doing water changes in the QT.

Wait if you keep doing water changes how do you keep the copper levels the same or more?

 

[KathyC]

Wait if you keep doing water changes how do you keep the copper levels the same or more?

That is exactly why you MUST have a Copper Test Kit if you are going to treat withcopper. Keeping the level of copper at the proper dose is extremely important...too low and it is useless, too high and it is toxic.