Ich is back again.

[Luke Schnabel]

So I had ich, I went fallow for 72 days and treated my fish with copper. They have been fine for the last few months and now they have ich again. Well just my two tangs have ich. All my others didn't get it the first time or now.

Can I just remove the tangs for 70-80 days since It appears all other fish havnt ever had ich. Because my QT tank is far to small for all the fish I have now.

 

[Luke Schnabel]

Or is there anyway that I can combat it without taking them out and killing all my coral and inverts

 

[Jeff4777]

Did you treat all your fish the first go around? You say your other fish didnt get it the first time or now. This is concerning because they did have it. Just because you cant see it doesnt mean they dont have ich. If they are in the tank they are carriers. Even if partially immune and not showing symptoms.

I feel really bad for you if you went 72 days "fallow" with "unaffected fish" in it. Because if so thats the problem and i know its really frustrating man :/. Refer to stickies on n ick in the fish disease section and browse through some of those threads. Sorry for grammar im on a phone.

 

[Luke Schnabel]

No the first time I only had 4 fish so i took them all out. It's going to suck catching all of them again because I have a lot more coral as well

 

[Jeff4777]

Well if you correctly treated your fish and went 72 days fallow you need to figure out why you still have ich. Did you add some of those new corals without QTing them? An ich cyst could of been re introduced on the smallest of frag.

It really sucks how you have to wait 72 days on things like chaeto, live rock, and coral. Coral dip doesnt get rid of ich also. Where as fish, if theres ich its in a stage where it falls off after 3 days and ttm allows you to rid the disease so much faster

 

[AquaFrenzy]

please take with a grain of salt, but a very well respected owner of a fish store in MA doesn't treat ich with meds, he focuses on getting the fish's immune system strong enough to fight it ich by feeding the fish 3+ times a day a good amount and he says that's all he needs to do, he does not use copper or any meds. like I said take with a grain of salt but people do find other ways of beating it, hope it passes for good this time.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

So, you fallowed the tank and treated the 4 fish. Then I assume you added the four fish back to the DT and at some point introduced some new fish, right?

How were the new fish treated/ quarantined before they were added?

You cannot treat the ich in a reef tank, but some people just live with it and cross their fingers. I believe in having my tank as parasite free as possible so I would fallow the tank again and retreat all your fish. I know that answer stinks.

best of luck to you

 

[Jeff4777]

please take with a grain of salt, but a very well respected owner of a fish store in MA doesn't treat ich with meds, he focuses on getting the fish's immune system strong enough to fight it ich by feeding the fish 3+ times a day a good amount and he says that's all he needs to do, he does not use copper or any meds. like I said take with a grain of salt but people do find other ways of beating it, hope it passes for good this time.

Well thats not beating it. Thats accepting the fact you will always have ich in your tank and are now doing the best to provide your fish with a stress free environment and proper nutrition to keep the disease at bay. Remember ich doesnt have to be in our tanks in the first place. Also i encorage ttm and personally never use copper.

 

[AquaFrenzy]

I think the theory is if your fish have healthy immune systems the ich is less likely to attack as they are less vulnerable causing it to die off within time

 

[Jeff4777]

I think the theory is if your fish have healthy immune systems the ich is less likely to attack as they are less vulnerable causing it to die off within time

No. They do not die off over time even with non stressed, healthy, well eating, active fish. It will always be present and wont be visible to our human eyes. It will be there.. waiting. These fish will have it but it will be un noticed.

 

[Luke Schnabel]

So all new fish get QT for a month with Copper and prazipro... Two weeks of each. I never did QT coral except I always dipped them in a solution to kill of bugs. I don't have a QT tank for coral.

I only have a 20g QT tank and I have 10 fish... So I might need to trade some fish in and start over with them... That really sucks

 

[djbon]

Stressed fish will develop ich for sure. I personally cannot keep blue tang due to ich problem. I fed my fish more when they start scratching and it works. Happy fish is the way to go. I turn on my UV filter once in while to kill off parasites.

 

[JohnnyHildo]

Did you add some of those new corals without QTing them? An ich cyst could of been re introduced on the smallest of frag.

It really sucks how you have to wait 72 days on things like chaeto, live rock, and coral. Coral dip doesnt get rid of ich also.

interesting... i'm by no means an expert but this is the first i've ever heard of qt'ing coral.

 

[Jeff4777]

interesting... i'm by no means an expert but this is the first i've ever heard of qt'ing coral.

Alot of people dont. But technically it could introduce ich.