I'm having a problem with ich in my 55 gal tank. I've tried ich out, garlic daily and selcon daily but it just keeps coming back. I have set up a 29 gal quarantine tank for my fish and I'm about ready to quarantine them. My question is about my yellow watchman goby. I'm concerned about him eating in a tank without an established sand bed. Any suggestions?
Ich in tank
- Thread starter drej424
- Start date
I read another thread about someone concerned about a goby... he suggested putting sand in a tupperware or bowl and mix some brine in it.. not alot but enough for him to eat...Someone also said cleaner shrimp are good to control it a bit if your fish will let them.
not sure if this helps.
not sure if this helps.
DEXTER SOLIS
New member
GARLIC, SELCON on food soaks & UV. if there is no inverts & corals do hyposalinity 8 weeks. all these i did & only controled it, there is still ich in my tank, when I receently introduced a Powder Brown tang, eating those soaked nori seems to be boosting his imune system. there is a good sticky on Fish Disease compiled by Bill. Good Luck
do you have inverts? if not do hypo right in the main tank and forget the qt. 6-8 weeks of hypo and start on a good foot. (wont do that agin right?? Thats what we all say.)
I guess the pod population could crash in qt (i really dont know), so still may need to feed goby more directly, but less work/worry than qt, and tank will need to go fallow anyway.
I guess the pod population could crash in qt (i really dont know), so still may need to feed goby more directly, but less work/worry than qt, and tank will need to go fallow anyway.
I do have corals. No problems with them, they are thriving. So the reef safe treatments I've tried haven't worked. I did read the article linked above (thanks, Larry) and I'm going to follow the steps outlined. Now I understand why every time it seemed to clear up, it came back later with a vengeance.
I have the quarantine tank set up with copper in it and my nephew is coming over to help me take out the live rock and move my fish. I have an 8 line wrasse, a yellow goby, a striped damsel, and a chromis. (My maroon clown died last night) I have two cleaner shrimp, some small hermit crabs, snails and a sea hare. Can the shrimp, etc. stay in the main tank?
When a tank is set up correctly in the first place and all quarantine, maintenance procedures are followed, how often do your fish die? Is it reasonable to expect that when you provide a healthy environment, this kind of stuff doesn't happen too often?
I have the quarantine tank set up with copper in it and my nephew is coming over to help me take out the live rock and move my fish. I have an 8 line wrasse, a yellow goby, a striped damsel, and a chromis. (My maroon clown died last night) I have two cleaner shrimp, some small hermit crabs, snails and a sea hare. Can the shrimp, etc. stay in the main tank?
When a tank is set up correctly in the first place and all quarantine, maintenance procedures are followed, how often do your fish die? Is it reasonable to expect that when you provide a healthy environment, this kind of stuff doesn't happen too often?
With good QT procedures from the go get, it is reasonable to expect not to have those types of troubles often, if at all 
DEXTER SOLIS
New member
NO SICK FISH = CRAP!
But treating my fish with copper and keeping them in quarantine for 8 weeks should get rid of the ich on them, right? And if I leave the corals in the 55 gal tank without fish for 8 weeks, that should get rid of the ich in the tank, right?
Also, can anyone direct me to some good info on feeding my corals while the fish are in quarantine?
(I so wish I had found this site before I started my 55 gal!)
Also, can anyone direct me to some good info on feeding my corals while the fish are in quarantine?
(I so wish I had found this site before I started my 55 gal!)
Long Island Andy
Andy
This is just my opinion. I have had many a battle with ick over the past 15 years. The fish that you have left in the tank are pretty hardy. I would not upset the system by trying to get those fish out. You are going to mess with all the other stuff in the tank. Rather than interfere, let it play itself out. You are not losing a 200 angelfish. It has been my experience that using copper to medicate any tank(unless you are super diligent about dosing and retesting frequently) it is a bear. The quarantine tank is an idea we all talk about but unless it is large enough and totally cycled you will run into ammonia and nitite problems.
I guess what I am trying to say is let whatever is in the tank run its course
Andy
I guess what I am trying to say is let whatever is in the tank run its course
Andy
Andy, I showed some ich after an aquisition last year.
I did just that, just let it run its course. After all I couldnt get fish out if I had to, and everything worked out fine. Not a trace of ich is 6+ months.
Feel awkward "recommending" that, but it worked for me.
I have no idea if it made a difference, but I fed garlic soaked pellet food, and fresh crushed garlic for like a month.
I did just that, just let it run its course. After all I couldnt get fish out if I had to, and everything worked out fine. Not a trace of ich is 6+ months.
