Ich Sheild or Formalin (37%)

[jmm]

I have a fish only (one fish) with hermits, snails and shrimp. It is a 120 gallon with very large, heavy (most are over 30 pounds) rock. The fish went through TTM, two formalin dips, antibacterial treatments and Prazipro and five weeks of quarantine in a cycled, bare bottom with PVC tank. When he went into his very own display tank he was okay for two weeks. Then some spots showed up. Due to the difficulty of catching or breaking down the tank to retrieve him I decided to ride it out for a little while. He cleared up in a day. He remained clear for 18 days but now I see spots and he is somewhat "excited."

I'm looking for an in-tank treatment if possible. My formalin says 2 drops per gallon every other day until symptoms disappear. It says nothing about shrimp, crabs or snails. My Ich Sheild says don't use with corals or anemones but doesn't mention the other invertebrates.

Does anybody REALLY know what instructions I should follow with either of these chemicals? Yes, I know what I should do but I almost can't bring myself to tear down this tank.

Oh, and I don't know if this is ich or something else. Being as how it came once and then disappeared for three weeks I'm kind of discounting Velvet.

Snorvitch?

 

[jmm]

Oh, and the display tank sat fallow of fish with only the shrimp and snails for 6 months.

 

[Dmorty217]

What did you diagnose the spots as? CP is the only real solution in a tank, but if snails,corals or other inverts without a exoskeleton they will suffer/die from the CP.

 

[jmm]

Since the fish didn't die 18 days ago when it had the spots for half a day only, I was stumped. Velvet would have killed it. Ich should have come back sooner or not at all. Right?

Appetite is still okay. Some nervousness. Fins not as crystal clear as usual. It's a Mitratus and is tame and greedy.

There's lots of snails, probably no worms since I started with dry sand and acid-cured rocks. Tank was started initially with Dr. Tims bacteria and ammonia. It's been going almost a year. I feed the shrimp and crabs pellet food and the fish gets frozen mix.

 

[Dmorty217]

The fish could of developed Temperary immunity to whatever it was. If that's the case any new fish will set off the infection each time they are introduced

 

[jmm]

If the fish could have developed a temporary immunity would the infection come back to it or just to new fish?

 

[aquamn1999]

if you added anything after the tank set fallow without qt them first you could have introduced it back to the tank. ich can be attached to rocks, sand, shells, in the water from the pet store, etc...

 

[jmm]

if you added anything after the tank set fallow without qt them first you could have introduced it back to the tank. ich can be attached to rocks, sand, shells, in the water from the pet store, etc...

I didn't.