Ich...fix it now or wait

[rc4kinu]

I have fish in display tank that occationally get a mild ich infection. They always eat and sometimes scratch at things a bit but always recover. I want to rid the dt of ich but I'm debating if I want to go through the hassle and stress the fish by setting up and treating in a hospital/QT. Clowns and damsel will be somewhat easy to catch but goby will be a nightmare.

 

[Gogandantess]

I'd say go for it. Nothing ****es me off more about this hobby than ich.

 

[MR HONDA]

I would wait if you go trying to catch the fish and qt it will probaly make it worse i would feed heavy and watch water quality and not try to stress them out any more than they are..

 

[sedor]

I agree, leave it alone. I'm not going to start my preaching that I normally do when this topic comes up, but ich can be lived with in our aquariums and to actually get rid of it requires treating all animals, leaving the tank empty for 6 weeks and then treating every single thing that comes into the tank in the future otherwise you could risk re-introducing the parasite without even knowing it. I have always just maintained a proper feeding schedule and watched it come and go.

 

[Ninjapotamus]

Leave it alone. Tearing it all apart just to stress the fish probably would do more damage than the ich.

 

[discocarp]

I chose tear it apart in a 265g tank. I pulled the fish saturday. It was not fun, but I feel very good having them out and about to undergo proper treatment.

 

[firsttank]

I am in the same shoes and will tag along.

 

[rogerwilco357]

tear down

tear down

well ich does hit fast and strong if you have ta hospital tank up and waiting then just wait till it gets bad enough to warrant a tear down. If you have A
U.V light going that should help alot I had no problems with ich after installing my ultra violet light ..then the ballast went out and bamm this year i lost two fish to ich and had to hospitalize the other 4 . broke the tank down and doing it right . everyone gets quarantined now.
Roger

 

[kinlayan]

id just maintain excellent water quality and feed well with vitamins in the food and they will be fine, if they dont get subjected to too much stress

 

[lisafoster]

In the beginning I had an issue with ich I just left the fish alone I ended up losing them. I am not sure if this means anything but my tank is 1 1/2 year old and now I have no problems with disease. I have been stocking now I feel like my tank has stabilized.

 

[lmsmith]

I've got ich at the moment, but will be leaving it. I'm feeding well, and letting them ride it out. I believe that taking them out and QTing will create more stress.

 

[nixer]

i just got a new tang and this thing gets ich every night. then it gets rid of it about mid day. its still getting used to my tank and it hides every time i come near it. personally i think ich is just a thing that happens to some fish no matter what you do.

 

[lisafoster]

If the ich is gone mid day they are falling off the fish not gone that is part of the life cycle

 

[Reefir]

I just put in a powder blue a blue hippo and a yellow tang after a four week QT into my DT that has never had a problem and BANG.. powder blue got it in a few hours and the hippo got it the next day . I am currently running a uv and trying to treat with good food and garlic. QT was a waste of time since they got it from stress ????

 

[discocarp]

QT was a waste of time

QT is a waste of time if you don't do it right, and do it for everything. I successfully kept ich out of my tank for several years until I got sloppy with my quarantining. I used to treat all fish for ich before introducing them. In a moment of weakness (read:laziness) I used observational quarantine for a month. Fish appeared fine. Added them. BAM. Years old and VERY healthy tangs got ich. They weren't "stressed", but they sure got a nasty case of ich.

It is possible to keep ich out of your tank, but you just can't cut corners. If you aren't willing to do this, then I guess there is no point to tearing your tank down to treat the fish since you'll most likely bring it in later anyways. If you are willing to do it right, ich in the tank is a completely preventable problem. That is why I chose tear it down and treat. I KNOW I can keep ich out of my tank, I just made a stupid error.

 

[Untamed12]

I have lived with ich for three years now. (I suppose my fish have lived with it more than I have...) Recently, I lost my achilles tang of three years.

Either there was a sudden parasite population explosion, or my achilles suddenly lost his ability to resist the parasitic attack. Don't know which and I don't know why.

Other fish in the system continue to be relatively unaffected.

This is the way that ich seems to function in my system, fwiw.

 

[Gogandantess]

I would rather give the fish the quick stress of catching and quarantining(decent sized QT tank of course) than just letting the ich live on and on in the tank. And I also refuse to buy anymore Powder Blues or Blue hippos. IMO I still would fear them getting ich after QT for whatever crazy reason.