Feel awkward "recommending" that, but it worked for me.
I have no idea if it made a difference, but I fed garlic soaked pellet food, and fresh crushed garlic for like a month.
If your fish are healthy and happy, you can have ICH in your tank and never see it. It becomes a problem when your fish are in a weakened state from stress, bad water conditions, lack of nutrition, etc.
I believe that getting it out is better than living with it, as a small problem with fish health can be compounded tremendously if ICH grabs hold, too.
I believe that getting it out is better than living with it, as a small problem with fish health can be compounded tremendously if ICH grabs hold, too.
DEXTER SOLIS
New member
question: if Ich is a parasite therefore it needs a host, a fish becomes a host in states of weekness & stress. Ich cycles <>8 weeks, if 8 weeks past without a host it can pobably stay in the water columb....how do they survive if you keep your friends nice & healthy for m orethan the said cycle?
Long Island Andy
Andy
Larry
I am not suggesting that just ignoring the ick is the way to go, it is not easy to watch fish die, I am only saying the stress of catching and treating the sick fish only seems to make it worse. In all honesty when the fish have come down with ick I have never had one come back after I caught it and tried to bring it medicate or use hyposalinty. The fish he has in the tank are pretty hard guys to kill. If they die from ick something else has to be wrong in my opinion.
I recently picked up some fish from Eric when he was breaking down his tank. It was a large blue throat, and a pair of clowns. within 2 weeks they were covered in ick and eventually died. I know that Eric had these fish for a quite awhile and they were fine. This to me also shoots the heck out of the 8 week quarantine. It had to be in my tank. I have a majestic angel, viamingi tang,tomato clown, potters angel and ar foxface. None of them got sick. Some fish beat it and others don't.
Andy
I am not suggesting that just ignoring the ick is the way to go, it is not easy to watch fish die, I am only saying the stress of catching and treating the sick fish only seems to make it worse. In all honesty when the fish have come down with ick I have never had one come back after I caught it and tried to bring it medicate or use hyposalinty. The fish he has in the tank are pretty hard guys to kill. If they die from ick something else has to be wrong in my opinion.
I recently picked up some fish from Eric when he was breaking down his tank. It was a large blue throat, and a pair of clowns. within 2 weeks they were covered in ick and eventually died. I know that Eric had these fish for a quite awhile and they were fine. This to me also shoots the heck out of the 8 week quarantine. It had to be in my tank. I have a majestic angel, viamingi tang,tomato clown, potters angel and ar foxface. None of them got sick. Some fish beat it and others don't.
Andy
Well, I quarantined the fish. I have tried other methods to try to get rid of the ich, so now I'll do this. Hopefully, it will work (without killing any more fish). I don't think I have to keep copper in the quarantine tank the entire time, do I? Because if the copper kills the ich on the fish and then I keep the salinity low for the entire 8 weeks in the quarantine tank, that should be enough, shouldn't it?
The corals I have are a purple mushroom, a green mushroom, 3 feather dusters, pearl bubble coral, tongue coral, green star polyps, yellow polyps, hammer coral, daisy coral, and table coral. I've been feeding my fish a mixture of pellets, veggie flakes, mysis, garlic extract and selcon. I add some plankton 2 x's per week.
The corals I have are a purple mushroom, a green mushroom, 3 feather dusters, pearl bubble coral, tongue coral, green star polyps, yellow polyps, hammer coral, daisy coral, and table coral. I've been feeding my fish a mixture of pellets, veggie flakes, mysis, garlic extract and selcon. I add some plankton 2 x's per week.
Dex,
I'm not 100% sure on this, so don't take it as gospel.....
If the parasite is in your tank, but fish are healthy and happy, the parasite does attach to the hosts, the numbers just never get high enough for you to notice, because the fish fights it off naturally.
The lifecycle of the ICH continues, it just can't get a foot hold as your fish are able to beat it.
The potential problem with that is Murphy. When things go good, a heater stops working, and your tank hits 70* Your fish are cold, and the ICH gets a chance to get started.
I know Andy, and you're right. It's a very hard call to make. The possible downside long term against the possibility that there may be no downside at all.
It's a catch 22, chances of killing an ICH infested fish just by trying to catch it are extremely high.
drej,
Unless you're REALLY on top of medicating, I wouldn't recommend copper. It's not really "fish friendly" it just kills inverts at a lower concentration than what it takes to kill fish. Many fish, Tangs, for example, don't take well to copper treatment. Keeping the exact level you need is difficult, and going too low will not kill the ICH, going too high will kill your fish.
