ich reappearing in hypo

[crazy4reefs]

I have had my fish (yellow tang, blue tang, purple tang, McCosker's flaser wrasse, 2 yellow tail damsels) have been in a hospital tank in hyposalinty for 3 weeks now and the blue tang is still showing signs of ich. He has bumps and salt like grains on his skin and scratches agains as well t pvc pipe pieces in the tank. These spots have reappeared after they had previously cleared up during the first week of hypo. The wrasse's fins are looking a little ragged but otherwise no signs of ich on him or the other fish. All are eating well and swimming around. Is it possible something else has infected the tank? The fish will be in the hospital tank for another 6-8 weeks as my display tank started leaking shortly after moving the fish to the hospital tank and my new Reef Savvy tank will not be ready until then. I'm just wondering if I should be treating with something other thany hypo.Btw i check the salinty daily and I am using an ato.

 

[jhentr]

Assuming your refractometer is calibrated right, you shouldn't see any signs after 3 weeks. There isn't a prefer way to treat ich from the big three methods - but I've been successful every time with using Cupramine for 4 weeks (even on sensitive fishes) by ramping up the dosage to .5 over a period of a week. GL.

 

[b0bab0ey]

I don't do hypo, only copper because that's what I'm used to. But everything I've read has stated that it's imperative to hold the SG at 1.009 without ANY fluctuation, up or down. Also, it's important to do it in a "bare tank, no substrate, no rock" (see link below). I would say wait one more week, but if after 4 weeks you're still seeing cysts then bring your SG back up and treat with Cupramine.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1991470

 

[Shells4]

I've heard several cases of this in the last couple of months. I ran a consistent level of 1.008 and at 4 weeks into hypo my powder blue tang developed signed of ich. Even though the spots disappeared I was still nervous that it may still be in the system and decided to treat with copper in addition to hypo. No problems since.

 

[snorvich]

I don't do hypo, only copper because that's what I'm used to. But everything I've read has stated that it's imperative to hold the SG at 1.009 without ANY fluctuation, up or down. Also, it's important to do it in a "bare tank, no substrate, no rock" (see link below). I would say wait one more week, but if after 4 weeks you're still seeing cysts then bring your SG back up and treat with Cupramine.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1991470

I would agree. How are you measuring SG? Did you calibrate your refractometer with Pinpoint solution.

 

[snorvich]

I have had my fish (yellow tang, blue tang, purple tang, McCosker's flaser wrasse, 2 yellow tail damsels) have been in a hospital tank in hyposalinty for 3 weeks now and the blue tang is still showing signs of ich. He has bumps and salt like grains on his skin and scratches agains as well t pvc pipe pieces in the tank. These spots have reappeared after they had previously cleared up during the first week of hypo. The wrasse's fins are looking a little ragged but otherwise no signs of ich on him or the other fish. All are eating well and swimming around. Is it possible something else has infected the tank? The fish will be in the hospital tank for another 6-8 weeks as my display tank started leaking shortly after moving the fish to the hospital tank and my new Reef Savvy tank will not be ready until then. I'm just wondering if I should be treating with something other thany hypo.Btw i check the salinty daily and I am using an ato.

How are you measuring SG? Did you calibrate your refractometer with Pinpoint solution.

 

[crazy4reefs]

I've read this and every other sticky in the disease treatment forum and I'm checking the salinity daily...I agree that there shouldn't still be signs of ich that's why I'm wondering if it might be something else

 

[lhm nole]

Had ich in my dt for over 6 months treating with copper finally went the hypo route for 6 weeks and no more ich. And I qt everything now not taking anymore chances.

 

[crazy4reefs]

[/CENTER];19350491]How are you measuring SG? Did you calibrate your refractometer with Pinpoint solution.

Sorry I responded to the earlier post on my phone prior to seeing your post. I am measuring using a Milwaukee MR100ATC refractometer calibrated per the instructions with distilled water

 

[snorvich]

Sorry I responded to the earlier post on my phone prior to seeing your post. I am measuring using a Milwaukee MR100ATC refractometer calibrated per the instructions with distilled water

You need to calibrate with Pinpoint solution not distilled water. It is likely that your SG is not at 1.009

 

[sandwi54]

Sorry I responded to the earlier post on my phone prior to seeing your post. I am measuring using a Milwaukee MR100ATC refractometer calibrated per the instructions with distilled water

i have the same refractometer. it's fine to calibrate with distilled water but you should check against the american pinpoint salinity solution which is at 1.026. that's the only way you'd know that it's really calibrated correctly.

also, i would run the salinity at 1.008.

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

I ran my salinity at 1.008, and after 35 days at hypo my blue tang still had new ick spots appearing. After doing some reading there is apparently a strain of ich that can tolerate hypo.

 

[flameangel88]

I'd a tank with 5 fishes that completed 8 weeks of hypo (sg 0.08 for the last 7 weeks) and after a week one of the fish was showing sign of ich and another fish was scratching against the rock. Started cupramine treatment a week ago and got three more weeks to go.

