Psionicdragon
New member
3 month of hypo at 1.009 then to 1.008
full blown ick again...so close to giving up
full blown ick again...so close to giving up
"ICH FREE TANK" Quest Begins
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
Triggerfish
Active member
i would give up the hypo treatment. i feel it's more hit/miss to begin with and could take many many months for full eradication.
not sure what your qt setup is and what you have in there..but i would recommend a 3 week Cu treatment.
Triggerfish
Active member
UPDATE
some type of breakout on the new angel shorty after i put him in.
not 100% sure it's ich as some of the spots are pretty large just on the pelvic fins. these spots look 4x as large as what i have seen before. no other fish display evidence of the parasite.
regardless,, i'm in the process of setting up the 29g again to use as the qt. i will use water from display and filtered media as well as biozyme.
PLAN
treat with Cu for 3 weeks.
keep main tank fallow for 8 weeks.
the saga continues.....
some type of breakout on the new angel shorty after i put him in.
not 100% sure it's ich as some of the spots are pretty large just on the pelvic fins. these spots look 4x as large as what i have seen before. no other fish display evidence of the parasite.
regardless,, i'm in the process of setting up the 29g again to use as the qt. i will use water from display and filtered media as well as biozyme.
PLAN
treat with Cu for 3 weeks.
keep main tank fallow for 8 weeks.
the saga continues.....
Psionicdragon
New member
Sorry for the lack of detail. I was sleepy when I posted.
Its a 300 gal tank with 8 tangs, 2 false, 1 golden head, live rocks, and dsb.
I would copper the fishs, but as you can see with 8 tangs, its hard to find another tank that can fit them. I just don't have room for 4 40 gal tanks.
I am starting to agree with you about the hypo, but it does help the fish to fight the ick. Though, it does not destroy all the eggs until maybe months. The reason why I did 3 months is because one spot would show up every now and then. I maintained it at 1.009 but then to 1.008 after talking to Lee. I made sure that it stayed there without any fluxing.
I believe I have been dealing with ick as long as you have
. I am still going to hypo the tank, but I am getting really tired of the problem.
Triggerfish
Active member
oh..you're hypoing the main tank.
yes.,,the treatment should indeed help the fish while keeping the parasite population very very low.
how's the LR look being hypoed..mine turned to crap..most of the coralline died off..leaving the rock looking mostly white.. took 3 months to come back to how it used to be.
i don't really know what to tell ya at this point besides mind as well keep the hypo going as long as the fish seem ok with it.
good luck.
Psionicdragon
New member
Lee said that you can keep the fishs in hypo for awhile without any adverse affects. This was from a conversation I had with him awhile ago thru pms.
The rocks didn't had any corraline, but I did have a huge green slime algae bloom that Chemi-clean didn't work.
The rocks didn't had any corraline, but I did have a huge green slime algae bloom that Chemi-clean didn't work.
Triggerfish
Active member
9/4 - Tank is fallow - fish were removed.
just waiting out the parasite deaths now.
just waiting out the parasite deaths now.
Triggerfish
Active member
i'm really not quite sure this fish has ich,,the rather large white areas look more like Lymph. seems to be around the outer edges of the body also and a few on the rear fin... i'm struggling a bit with getting an accurate ID here ich or not.
the fish did have ich in the store for about a 6-8 week period. but nothing that looked like what he has now.
it's only noticed on the fin areas..not on the body.
you can see it here on front fin.
the fish did have ich in the store for about a 6-8 week period. but nothing that looked like what he has now.
it's only noticed on the fin areas..not on the body.
you can see it here on front fin.
Triggerfish
Active member
whoa..just gleaned this from a reading:
"researchers have recorded rare instances where trophonts were able to encyst and reproduce without leaving the body of the host fish, essentially skipping the second life stage"
This is not the source of the research.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php
"researchers have recorded rare instances where trophonts were able to encyst and reproduce without leaving the body of the host fish, essentially skipping the second life stage"
This is not the source of the research.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php
Triggerfish
Active member
well..1/2 way thru fallow period...what a boring reef.
29g qt is finally starting to stabalize..what a battle that's been.
the blenny was looking so bad, i had to get him out and into a new 5g setup. he was able to recover quickly.
what a tuff time he had dealing with the NH3.
all those spots/bumps that were covering the outer edges and rear fin of the angel that i thought may have been the start of Lymph have disappeared.
currently doing a 2nd round of copper dosing in both tanks..i'm not sure the 1st 3 week dose took care of everything..i couldn't believe it.
