Got Ich Hospital tank?

[huseman808]

sooooo, My tank looks like I have gotten ich. My 2 clownfish have the white spots on them. I have two damsels in there as well. Even though they are not showing any sings of it, I am sure that they probably have it to right?

Im going out to get a 10 gallon hospital tank today to get set up. What is the bast way to combat this, Ive never had Ich before. Ive researched 3 methods.
-Copper treatment
-Hypo-salinity
-Water Change Method

Is there a method that is tried and true? What all do I need in the hospital tank, besides filter and heater? do I need live sand, or can I just have the water only?

Also, I have a Coral Banded Shrimp, Is he susceptible to Ich?


Thanks Ich sucks

 

[bluegreg1997]

I'm in the same boat as you right now. 2 clowns with ich, what i did is poored 10 gallons from my main tank into the 10g hospital tank since it was already stabalized. Put a little bit of gravel in it after 2 weeks of still treating them with just some ick away medicine I picked up, added a tsp or 2 everyday and its been 3 weeks and they're getting better. Remember keep treating them untill a week or so after all their spots are gone. Just put in a whisper 30 hang on filter on it, a light, and heater. As go's for the shrimp, i have a pepperment shrimp in my tank and diidn't hospital him and he's still alive a well. Good Luck......

 

[shifty51008]

copper and hypo are the best methods to treat ich.the copper will require a good test kit and the hypo requires a refractometer (hydrometers arn't accurate enough for this)

and yes you are correct you will need to treat all fish and leave the main tank fishless for 6-8 weeks.

corals and inverts will not get ich so your shrimp is safe. plus the hypo and copper would kill corals and inverts

 

[Chris27]

Both Copper and Hypo are tried and true treatments - just pick one. Here are some pro's and cons:

Copper (pro)

-Cheap, only need a test kit and some copper, red sea makes a nice kit that comes with copper.
-Fast, when using ionic copper the parasite is gone within 2-3 weeks if you dose properly and keep the temp around 80F.
-Easy, no need to drop salinity, and no need to bring salinity back up slowly.
-Very easy on fish if dosed properly.
-Very very effective if dosed properly.

Copper (Con)

-Requires frequent testing and dosing up front.
-Can't use calcareous material (live rock, live sand) as a filter.
-Dangerous to fish if overdosed.

Hypo (Pro)

-No chemicals required, all you need is a calibrated refractometer or probe.
-Safe for fish temporarily, increases the energy of the fish allowing them to better fight off the parasite.

Hypo (Con)

-Requires a good deal of salt and water at the beginning and end of treatment.
-Need to slowly raise salinity over the course of a few days before they go back in the display.
-Can take a while to work, 4-6 weeks or longer.
-Initially very hard on a bio-filter.
-Harmful to fish's renal systems after being in hypo for a while.

Personally, I like ionic copper, it's easy, cheap and arguably the most effective against the parasite. Many will say that it is dangerous to fish, but I've used it on very delicate fish with great success. The trick is to dose properly and test often.

 

[huseman808]

I am going to go with the copper treatment. During my healing process, do I do any waterchanges to the hospital tank? or just top offs?

Thanks guys

 

[Chris27]

Water changes will depend upon the water quality. If you start having detectable ammonia, then yes you'll be doing water changes. As far as weekly/by weekly scheduled water changes, no they aren't required during QT. A reef needs nutrient export and trace mineral replenishment, that is why we do water changes there, SW fish only need some water that is free of ammonia or excess (<200ppm) nitrate.