30 days in hypo, now I see ich on 30th day

[janakaybravo]

Help! I was successful in quarantining my fish in hypo - 1.009 - it's been exactly 30 days now. I lost two during the process probably due to secondary infections. Anyway, I got up this morning and noticed a few spots on the blue tang. I was so looking forward to getting them back in the display.

I have checked the sg twice a day, all parameters twice a day, not with those test sticks. Yesterday I accidentally raised the ph from 8.1 to 8.4 pretty fast by mistake. I haven't seen ich on the fish since three days after beginning this, Dec. 20. It's now Jan. 20 and suddenly I see ich on the blue tang. I'm sure the sg hasn't gone past 1.009 and maybe once at 1.010, which I quickly fixed.
I am using a refractrometer too.

Anyway, I have a chance to buy a female bellus from a friend for $100, my favorite fish. She will go straight into quarantine. Should I just add her to qt tank and start all over? I'm so dissappointed. I thought I had won the battle with ich. Could I just get rid of the blue tang? Do they have different kinds of ich? I know they're more susceptible to it, but I am determined to have a ich free display tank.

Any suggestions? Can I put some of the fish into the display now that have shown no signs of ich for the month? In fact, some of them never showed signs of ich like my foxface who is getting picked on in qt.

Jana

 

[Rondelet]

Tricky!

Any chance you can give your friend a deposit to hold the Bellus for you for a few weeks? Introducing it now to your quarantine would be a mistake and would put you back to square one, when your are potentially very close to being finished with your current group of fish. Don't forget, while you may see and want a fish now - there will always be another chance down the road. There is really no need to rush purchases (although I've been there many times before and know that it's way easier said than done!).

As for the Tang, I would give it just a little more time (1- 2 weeks). As far as I'm aware they get the same species of Cryptocaryon as everyone else. It's possible that after all this time in hypo that the spots are not ich, but grains of said or something else. If they are ich, and your water has been hyposaline for a month, the parasites should be very stressed and have poor reproductive potential. That is, their ability to cause reinfection should be very low. I would hold the fish for another week or two and see what happens. If all is clear, you can then start the process of bringing your salinity up to match your display tank, which will take a few days. In theory, if the hyposalinity treatment was successful (and you have practised good biosecurity) you should not see any parasites if you have in fact eradicated them. If you really want to be "ich free" in your main display, you should hold your fish in full strength seawater in your quarantine for at least week or two to see if ich shows up under more favourable conditions for the parasite and then mover your fish over. Even then, however, there is never a 100% guarantee that you will have achieved your goal.

 

[janakaybravo]

Thank you so much. Good advice. I can probably hold off on the bellus for a couple of weeks. My friend is pretty nice about that. But do you know how hard it is to get a female bellus?

Thanks!!!!

 

[Rondelet]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6546457#post6546457 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by janakaybravo
Thank you so much....But do you know how hard it is to get a female bellus?

Glad I could help.

Yes, G. bellus are hard to get, but also hard to keep - all the more reason to be cautious. Given the price tag and inherent risks, you might consider setting up a temporary, 2nd Q tank. This way you could get the bellus, but partition the disease risk. The tank wouldn't have to be that big if it was a small individual. Just a thought.

 

[baobao]

As an additional check, you may want to raise salinity back to normal and then do a final 2 week copper treatment( call this insurance), then use coal to remove it, and see if you still have any ich left.

 

[Rondelet]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6549540#post6549540 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by baobao
...do a final 2 week copper treatment( call this insurance)..

I'm not in agreement with this suggestion. After a month in hyposalinity, any parasites that were left would be in a sorry state. The fish may also be a little frazzled after all the attention/handling/water quality changes. Copper has a very narrow therapeutic margin and could undo everthing at the 11th hour - in a manner of speaking. In other words, the benefits do not outweigh the risks.