The tank has sand and rocks so this may be the problem (also had this happen in a larger tank with sand & rocks also and had to treat with cupramine) but I've done hypo in larger tank with sand and rocks in the past without any problem.

Do you see white worms crawling on the glass (about 1-2mm long)?

 

[b0bab0ey]

This is why I don't mess with hypo. Cupramine all the way, baby!

 

[sandwi54]

I ran my salinity at 1.008, and after 35 days at hypo my blue tang still had new ick spots appearing. After doing some reading there is apparently a strain of ich that can tolerate hypo.

i have heard of the same new ich strain that can tolerate hypo as well, but have not encountered it myself. nowadays i don't bother with hypo anymore and just do cupramine. it's a lot easier and is guaranteed to kill every ich.

 

[Chris27]

Do you have a UV for the tank? If not you should

UV is incredibly ineffective against the parasite due to the way one employs them on an aquarium. The reason being, it's next to impossible to ensure that every drop of the aquarium water will go through the UV at the proper flow rate, precisely when the parasite is in the free swimming stage.

As for the "special strain" of the parasite, it's very unlikely that it's actaully been encountered, my guess is that the tank was not at 1.009 for the entire treatment. Just a little bit of evaporation, and the salinity can jump a whopping 1 or 2 ppt allowing just enough salt for the parasite to survive. The same can happen with copper, if it's not dosed during water changes, the copper concentration can drop low enough for the parasite to squeeze by...

As with the others in this thread, I'm too a fan of copper. It's cheap, easy to dose and measure, and very effective if done properly. In addition to it's effectiveness against Crypt, it's also useful for other parasites, unlike Hyposalinity.

 

[MrTuskfish]

UV is incredibly ineffective against the parasite due to the way one employs them on an aquarium. The reason being, it's next to impossible to ensure that every drop of the aquarium water will go through the UV at the proper flow rate, precisely when the parasite is in the free swimming stage.

As for the "special strain" of the parasite, it's very unlikely that it's actaully been encountered, my guess is that the tank was not at 1.009 for the entire treatment. Just a little bit of evaporation, and the salinity can jump a whopping 1 or 2 ppt allowing just enough salt for the parasite to survive. The same can happen with copper, if it's not dosed during water changes, the copper concentration can drop low enough for the parasite to squeeze by...

As with the others in this thread, I'm too a fan of copper. It's cheap, easy to dose and measure, and very effective if done properly. In addition to it's effectiveness against Crypt, it's also useful for other parasites, unlike Hyposalinity.

I agree.I've been a copper fan for years, but have stayed sort of neutral because I don't think its for everyone. But the more I read about hypo problems; I'm not sure hypo is for anyone. IMO & IME; anyone can have success with Cupramine by researching the fish being treated and monitoring the fish and the copper level---adjusting as necessary. I think the fear of copper is way overblown and too many hobbyists just automatically use the highest recommended dose, which isn't necessary with copper sensitive fish.

There do seem to be some ich cysts that can hold on to their free-swimmers for more than 3 weeks, though. I don't think this is a new "strain", just individual bugs. Wouldn't this also explain the longer periods for keeping an infested tank fallow; as Snorvih's thread points out? http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2041951

 

[snorvich]

UV is incredibly ineffective against the parasite due to the way one employs them on an aquarium. The reason being, it's next to impossible to ensure that every drop of the aquarium water will go through the UV at the proper flow rate, precisely when the parasite is in the free swimming stage.

As for the "special strain" of the parasite, it's very unlikely that it's actaully been encountered, my guess is that the tank was not at 1.009 for the entire treatment. Just a little bit of evaporation, and the salinity can jump a whopping 1 or 2 ppt allowing just enough salt for the parasite to survive. The same can happen with copper, if it's not dosed during water changes, the copper concentration can drop low enough for the parasite to squeeze by...

As with the others in this thread, I'm too a fan of copper. It's cheap, easy to dose and measure, and very effective if done properly. In addition to it's effectiveness against Crypt, it's also useful for other parasites, unlike Hyposalinity.

Excellent advice. Usually aquarists do not maintain 1.009 and when that happens hypo fails.

 

[T Diddy]

I'm now wishing I'd saved all the "ich" literature I've seen and read on crypto. There are strains of the protist that have been found in cold water, in warm water, and in varying salinities. So much information is left out of the discussion. If you truly want to have an "ich"-free aquarium, your tank(s)/ QT/ fish room need to be treated as a sterile laboratory. Keep the display tank fishless to ensure the primary hosts are no longer feeding the parasite. QT your fish with copper and never add anything to the display tank without proper quarantine. Otherwise, you are rolling the dice.

:artist:

 

[MrTuskfish]

QT your fish with copper and never add anything to the display tank without proper quarantine. Otherwise, you are rolling the dice.

:artist:

I couldn't agree more, and the ''rolling the dice" is a perfect analogy. So many hobbyists are convinced they can beat the odds. But; sooner or later, the house wins.