"ICH FREE TANK" Quest Begins

[markcasto]

I was using a swing arm hydrometer made by coralife it would give me a reading of say 1.020 but with the deltic I got 1.015 so the deltic is much better and far easyer to read as well just add 3 drops and look at the scale for a spot on reading. In fact if I had done hypo with the coralife I would have gone way to low. I have two of them and a glass one they are both out compared to the deltic refractometer heres a link to the deltic

http://www.shop-coralgarden.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=365

 

[Triggerfish]

ya didn't have any small air bubbles on the swing arm did ya..that will whack it out..
my swing arm is reading 1010 now..so perhaps i should just leave the level where it is..:eek1:

 

[markcasto]

No I cleaned it carefully and checked it against the glass one to see if there was any noticeble diff. The glass one was slightly more accurate but the deltic gives the best reading I could not get it to 1.009 with out the deltic and be certain it was at 1.009. I know that for certain having tested them all against it. I dont normally like to spend my money on things if I can diy it or find a cheaper method but this was money well spent I feel. Compared to the cost of my fish that is...

 

[markcasto]

If your not sure I would stick to 10 that sounds a safe bet...

 

[cduran02]

Its been six weeks this past wed. that my "kids" been in the hospital tank. I treated for 2 weeks with coper. I was about to put them back in the display tonight when I get home and now I read that I would possibly need to wait another 2 week. The display has been void of fish, only a couple of snails, hermits, shrimp and horseshoe craps left. The display temperature has been around 75 ~ 76 degress throughout the whole six weeks.

Do I really need to wait another 2 weeks to put them back in? Was the temperature in my display too low?

 

[cduran02]

I have no problem waiting another 2 weeks since my hosp. tank is fully cycled. I just feel bad for the poor kids being in such cramped conditions.

 

[markcasto]

Every thing I have read said to wait 6 weeks but I guess 2 more will not do any harm. Its tough not having fish in your main tank thats for sure but better safe then sorry as they say.I will not be letting anything back in my maintank untill I am 99% sure the itch is not present and my maintank is free of it.

 

[tjay]

I went with a refractometer when I started low salinity.
We had been using a swing arm before, and side by side comparisons showed the swing arm to be off in every case by as much as .05

Having read the warnings about the need to be accurate with low salinity both for effectiveness and safety I made the call to bite the bullet and buy one.

I am glad I did, they are much easier to take readings with and all you have to do to calibrate or check it is test your ro/di water.

My next buy is a pinpoint ph meter.

I am going to start dripping kalk in my display this weekend. Man talk about a lot of reading. I have an issue in my main tank with what appears to be low ph. But I honestly think it is the test kit I am using.

One of the things I am doing to battle the impatience with 6-8 weeks of fallow is to spend that time learning chemistry and getting my calcium/alk/ph routines down pat.

 

[cduran02]

I guess Ill wait another 2 weeks.

I need to get one of those refractometers, I was using a swing arm at first, but then I borrowed an ultrasound density meter from my job and Ive been hooked on it since. It gives specific gravity readings with a resolution of 0.00002, but its a $2500 instrument that I will have to return some time soon. Untill then, Im probably one of the very few reefers that knows with 99.9999% confidence the specific gravity of the aquarium.

I wanted to try hypo, but there were some hit and mises with hypo, seems that copper is the only 99.9% sure shot.

 

[Triggerfish]

if your tank has been fishless for 6 weeks and as long as temps have been at tropical levels, that should be all that is needed. if your fish have not shown any signs of the parasite for 6 weeks, you should be set.

looking into a refrac group buy..just to think that my sg could possibly be as low as 1005., holy crap.
just been spending so much damn money past 3 months on stuff with this tank.. but this is pretty darn important..

yes,,the refract and the ph meter are good tools of the trade to eventually acquire..i had a ph meter but got rid of it when the $50 probe needed replacement.

 

[tjay]

wow how long did the probe last?
what brand did you have?

 

[Triggerfish]

pinpoint ph meter..the probe lasted about a year..
i believe there is a less expensive unit on the market now..and the replacement probes are about $35.

 

[tjay]

what brand, if you find it let me know.
I really want to make that my next buy. I am bound and determined to have a disciplined regiment in place by the time I get to add back fish.

