Ich treatment recommendations

Krispifsu

New member
I am here looking for recommendations on treatment for ich.

I made the mistake of adding a fish too soon from my quarantine tank a few months back and while the visible signs of ich have disappeared, I know it's still in my tank.

I have the opportunity now to treat appropriately because I am breaking down my current tank to transfer everything into my new tank. I was initially considering doing the TTM and then keeping them in a spare tank while I set up the new tank and leave empty for the 10 weeks. This gives me the added benefit that it will give the new tank some time to stabilize before fish are added. My concerns with that though are the size of containers for the transfer and the stability of the temp holding tank.

I was also considering using copper because I can add fish to the temp holding tank right away and start treatment. My concern with this though is I have some sensitive fish.

So big questions are how do I combat a cycle in a freshly started hospital tank/temp holding tank and what special concerns do I have with my fish list? And what treatment plan would you go with? Should I move rock straight over to new tank knowing it has ich or should I keep in a separate container for the 10 weeks and then transfer over?

I currently have:

Copperband butterfly
2 purple queen anthias
Leopard wrasse
Flame angel
2 occ clowns
Mandarin
 
In a case like this with your fish I would do either TTM or hyposalinity or ideally a combination of both.
Though it may be best to process the fish in batches to avoid aggression and to be able to do the process with smaller tanks.

The holding tank should be set up with sterilized decoration so that the fish have hiding places. I prefer artificial rocks (dry Real Reef rock is ideal) over PVC (looks too sterile and releases toxins). For the clowns I would add a ceramic flowerpot.
I would also use fresh saltwater. But it would also be possible to set up the tank with old water from the display if you syphon it from the water column and let it stand in a bucket for two days before filling it into the (still fishless) holding tank.

In the TTM tanks I would use ceramic flowerpots (whole or shards), though there PVC would be OK as well.

With the exception of the wrasses you could also treat with CP.

Copper as a prophylactic isn't a good idea as it lowers the fish's immune response and may cause opportunistic infections of things like Lymphocystis, bacterial or even Uronema if present.

As for the new tank - if you plan to go fallow for 11 weeks you may as well use the old and possibly infected rocks right away to set it up.
 
Back
Top