"ICH FREE TANK" Quest Begins

[tjay]

To see the fish tank rescue see here
http://www.jonezing.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4&Itemid=1

This was something I wrote just to deal with the mess

http://www.jonezing.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1&Itemid=1

 

[AquAsylum]

tjay, I just don't know what to say. Your attitude is amazing. Glad to see you are hanging in there...

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

Re: Katrina, Stress, and an ich free tank

Re: Katrina, Stress, and an ich free tank

Well just some more info for those who feel stress can bring on ich in ANY tank.
Due to Katrina our 90 gallon reef, went through a 6 day period with no power no AC and no food in steamy New orleans with nothing but battery driven bubblers.
We lost the copper band before we could get back and the crabs made lunch of him. Two days later we lost our yellow tang. Many of our corals including our ricordia died.
Then to prevent further loss we tore down the tank and moved the remaining 4 fish, an anenome and some of the die hard corals into our 50 gallon QT that we moved to my office where there was power.
In all that stress, and under all those bad conditions our nasso tang and none of our other fish showed any signs of ich.
We are very thankfull to George at coral connection who had a huge battle with his own shop and his 800 gallon tank, but with all of that he kept us supplied with salt and shrimp.
www.coralconnection.com.
We are going to soon start rebuilding our tank, this time with a replacement reef ready tank, and supplies offered to us from aquauniverse.com
Unfortunately it wont be in our beloved city of New Orleans but Dallas Texas.

Just thought yall would find it interesting and hope it encourages you folks to keep up the quest. It does pay off.

Hey tjay,
Good to hear that you and your family are safe!!
And that most of your tank and its inhabitants pulled through .
So sorry about your dog sounds like he had a good and loving home for 13 years.


P.S Also glad you can prove that stress DOES NOT cause ick!!!

 

[water`bug]

Betty B. survived and so did the two clowns and goby. Our corals on the other hand are toast. It's been quite sad.

But no ick. :mixed:

Thank God!

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

Stay safe, looks like more bad weather headed your way!

 

[jeffbrig]

Hi guys, I'm thought I might as well check in on this thread. I'm attempting to start my 250g tank ICH FREE, so I'm running all of my fish through a 55g QT before they see the main tank. I matured a biowheel filter in the tank's sump for a few weeks before buying any fish, and ammonia levels have been great so far - way below .25ppm on my salifert kit.

Here are the guys currently in quarantine:

The achilles tang was showing a couple of ich spots on Tuesday, and the smaller clown looked like he might have one as well, so everyone was given a formalin dip and they are now going through hyposalinity. Over the past few days, I've lowered the sg to just over 1.010, and I will take it down to 1.009 tonight. I'm planning 5-6 weeks of hypo to play it safe.

Wish me luck!

 

[Triggerfish]

yeah,, good luck...
nice tang.

advice..keep sg at 1.008 to allow for slight fluctuations. monitor 2x daily with refractometer.

 

[jeffbrig]

Based on my reading, 1.008 is the hairy edge of what can harm your fish, since they regulate their internal fluids to 1.007-1.008. I will be checking with a refractometer 2x daily, but I'll probably target closer to 1.009.

 

[Triggerfish]

if it slips at all over 1.009 you may need to start over again. but who knows..trial and error i guess. hopefully you won't have any water evap while you are gone during the day.

 

[jeffbrig]

Evap is pretty minimal in humid FL. My open-top 250 only evaporates about a gallon a day, the 55 is covered, so it's even much lower than that. From a true 1.009, you would have to evaporate over 10% of your water to go up to 1.010.

 

[plaz]

I would stick to 1.09 too. I've heard Achilles can be fragile - beautiful fish though!!!

As long as you are patient and wait 6-8 weeks after the last spot (and that time does not have to be all in hypo), you will be fine. I would play it safe for the fishies sake too. Just watch them closely - several of us has severely stressed fish after the hypo. Also, I would not combine any treatments - just the 1.09 hypo... and a UV if you have one available.

Best of luck and keep us in the loop!

PS Most of the problems have been when they come out of hypo or water qualilty (loosing the cycle). Bring them out REALLY, REALLY slow when you get to that point and check water for ammonia and nitrites twice a day (don't slack off even after a few weeks because the cycle can break and poison them quickly).

 

[AquAsylum]

I ran my QT 8 weeks at 11ppt which is around 1.008. All fish were fine throughout the hypo treatment, including a hippo and yellow tang, and a fairy wrasse. Wrasses are supposed to be sensitive to hypo and mine did great at 1.008. It was when I INCREASED the sg that they had some trouble.