29g qt is finally starting to stabalize..what a battle that's been.
the blenny was looking so bad, i had to get him out and into a new 5g setup. he was able to recover quickly.
what a tuff time he had dealing with the NH3.
all those spots/bumps that were covering the outer edges and rear fin of the angel that i thought may have been the start of Lymph have disappeared.
currently doing a 2nd round of copper dosing in both tanks..i'm not sure the 1st 3 week dose took care of everything..i couldn't believe it.
qt
qt
well its been a day over 6wks in hypo....3 baby blue tangs, 1 green chromis and 1 goby.. all eating like pigs and looking very healthy.... tank has been empty for 7 wks now...
today i mixed up some saltwater and tomorrow am going to start bringing up sal levels to match display...
cant wait to let the fish swim
qt
well its been a day over 6wks in hypo....3 baby blue tangs, 1 green chromis and 1 goby.. all eating like pigs and looking very healthy.... tank has been empty for 7 wks now...
today i mixed up some saltwater and tomorrow am going to start bringing up sal levels to match display...
cant wait to let the fish swim
Hang in there Triggerfish!
Vdub - sounds great! Just be patient and bring it up REALLY slowly (you don't want to blow it at this point)! Then QT everything including rocks and algae before you add it in and those blue tangs will never, ever have ich - Obsessive QT is alot of work but it is welll worth it in the end (I have two I raised from babies that have never had it - each are about 5 inches now)!
Vdub - sounds great! Just be patient and bring it up REALLY slowly (you don't want to blow it at this point)! Then QT everything including rocks and algae before you add it in and those blue tangs will never, ever have ich - Obsessive QT is alot of work but it is welll worth it in the end (I have two I raised from babies that have never had it - each are about 5 inches now)!
AquAsylum
New member
It's been a long time since I posted here, but a thread update email prompted me to provide some follow up.
To avoid telling the whole story, I'll summarize our experience like this: 120 gallon tank, didn't QT, added fish, everyone got ich, dismantled the whole tank, did a proper to-the-book hypo program for 11 weeks, returned fish to display, ich came back.
This was in July/August 2005. After the ich returned, I tried treating the main tank with "Kick Ich" which is one of the alleged magic treatments. Whether or not it helped, I really won't know. What I can tell you is that occasionally I still see a few spots on the hippo tang, but ich is no longer a factor in our tank. I think they're just living with it.
The painted fairy wrasse jumped to a death by air, and the chromis have cannabalized from a school of 6 to a lonely pair, but otherwise, all are well.
This is NOT an endorsement to let ich be- we lost 3 fish directly due to the ich at the beginning. I just wanted to give an example of a successful tank in spite of an infestation. Good luck to all!
To avoid telling the whole story, I'll summarize our experience like this: 120 gallon tank, didn't QT, added fish, everyone got ich, dismantled the whole tank, did a proper to-the-book hypo program for 11 weeks, returned fish to display, ich came back.
This was in July/August 2005. After the ich returned, I tried treating the main tank with "Kick Ich" which is one of the alleged magic treatments. Whether or not it helped, I really won't know. What I can tell you is that occasionally I still see a few spots on the hippo tang, but ich is no longer a factor in our tank. I think they're just living with it.
The painted fairy wrasse jumped to a death by air, and the chromis have cannabalized from a school of 6 to a lonely pair, but otherwise, all are well.
This is NOT an endorsement to let ich be- we lost 3 fish directly due to the ich at the beginning. I just wanted to give an example of a successful tank in spite of an infestation. Good luck to all!
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yeah im going to bring it up slowly over a few days and then monitor them for another couple of days to make sure....
what about QT'ing corals? i dont need any more live rock or cheato but i am always looking for new sps... i dip them in tank water with lugols solution before adding to my tank ( after acclimation) but i suppose they could carry "ich." will that 10-15minutes in the lugols solution destroy the parasite?
..
yeah im going to bring it up slowly over a few days and then monitor them for another couple of days to make sure....
what about QT'ing corals? i dont need any more live rock or cheato but i am always looking for new sps... i dip them in tank water with lugols solution before adding to my tank ( after acclimation) but i suppose they could carry "ich." will that 10-15minutes in the lugols solution destroy the parasite?
