Finally, the anemone is doing well and now ICH outbreak!

[jrobbins]

you are going to have to medicate the tangs for a few weeks for the copper to work. how big are the fish? two tangs in a 10 gallon and you might have more to worry about than the ich...

 

[michaelp]

Can ICH be dormant for a long time? I haven't added any fish since the reef swap. (Well, I did add two firefish from Jim, so maybe I should bring all my fish over to you guys for hospital visit

 

[reefman]

read up

ich is a pita. but having tangs, its almost impossible not to have to deal with ich. i'm glad every1 here is giving u the right advice.

 

[regal]

PBTs are ich magnet. I have been living with ich for years. It comes and goes especially when the fish are stressed for whatever reasons. In my case, temp fluctuation around the spring seems to bring it on. I learn to ignore it. As long as my tank is health, the ich goes away. I used to run a UV which seen to help. The UV has not been running since last summer. I have seen ich on my PBT and chevron since but they went away by themselves. If I took those tangs out at the time, no one would ever knew that the tank had ich since my other fish (regal angel, blueface, GSM clowns etc) are more resistant to them and had no signs of ich. Even though you don't see ich on your fish, it doesn't mean they are not in your tank.

 

[michaelp]

I posted my plan of action here. I also have a QT tank for future inhabitants.

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/diy-do-yourself/55389-hospital-tank-clean-trash-can-16-fish.html

 

[KathyC]

I have a display fuge big enough for the other fish but it's the same *water* as the main display (they are all plumbed together). I'm guessing you'd recommend not even using that though because the cysts could already be in the fuge?

IF it is possible with your system to totally disconnect the exchange of water between your DT & your sump, you could use your sump (if there is no rocks/sand in it) as your hospital tank IF you were going to treat the ich with ONLY Hyposalinity rather than copper. (you cannot allow copper to get into any part of you system - hence the different type of treatment.)
Obviously after the end of the 6 - 8 week period you would need to bring the salinity back up to prpoer levels before moving the fish back to the DT and syating your system back up.

btw - just because you cannot see ich on your other fish - that does not mean they don't have it. So please keep a close eye on those fish while they are in a QT tank.

One other thought - imo a garbage can is not a good use for a QT tank as you cannot visualize the fish for progress without removing them and causing them added stress. Some of the 'clear' totes will be better for your purpose.

If you do use a copper treatment - be SURE to get a chleated copper based medication and a TEST kit so that you will know the level of copper and be sure you have the correct dosage in the tank.