Ich on Tangs

[yellowbellied]

1) ich appeared on blue tangs 2 days ago
2) QT is not an option
3) temp was around 77.1 when this occurred. I've since brought the temp down to 72

Can I just put medicine in to get rid of ich? I don't have an hospital tank to quarantine the tangs. I don't mind losing the anenomes and mushrooms. I prefer to not kill the fire and cleaner shrimps.

PLEASE HELP!!!

 

[b0bab0ey]

Only three options if QT is not one of them:

- Treat the tank with copper and lose ALL INVERTS (anemones, corals, shrimps, crabs, starfish, etc.)

- Treat with hypo and lose ALL INVERTS (anemones, corals, shrimps, crabs, starfish, etc.)

- Do nothing and eventually the Tangs will die, but all your inverts will be fine. Soaking the Tangs' food in vitamins like selcon might bolster their immune system and buy you some time. Hopefully enough time to rethink your decision not to treat in QT. But this option won't save your Tangs long-term.

I would say if you choose option 1 or 2 to please give all your inverts to a friend or at least a LFS before you just kill them. But it's only fair to let someone know that these inverts are all coming from a tank infected with Ich and that they need to be QT'd for 9 weeks in a tank with NO FISH!

 

[yellowbellied]

I can't even imagine how I can catch the tangs out of the tank. You know how much they love to hide. Any suggestions.

 

[sandwi54]

I can't even imagine how I can catch the tangs out of the tank. You know how much they love to hide. Any suggestions.

a lot of reefers have been in the same situation. google "catching fish" and you should see some good suggestions. setting up a fish trap is one of them.

or you can just take out the live rocks to remove the fish, which is what a lot of people end up doing. i had to do that once before.

in the future, QT all new fish and treat accordingly will prevent this from happening.

 

[b0bab0ey]

I can't even imagine how I can catch the tangs out of the tank. You know how much they love to hide. Any suggestions.

Hope this helps:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1991474

 

[yellowbellied]

I went and bought a nano to setup as a QT tank last night. Was able to catch the infected fish after removing all the rocks. Also bought Cupramine and dosed the tank. Any body have experience using Cupramine? Does it work well?

 

[b0bab0ey]

I went and bought a nano to setup as a QT tank last night. Was able to catch the infected fish after removing all the rocks. Also bought Cupramine and dosed the tank. Any body have experience using Cupramine? Does it work well?

Cupramine works extremely well IME. Did you QT all the fish or just the one that is infected?

To completely eradicate Ich from your system you'll have to QT & treat all the fish, and leave your DT fallow (fishless) for 9 weeks.

 

[yellowbellied]

Hard to qt all fish. I have in the nano 2 blue tangs 1 foxface 1 wrasse 1 chromis. I still have a yellow tang 1 maroon 1 firefish and pair of onyx in main tank. I doubt the nano will hold all the fish. Also should I dip them in fresh water every night? If so how long?

 

[sandwi54]

Hard to qt all fish. I have in the nano 2 blue tangs 1 foxface 1 wrasse 1 chromis. I still have a yellow tang 1 maroon 1 firefish and pair of onyx in main tank. I doubt the nano will hold all the fish. Also should I dip them in fresh water every night? If so how long?

i'm sorry to say this is not an option if you want to cure ich in your system. you have to get ALL of the fish into a QT and treat, and leave the DT fallow for 9-10 weeks like what b0bab0ey said. there's no other way around.

most people who don't quarantine new fish end up having to do this, so you're not the only one. unless your fish are big, a 29g or 40g breeder will work as a QT, and they can be purchased cheap on craigslist.

 

[b0bab0ey]

Hard to qt all fish. I have in the nano 2 blue tangs 1 foxface 1 wrasse 1 chromis. I still have a yellow tang 1 maroon 1 firefish and pair of onyx in main tank. I doubt the nano will hold all the fish. Also should I dip them in fresh water every night? If so how long?

