Fish only tank with ich. Need help!!!

[Mrmole]

Hello everyone, i have a 700l tank with bio spheres, skimmer. I just introduced a wild cought juvenile blue stripe angel and quickly discovered that my hippo tang gets salt spots couple days after. Now hippo tang is having more spots. I can only observe right now spots on the hippo. I have 2 cleaner shrimps, a big starfish, yellow tang, purple tang, hippo tang, blue green 5 chromis and a blue strip angel. All fish are eating well. I want to get rid of ich in my tank permanently, what do you suggest?

I want to take out the inverts and do hyposalinity in my main tank. What do you think??

 

[snorvich]

Please read here.

 

[Spar]

if you do decide to do hypo on your DT, you will have a pretty big die-off of organisms causing ammonia that is difficult to maintain. you actually have a fairly manageable number of fish that you might want to consider just removing them from your DT to treat with either copper or TTM. then leave your DT fallow for 12 weeks to allow the Ich to die off.

but, if your only option is leaving your DT intact, then Hypo is your only option. just make sure to be ready to do a lot of water changes and dose ammonia detox frequently (possibly daily to every-other-day). make sure you are using a calibrated refractometer and an auto-topoff RO/DI system.

 

[Mrmole]

Sorry what is ttm?

 

[Spar]

Sorry what is ttm?

Tank Transfer Method

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2388428
^will explain it

 

[Mrmole]

Thanks. Will keeping the tank fallow 12 weeks eliminate ich permanently?

Also how should i set up my qt to be able to handle 3 large size tangs? How big and what filtration do i use?

If i do the ttm, i must then put them back onto a qt while waiting for the dt to go throught the 12 weeks fallow right?

 

[Spar]

Thanks. Will keeping the tank fallow 12 weeks eliminate ich permanently?

Also how should i set up my qt to be able to handle 3 large size tangs? How big and what filtration do i use?

If i do the ttm, i must then put them back onto a qt while waiting for the dt to go throught the 12 weeks fallow right?

there was a study conducted on Ich several years ago that had 72 days as the longest that an Ich cyst stayed active for before hatching... so in the hobby we trust in that 12 weeks should eliminate the presence of Ich in your DT (assuming no fish are ever present during that time). of course, bad luck could have you in a situation where a cyst stays encysted longer than 12 weeks, but it highly unlikely.

how large is large (tang size)? tang temperament is so inconsistent, that what works for one person may very well not work for another. i have used as small as a 30g tank to QT 6 3" tangs in and got lucky, although I wouldn't recommend that to anyone else. I'd recommend no less than a 40g breeder for the 3 tang's, 55g if you can. filtration, just use a HOB filter and a powerhead for current. just keep up with water changes and monitor ammonia. big PVC attachments for hiding places.

you are correct about TTM in that you will complete TTM in 12 days, then you will need to house them separate from your DT for the remainder of the 12 week period.

 

[Mrmole]

Thanks! I will show progress

 

[Mrmole]

Cupramine ready

Cupramine ready

Guys I manage to get cupramine by seachem and ready to dose. However the instruction is really tricky. I have a 170 liter QT with sponge filter. Fish are showing quite some spots. How much should I dose?

I did 60 drops 48 hours ago

and now I just dosed one more time 60 drops.
From first dose until now fish show more spots.
I know its risky but I can't get a hold of a copper test anywhere and I live in S.E. Asia.

Please help with the dosage.

Thanks

 

[ThRoewer]

I would never do hyposalinity (or any treatment) in a DT - you just don't have the control you need during treatment.

For a large number of fish TTM is not really a practical choice and hyposalinity tends to cause bacteria blooms, which can cause complications with sensitive fish.
In a case like this I would treat with CP in hospital tanks.

 

[Deinonych]

Guys I manage to get cupramine by seachem and ready to dose. However the instruction is really tricky. I have a 170 liter QT with sponge filter. Fish are showing quite some spots. How much should I dose?

I did 60 drops 48 hours ago

and now I just dosed one more time 60 drops.
From first dose until now fish show more spots.
I know its risky but I can't get a hold of a copper test anywhere and I live in S.E. Asia.

Please help with the dosage.

Thanks

Without a test kit, there's no way for us to gauge how many drops to add. Copper should be tested daily at a minimum, and preferably twice daily, to ensure therapeutic levels are maintained. Copper levels can vary over time; it is not a "one and done" medication.

 

[Mrmole]

Reporting from last night. The fish are looking healthy and active. We are on the 7 days on cuperamine and the fish are eating like pigs.

The tangs got lymphocyst for 2 days and lost a bit appetite but looking good now. I can still see some cyst on the tangs but they are eating well.

Everything is doing right except the juvenile blue line angel is looking weaker than before and is not eating.

Any suggestion to help the angel eat?

 

[Mrmole]

I lost the hippo, purple tang and 2 nemos today. High temperature rise in qt. I wasnt home to turn on Ac . They didnt make it to the end of fallow period in display tank. Poor fish... I need confort.

 

[Sapelo]

Sorry for your losses. Most of us have made dumb mistakes and suffered the consequences. I think the key now is to learn from what has happened and move forward.
Clearly you have ICH in your DT so no fish for 72 days to clear that up. In the meantime, learn a lot (Everything? As much as possible?) about proper QT methods.
QT will not save every fish, but it will save your DT if done properly.
You were watching your tank and your fish, you knew you had a problem and you acted to try to correct it. That's very good. Don't beat yourself up too much but do learn how to prevent this in the future. Good luck to you!

 

[Spar]

agreed with Sapelo. if i beat myself up every time i did something stupid that cost the life of a fish or coral/invert, I would be dead by now. it is just something that happens unfortunately.

the important part is to not make the same mistake twice! QT'ing has helped me accomplish that over the years.

 

[Mrmole]

Thanks guys. Feeling already better. Moving on. This is also my first QT tank. I never qt anything before.