 

[Triggerfish]

ah,,ya made me look it up.
even found it on sale for ya.


http://www.thatpetplace.com/Products/KW/ph,meter/Class//T1/F73+0288+0003/EDP/32613/Itemdy00.aspx

 

[tjay]

thanks, I will let you know how it goes.
Going through this with others makes it a lot more enjoyable.

Going for week 2!!!!!!

 

[Triggerfish]

enjoyable or worrisome..i figured the swing arms may be a bit inacurrate but not by that much..damn..i may raise it up a notch tomorrow..

 

[jjmg]

I have not read all of this thread so if what I'm about to say is stupid, please just take it as my experience.

I kept freshwater fish for a whole bunch of years and never experienced an outbreak of ick. I do know that freshwater and saltwater ick is different. I did regular water changes and kept my filters clean.

I've been keeping saltwater fish for a couple years now. I have bought a few fish from tanks that were iffy. I have only had one outbreak of ick. It was after I moved some fish between tanks, all had been steady with no additions for at least 6 months, but a six line wrasse decided he was going after a false perc, the perc came down with ick but all others were healthy.

I got lucky and caught the false perc the first night and moved her to a more friendly tank and she healed just fine.

In my saltwater tanks I try to do the same as I did in freshwater. Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate is 0. At least 10% water change each week and watch for fish being picked on and thinking about what I'm putting in my tank.

In other words, low stress and stable conditions. Moving fish in and out of QT tanks can't be good IMHO.

 

[tjay]

nah its not stupid, many people do feel that ich is in every tank and manageable with out the measures that trigger and I have committed to.

I don't have the back ground to debate the pros and cons of taking such measures. I made my decision based on reading as much as I could on the subject.

Everyone has to choose how they want to keep their tanks. I choose to believe you can have ich free tanks and I may be wrong. Time will tell if this approach works. If I understand the motive of Triggers thread was to test these theories to see if they are true.

If they do turn out to be true and one can be positive they have an ich free tank to me that is worth the extra effort.

If it does not work, I will still have learned something.

It is a win win

 

[plaz]

I agree. I think everyone has to decide what is right in there situation. For me, my NA1, 2 and 3 were always 0 and I had steady temps. My Hippo Tang was the only fish that kept getting ich. I fed garlic, etc. He would clear up, then get it again several weeks later. Then one time, it got in his gills and I lost him. Then the Yellow Tang got it (no other hosts), so I removed all the fish (after removing all the rock

No doubt quarantine is stressful for the fish and owner! However, for me it has been worth it to finally have two ich free - ich magnets (needless to say since the new Hippos are now ich free, so is everyone else including the Yellow). The type of fish you keep may play some role in this. Either is dangerous for the fish - quarantine or ich itself. So, I guess everyone has to decide based on their situation.

I learned a lot going through it too. It finally worked for me, but not before having a few trajedies during the learning process! I will continue to keep filter media for quarantine on the main tank, and not even a coral or snail is going in unless I've had it outside the tank for 6-8 weeks. Watching the fish scratch alone was more stressful for me than the quarantine process (once I had a well cycled quarantine).

PS MarkC - I am very glad your Tang was okay!

 

[Triggerfish]

WEEK 1 COMPLETED

WEEK 1 COMPLETED

ICH is a parasite and does not just appear in the tank when the fish get stressed.. on the other hand,,IF the parasite is already present in the system, i have read that it will be easier for it to attached and host to an already weakened stressed fish with a diminished slime coating.

there should be no need to move fish in and out of a QT. it goes in for 6 weeks and comes out..that should be the end. of course it can come down with numerous other less prevalent illnesses.

my fish were not in the least bit of stressed conditions..tank has been established for 6yrs with no sign of the parasite for almost 2yrs. i added some LR that came from a tank that had a history of ICH and then it appeared.

on a side note: i plan on mixing some IO salt today to the exact parameters indicated on the container.. 1.5lbs per 5g to obtain sg of 1.022 then test with the swing arm.
although not fool proof as the salt mix could have mixed at a different sg..but woudn't think it would be way way off though.


WEEK 1 Completed
still no signs of the parasite on any of the 6 fish.
fish behaving and eating normally.
NH3 still coming in at zero. water change to follow.