 

[Triggerfish]

<font color=ff0000><font size=4>UPDATE </font></font>
Post ICH Period = Week 2

9/11 - Gramma, LMB placed back to main system
9/18 - Female clown placed back
9/26 - NO ich noticed in system - i think the 8 weeks fallow worked.
<hr>



NOTE: 4 other quarantine tanks continue to run.
3 with fish, 1 with LR.[/B][/QUOTE]

 

[jeffbrig]

Triggerfish,

Glad to hear everything is going well....


I'm following in your foot steps, now I have 2 QTs running.

I decided to separate the clowns from the tang, so they have their own 10g to enjoy now. The smaller clown has been suffering from brooklynella, and has been receiving formalin dips every other day (in addition to the hyposalinity treatment). I wanted them in a separate smaller tank so I have the option of treating them inside the tank without worrying about affecting the tang. Plus, if I need to use meds that affect the biological filter, I can easily keep up in a 10g tank through water changes alone, that's hard to do on a tank as big as a 55g. I think the little clown has finally turned the corner, as his appetite has returned in a big way today.

Here's a pic of the 10g:

The achilles is looking great, he seems to enjoy having the 55g to himself. His overall color is improving, he's very active, and eating like a pig. Only a few ich spots are still visible - one on his tail, and one on each pectoral fin. Those don't even show up in the photographs:

I'm not even counting days yet until the fish look 100% healthy.

 

[Triggerfish]

yeah,,sometimes it's best to treat fish in separate tanks more so if they have secondary infections.

you can start counting the days after the last spot is noticed..hopefully you will just keep counting and not have to start over.
ever give any thought to adding a large pvc elbow or something for the clowns to hang in.
good luck.

 

[jeffbrig]

Yeah, I really need to put something in both tanks to give the fish places to hide.

 

[AquAsylum]

Head hung low

Head hung low

Hey, guys. I really am beside myself. Ten days after return to the display and the HLLE is much improved on both tangs, but the hippo is showing spots. Last night I thought maybe it was just sand or bubbles, but they persist. It is only on the hippo. The tank looks so amazing, I just can't bear the thought of tearing it apart again.

In the grand scheme of life, I know this doesn't rank on the worst of things that can happen to a person, but after all I did to try to beat the ich, for it to come back really is heartbreaking. I would love for one of you to tell me a way to get through this without having to take the fish out of the tank.

If I do remove them, it is going to be cupramine time for us. I will probably have to use 2 55 gallon QTs because the bioload was bad enough before and with any sort of copper treatment I won't be able to run carbon. I'm most worried about my yellow tang who might not be healthy enough for copper, a treatment to which they are already very sensitive.

Good news, anyone?

 

[Triggerfish]

don't fret yet...
instead of trying to review the treatment you used just answer here:
1. duration main tank was fallow
2. treatment used on fish
3. duration of treatment
4. amount of time spots last seen on hippo
5. post a pic of hippo

we'll go from here.

 

[AquAsylum]

1. duration main tank was fallow
2. treatment used on fish
3. duration of treatment
4. amount of time spots last seen on hippo
5. post a pic of hippo

1. Main tank was fallow 11 weeks
2. Hyposalinity used- 11 ppt target salinity during treatment
3. A total of 9 weeks, but 6 weeks after last spot seen
4. Hippo had the worst spots of the initial outbreak. They were gone probably a week and a half after hypo started, so a total of 2 weeks maximum.
5. There is no way I will get a shot of that fish. She is uber paranoid and quick. The spots look like...well...ich. They are white, not faded body color. They are sprinkled randomly, so do not appear to be a wound. S/he still has great coloration, behavior, and appetite. You may recall that I moved the fish back into the display largely because of an awful looking hippo- this is the same fish. Whatever that condition was went away marvelously and s/he looked great in the display except for a few enlarged pores around the mouth. Knock on wood, no spots on any other fish.

 

[Triggerfish]

odd that you would not see any spots for what 8 weeks?
fish goes back in then they appear.
ya almost have to go 100% that the ich died off during the long fallow period.

tough to come up with answers here,,besides the fact that perhaps you missed seeing something during treatment..as the hypo is not as fool proof as copper.

anyhow..what i would do:
1. remove tang and treat with cupramine for 3 weeks once copper concentration has stabalized with both a.m and p.m readings.
from what i understand, during the 1st week it is unstable thus not allowing the correct dosage to remain in solution. that's a large PITA to deal with. you will need to perhaps add copper for up to 7 days after initial dosages. at this point i would be more concerned with under dosing than over.

2. monitor other livestock for signs of parasite. if found..well..you know what you need to do...
GL