Fresh water dips are unnecessary. Just follow the instructions on the Cupramine bottle and it will take care of this problem for you. I recommend treating with Cupramine for 1 full month and doing so in a bare-bottom QT. How big of a nano is this anyway? What are you using for filtration in it? You need to monitor your ammonia and do WCs as necessary. Remember to treat any water you replace with Cupramine as well to maintain your copper level. Do you have a copper test kit? Also, as sandwi54 suggested you're going to have to buy another QT and treat all the fish to knock this problem out once and for all. Sorry, there's no easy way of doing this... you don't know how many times I wish there was...

 

[MrTuskfish]

Hard to qt all fish. I have in the nano 2 blue tangs 1 foxface 1 wrasse 1 chromis. I still have a yellow tang 1 maroon 1 firefish and pair of onyx in main tank. I doubt the nano will hold all the fish. Also should I dip them in fresh water every night? If so how long?

Get a decent size QT?HT and use it religiously. I agree with Bob Fenner, long-term success in this hobby is impossible without one.

 

[yellowbellied]

awe.... i bought a 12 gallon nano, thinking i only needed to qt the infected fish....it's a bare bottom. no rocks. just a pump to circulate h20 and a heater. ordered a test kit today. will update on here as necessary.. thanks for the help.

 

[b0bab0ey]

I have in the nano 2 blue tangs 1 foxface 1 wrasse 1 chromis. i bought a 12 gallon nano...

All I can say to this is: YIKES! How big are the tangs and the foxface? You are probably going to have to do daily WCs to keep the ammonia down. Seriously, I would have a look on craigslist for a much bigger QT. All you need is what's described in these two links below:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1990651&highlight=setting+qt

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1866770&highlight=setting+qt

 

[yellowbellied]

The tangs are 5 and 3 inches or so. fox face is around 5. had them since they were babies, so i'd be really sad to see them die. but the house just isn't big enough for a larger qt tank. maybe a 20 gallon is the biggest i can go, but i would still need to do daily changes in water?

 

[sandwi54]

three 3-5" fish are too large for a 20 gallon QT. I would suggest a 29g at a minimum, with a 40g breeder being a better choice. you don't even have to put the QT inside the house at this time of the year. putting it in the garage will be ok provided that the heater is strong enough to keep the water heated.

how big is your DT by the way?

 

[b0bab0ey]

The tangs are 5 and 3 inches or so. fox face is around 5. had them since they were babies, so i'd be really sad to see them die. but the house just isn't big enough for a larger qt tank. maybe a 20 gallon is the biggest i can go, but i would still need to do daily changes in water?

Like sandwi54 said, even a 20 gal is too small for fish that big. I'm not gonna say you can't do it, but it's gonna be a rough ride (ammonia). Daily WCs are probably a must. You can add a HOB filter to help (try to get one with a sponge insert like an AquaClear) but man... sandwi54 is right, you really need a 40 gal breeder. You could probably fit all your fish in that.

 

[yellowbellied]

i'm gonna go buy a 40 g after work tonight and some water for it. no time to mix it myself. i noticed that my smaller blue tang has less white stuff from the cupramine treatment though. gotta do a water change tonight. whew... what a mess

 

[snorvich]

Excellent advice above from folks who have terrific experience. If you do not quarantine, you will have this experience again and again. Good luck and thanks for trying to do the proper thing.

 

[yellowbellied]

So all this Paraguard and Stop Parasites and ich medications don't really work? Nothing more than a scam? If so, they should be ashamed to advertise and sell these products.

 

[sandwi54]

So all this Paraguard and Stop Parasites and ich medications don't really work? Nothing more than a scam? If so, they should be ashamed to advertise and sell these products.

You are right in this regard. Many manufacturers produce "reef-safe" medications for ich. The problem is, they are so safe that they usually don't do much to kill ich.

Before you proceed with a treatment, please read all of the ich stickies in this forum. They contain all of the information you need to know about ich, including its life cycle. you will need to fully understand how the ich's life cycle works before you can treat your fish successfully.

pick either of the three methods listed. most people use either hyposalinity or cupramine.