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

[michaelp]

I was just about to post how fish are so easy to take care of and invertebrates are such a pain.

Oh, then my powder blue tang starts rubbing himself on the sand. Hmm weird. A day later, him and the hippo have ICH methinks.

I don't have a QT tank. Any advice?

 

[Deanos]

There's tons of advice available on Manhattan Reefs. Search for "Cryptocaryon irritans". There's even a thread stuck atop this forum.

 

[michaelp]

I should have mentioned that I did read the sticky. The only available treatments for me seem to be

a) do a bunch of water changes and try to get the python down into the sand to maybe get some of those eggs out
b) monitor the fish to see if they seem to be dealing with it on their own
c) dose with garlic? although this seems a bit of an old wive's tale
d) freshwater dips if the fish don't improve

 

[Deanos]

I understand you don't have a quarantine tank, but can you set up a hospital tank?

 

[ecvernon]

good luck those two types of tangs love catching ich!!!!only if you could get something temporary to hold them in so you can quarantine them and medicate them. those are two beautiful fish you have there hate to see you lose them to Ich

 

[michaelp]

I went to petland and got an all in one 10g setup, so now I have a hospital. Do you think I can wait a few days though and see if it goes away on its own?

 

[Deanos]

Ah ha!! I thought you read the articles?!!? Marine ich doesn't just go away.

 

[michaelp]

It can! (I had it before and it disappeared). For instance, some people fed their fish ginger and then it disappeared

Ok ok, I'll go try to catch them

Ugh, catching 3 tangs in a 210g setup is not going to be fun

 

[probe dms]

i feel for you

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Wives tales huh? Garlic extract is an imune booster not a cure for ich. The only way to make the tank ich free is to leave it fallow (empty of fish) for a period of 6 to 8 weeks. Ich never goes away as long as it has something to feed on. Hospital tanks are nice and small good luck and make sure you have a copper test kit to test the water in the HT to make sure the copper levels don't get too high.

 

[masterswimmer]

Michael, I totally agree with chief about running the tank fallow for 6-8 weeks. Once you get the tangs out, you need to leave the 210 empty of fish for two months in order to allow all the ich cysts to run through their cycles without any hosts.

swimmer

 

[michaelp]

Ohhhhhh! Empty of ALL fish, not just the infected ones. aw, geez.

Frack. I only bought a 10g hospital tank. I'll need way more than that for all of my fish.

 

[MARCOANTONIOJR]

i went through the same prob....from my experience if u get clowns they r like immune to the stuff and i had a yellow watchmen thats was immune to it too....
i think u have to leave the tank for like 6 months or more without any fish that have it already and cross your fingers..especially if u have corals....u dont want to medicate anything... thats what i did

 

[masterswimmer]

Ohhhhhh! Empty of ALL fish, not just the infected ones. aw, geez.

Frack. I only bought a 10g hospital tank. I'll need way more than that for all of my fish.

The ich cysts live on sand, rock, etc. The ones that have hatched already can easily be seen on your fish. The ones that haven't hatched can infect any of your other fish if you don't get them out when the cysts do hatch. The ich cyst cycle could be: some hatch today, some tomorrow, some next week, etc. 6-8 weeks fallow is all you need to cover the full course, not 6 months.

I don't recommend putting the fish that haven't shown signs of ich into the same HT as the two tangs. The two tangs will be treated with APPROPRIATE dosages of copper. The other fish don't need that treatment.

Doing this course of treatment will rid your tank of the parasite. Leaving the other fish in the display while only taking out the tangs will not be a comprehensive treatment and you'll definitely leave an opportunity for marine ich to resurface.

HTH,
Russ

 

[Killerdrgn]

It can! (I had it before and it disappeared).

As you can see, it didn't actually go away, as you still have it. You just haven't seen them since then.

 

[michaelp]

So russ, if I read that correctly you are recommending I don't remove the other fish, BUT since this won't be a comprehensive treatment the ICH could come back? I'm confused.

 

[Deanos]

Don't place fish not showing signs of ich in the hospital tank. They'd have to go to a 3rd tank

 

[masterswimmer]

I recommend removing ALL fish. The Hippo and Powder Blue into the hospital tank with copper treatments. All the other fish into another QT tank, untreated, unless signs of ich appear on those fish.

The display should be left fallow for 6-8 weeks.

Hopefully that was short and sweet (and understandable ).

Russ

 

[michaelp]

All the other fish into another QT tank

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?

 

[masterswimmer]

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?

Correct.