Help!!!!

[BlindParrot]

I am a college student living in an apartment with some friends. We are all passionate about aquariums and have a 150 gallon saltwater aquarium that we have been working really hard and working a lot to get money to create a beautiful centerpiece for our shared house. Recently though our fish started showing signs of ICH and almost everyone has it now from visually seeing it. We quarantine our fish before putting them in a tank but still sometimes stuff happens. In order to get rid of the ich we have to remove all fish from the tank for at least 80 days while the system is being treated. We do not have a quarantine tank big enough to house all the fish at once happily or a filter strong enough. So the next solution is to buy a UV sterilizer. As college student though that's about a months worth of saving at least to purchase that setup big enough for a 150 gallon aquarium. So we are reaching out in hopes that the hobby will help save he fish in this tank before the ich gets out of hand. We have a gofund me for money to buy a UV sterilizer and we also would accept any donations or maybe someone even has a UV sterilizer they don't want anymore. Anything to help would be appreciated! https://www.gofundme.com/uv-sterilizer-for-college-kid

 

[Mr. Eel]

Just Saying A Uv Sterillizer wont stop ich I will only prevent a bloom ich resides in the rocks for most of it's life cycle so it wont all run through the sterrilizer.

 

[mcgyvr]

So Luke... is UV sterilizer the new code word for beer?

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=21422
I've heard this can be used right in the tank to treat ich..

 

[James404]

UV isn't going to help, herbatana might be worth a shot. Going fallow for 72 days is probably the only option that will definitely work.

 

[Sk8r]

A: NEVER treat your dt or sump. It kills the bacteria and starts you over.
B: polystyrene buckets or even a Rubbermaid Brute trashcan, or a wastebasket with a garbage-sack liner can serve as a qt, given adequate aeration and water changes. In your situation, I'd recommend 2 Rubbermaid Brutes lined with garbage-sack and a TTM (look at the stickies) ---moving the fish to a clean new filter and tossing the water and old liner from the previous go at the recommended intervals. You'll need one more Brute for mixing the water, and a spare heater. That's a whole lot cheaper than a UV sterilizer, but you may have limited floor space for a while. At least the cans stack when not in use.

 

[crawlerman]

You can usually get a 55g cheap on craigslist for a second qt tank. Probably a cheaper and better option

 

[tjm9331]

A: NEVER treat your dt or sump. It kills the bacteria and starts you over.
B: polystyrene buckets or even a Rubbermaid Brute trashcan, or a wastebasket with a garbage-sack liner can serve as a qt, given adequate aeration and water changes. In your situation, I'd recommend 2 Rubbermaid Brutes lined with garbage-sack and a TTM (look at the stickies) ---moving the fish to a clean new filter and tossing the water and old liner from the previous go at the recommended intervals. You'll need one more Brute for mixing the water, and a spare heater. That's a whole lot cheaper than a UV sterilizer, but you may have limited floor space for a while. At least the cans stack when not in use.

+1 this is exactly what I'm going through right now. I had an ICH outbreak in my tank about 2 weeks ago. I didn't have a QT big enough to house all my fish either so I quickly ran out to Home Depot and bought a clear 50 gallon Rubbermaid container cost about $26. I had the heater and a small hang on back filter along with filter floss. I tossed in a few sections of PVC and started treating the fish with Cupramine. Plus I change about 5 gallons of water every day just to make sure ammonia is staying down. I know the preferred method is TTM but I didn't have room for 2 large Rubbermaid containers.

I am now almost 2 weeks into treatment and going to be leaving the tank fallow until the end of October.

If you have a QT for new fish then in a pinch I would use some of the equipment (filter/heater) from that to get your larger QT going. Granted the heater might be working overtime but at least you'll get your fish out and treated. Or go with sk8r's suggestion and do TTM with 2 brute barrels, which would probably be easier and cheaper in the long run cause once the TTM is complete you can move all the fish into a large Rubbermaid container and probably only have to do water changes every third day or so along with the ability to use Prime if need be.