Dodged the bullet for nearly 20 years but now...

[patsfan1130]

I have Ich in my 90g display. It's my own fault. the 1 time I dont QT a newcomer and I get it I have never dealt with this before so I am somewhat of a noob when it comes to treatment...

anyway, I have a few questions regarding options if you dont mind....

It is a FOWLR. Inhabitants are a 5'' Maroon clown (my baby), 5'' yellow tang and a 2-3'' flame angel. the clown got it first and now the other 2 as well. it's been 4 days now and they are still in the DT.

I set up a QT last night with freshly mixed water, a filter and a heater. It's a 20g long (best I can do). I am fearful of moving them to the tank as I fear it will stress them out even more (netting them & then being in a much smaller tank). Plus, this QT tank is not an established tank. I took no water from the DT. with the eventual spike in Ammonia due to it being brand new...this causes a potential problem and I am not sure how to solve it.

also, I was thinking last night....would it be wise to just keep them in the DT and perform hypo? I am unsure if this would cause any ill effects. it would however keep them from being completely stressed out being moved and living in a 20g for 6 weeks?

Finally, If moving them to the QT is my best move...should I go with hypo or coppersafe?

Thanks a ton for your input!
Mark

 

[LargeAngels]

Are you sure it is ich and not velvet? Hypo only works for ich, not velvet. Personally I would treat with Cupramine copper. Less toxic than copper safe.

Some good reading material: http://atj.net.au/marineaquaria/treatments.html

 

[Crush Coral]

One great advantage of a fowlr tank is being able to just treat the tank as long as you will not be adding corals. I keep reading about not being able to use rock after treating with copper, though I am not sure that it is not a wives tale. I agree with the cupramine after verifying your tank is at it's cleanest. I have a 20 long qt with a back filter which is established. If doing what you are I would add a good little skimmer and also seed the filter with a bag of sand or live rock or something from your display. I would also remove 75% of the new h2o and put in h2o from your established tank to add more bacteria. good luck, ich sucks.