Triggerfish
Active member
it's best to quarantine everything if it came from a system that contained fish. it's very unlikely that unmounted softies could be a problem.
regarding the dip destroying any possible c.irritan cysts that could be on them is a good ?.
them things are durable to just about anything when they are in that stage..except exposing to air and drying out...
good to hear others are keeping things under control..
this will be the last ditch effort on my part. no short cuts or cutting corners everything will be followed exact.
it's going on 1 1/2 years now and although i have had a few slip ups in past treatment attempts,,i cannot continue beyond this point.
i would have been fine with the fish i had in the tank, they were fine for 3-4 months,,however, that will not satisfy me as i want a very busy reef setup..
we'll see what the heck transpires over the next couple months.
regarding the dip destroying any possible c.irritan cysts that could be on them is a good ?.
them things are durable to just about anything when they are in that stage..except exposing to air and drying out...
good to hear others are keeping things under control..
this will be the last ditch effort on my part. no short cuts or cutting corners everything will be followed exact.
it's going on 1 1/2 years now and although i have had a few slip ups in past treatment attempts,,i cannot continue beyond this point.
i would have been fine with the fish i had in the tank, they were fine for 3-4 months,,however, that will not satisfy me as i want a very busy reef setup..
we'll see what the heck transpires over the next couple months.
I QT everything including frags. Possibly over paranoid, but haven't had ich, redbugs, flatworms etc. in the main tank since I started this. I don't treat unless I see something wrong - but watch everything closely for a month to make sure before adding to the main tank. I leave the QT setup in the basement with live rock and chaeto in the sump and ceramic media in a filter (feed it once in awhile to keep it cycled). If something is wrong with a new arrival, I know I have to get rid of the chaeto and store or treat the rock. Usually, nothing is wrong (but if it is, it is still manageable in the QT).
Ich usually sneaks in through water column the frags are in, but cysts can sneak in on the actual frags too (rarely - I admit, but everyone I've read on these boards that doesn't QT EVERYTHING seems to eventually end up with something they don't want in the main tank)!
Dipping them is better than not - at least the ich cysts might come off that way and you should get rid of most other "bugs."
But if you have a big tank that you don't want to dismantle eventually - I would still QT all frags, macros... whatever... at least through the worst times of the ich life cycle (minimum a couple of weeks and a month is always best).
Ich usually sneaks in through water column the frags are in, but cysts can sneak in on the actual frags too (rarely - I admit, but everyone I've read on these boards that doesn't QT EVERYTHING seems to eventually end up with something they don't want in the main tank)!
Dipping them is better than not - at least the ich cysts might come off that way and you should get rid of most other "bugs."
But if you have a big tank that you don't want to dismantle eventually - I would still QT all frags, macros... whatever... at least through the worst times of the ich life cycle (minimum a couple of weeks and a month is always best).
Psionicdragon
New member
Well my update is:
Got a UV, trying to figure out where I should hook it up.
Lost my PBT, all tangs have HLLE. Purple tang has like some weird white thing attached to the body.
Oh, treatment is hypo.
Last effort here, after that I am just going to tear down the 300.
Got a UV, trying to figure out where I should hook it up.
Lost my PBT, all tangs have HLLE. Purple tang has like some weird white thing attached to the body.
Oh, treatment is hypo.
Last effort here, after that I am just going to tear down the 300.
I found out the hard way that hypo can be very difficult as is maintaining a cycle in QT. The QT method is worth it in the end. If you end up starting over with the fish and you maintain a QT religiously for everything after going fallow for a couple of months - you really may not have to ever treat them (depending on where you get them).
Sorry for your loss and best of luck!
Sorry for your loss and best of luck!
Triggerfish
Active member
well this totally blows!!!
after battling this qt for a month to cycle enough to zero out ammonia, i find my blenny dead.
one day appeared fine..next nite..dead
this is after 5 weeks in qt..
and figured it was one of the few times i did not check on the qt in the am..perhaps there may have been distress signs then..i didnt check on him till pm. i couldn't believe what i saw when i look in the tank. what ashame...
i noticed the ph was a bit low..or perhaps too much copper in qt for him to deal with...that really sucks...
my angel also wasn't acting normal... i dediced to carbon out some of the Cu and raise up the ph a bit. he seems to have improved.
i'm not exactly sure on the copper level in there as the kits reading no longer appear to be making any sense.
after carboning some of the Cu out, i will leave the remainder in and begin hypo treatment in addition.
i just need to check ph every couple days now...
after battling this qt for a month to cycle enough to zero out ammonia, i find my blenny dead.
one day appeared fine..next nite..dead
this is after 5 weeks in qt..
and figured it was one of the few times i did not check on the qt in the am..perhaps there may have been distress signs then..i didnt check on him till pm. i couldn't believe what i saw when i look in the tank. what ashame...
i noticed the ph was a bit low..or perhaps too much copper in qt for him to deal with...that really sucks...
my angel also wasn't acting normal... i dediced to carbon out some of the Cu and raise up the ph a bit. he seems to have improved.
i'm not exactly sure on the copper level in there as the kits reading no longer appear to be making any sense.
after carboning some of the Cu out, i will leave the remainder in and begin hypo treatment in addition.
i just need to check ph every couple days now...
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