Ich treatment

[brandoniscool]

Well after hearing about it for three years it finally happened to me.

I left town for two days and my mom turned off my mp40 in my 60 gal frag out tank at home and that seemed to be enough to stress the two fish that I have in that tank and I think they have ich.

I'm not sure how to treat them so I'd though I'd share my plan with the RC crowd and see if anyone thinks I should make some changes.

I'm going to bring them to a 10 gallon tank in my third grade classroom with a heater, a Hydro-Sponge Pro Filter rated for 80 gallons that I've kept in a sump just in case this happened. I'm not planning on adding a light but will keep the tank area with lots of light.

I'm going to lower the salinity to a specific gravity of 1.009. From my understanding, this can be done fairly rapidly, I can move them from 1.026 to 1.009 over the course of a normal school day by slowly taking out 1.026 and adding 1.009 a 1/2 gallon at a time every 30 minutes or so.

I will do daily 1-2 gallon water changes with the 1.009 water and monitor for ammonia and nitrites to keep the water clean.

I'm going to purchase Cupramine and then follow the instructions. (i've never done this before but hopefully the untrained teenagers at my lfs will be able to help me)

I will feed them twice day with LRS reef frenzy with Selcon added to the food.

I will keep the fish in the QT tank for 4 weeks.

Does this sound adequate? Overkill or not enough?


Also, my reef project at school hasn't gone away and if anything its getting bigger. I moved to a new school that wants to take the reef project school wide and I'm in the process of building a 300 gallon system in my class and I already have 2 120 gallon tanks setup in other places. I'm partnering with the U of I and will begin having my kids actually help with professional research. My students will get to posting on RC soon but I've been working 12-15 hour days to keep up with all of the teaching stuff and haven't had time to update my website or do other types of promotion, but for those who follow my class, don't loose hope Here's some pictures:

My new third grade gifted class, though students from grades 3-5 work on the project (I just don't have permission to photograph them all)

View from the tank at the front of the school.

90 gallon display tank setup up in a third grade room adjoining mine

180 gallon display tank that I'm slowly building in my room. I'm totally broke and have to add new parts a piece at a time when I can scrape up the money. Currently I have about 4,200 in credit card debt just from tank related expenses

120 sump behind the tank in my room, designed to be a marine touch and feel pool or a coral fragout area.

 

[HumbleFish]

Based on the first pic, I don't think that's ich. It could be several other things: cut/coral sting, Lymphocystis (harmless virus) or a slight infection, or even the beginnings of Brooklynella (which is worse than ich). IMO; it's just too early to tell.

I would familiarize yourself with the info contained in these stickies: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2389659

 

[brandoniscool]

Thanks for the info, I will keep the fish in my tank at home for now and read the stickies. I'll try to post some better pictures tonight.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

Based on the first pic, I don't think that's ich. It could be several other things: cut/coral sting, Lymphocystis (harmless virus) or a slight infection, or even the beginnings of Brooklynella (which is worse than ich). IMO; it's just too early to tell.

I would familiarize yourself with the info contained in these stickies: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2389659

^agree! The black clown appears to have the beginning of a skin eruption (pimple) which is indicative of brook IME. This is a current thread with a clown fish that has the same pimple http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2440806&highlight=brook
Have you added anything new to the tank?

 

[Dmorty217]

Thanks for the info, I will keep the fish in my tank at home for now and read the stickies. I'll try to post some better pictures tonight.

Yeah not ich like mentioned above. Keep a close eye on it. If it was ich I would not suggest going the hypo route, it's the most difficult of all to do correctly and the most stressful to fish and humans alike. Awesome school projects, lucky kids...

 

[wooden_reefer]

"I left town for two days and my mom turned off my mp40 in my 60 gal frag out tank at home and that seemed to be enough to stress the two fish that I have in that tank and I think they have ich."

Stress is not the primary cause of ich infestation. The cause of ich infestation is the presence of the ich organism in a closed system, which the natural dilution effect of the ocean is no more. As far as ich is concern, an aquarist should not consider the factor of stress.

There is some chance factor in ich but the aquarist should not accept such a chance.

A tank is a pathogenically closed system, in addition to chemical closed.

The spots on the clowns don't look like ich to me.

It can be a virus or a bacteria, or other parasites.

IME, the UV properly installed has significant impact in reducing bacterial infection. I always use UV for the first several months after the last livestock is introduced.

 

[brandoniscool]

Hello RC,

Thanks for the tips, I am just now reading this tread after a very long day at work. It sounds like to treat the Brooks I should put the fish in QT with hypo salinity and run a UV sterilizer. Web searches suggested an initial fresh water bath and 37% formalin solution treatment. Does this sound appropriate?

Nothing has been introduced to my tank at home for over 6 weeks and no fish for longer though I've been moving coral to school on almost a weekly basis. I was planning on moving more this week though I'm guessing that would be a bad idea for a while. Should I be concerned about the fish at school?

Below are some more recent photos. The 'salt crystals' appear to be gone but the pimple remains. So definitely brooks and not ich? Though isn't brooks a type of ich?

 

[brandoniscool]

I should start the treatment on both fish right? I'm assuming that both are infected. I just ordered the Formalin from amazon, it might not come till next week. I guess I'll have to get by on fresh water baths until then. I read the RC sticky on treatment and will follow that program.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

Hypo is not effective in treating brook. Do both clowns have a pimple on the white stripe on the left side? It also appears one of the clowns also has a spot on its right side as well. Did you look at the link posted in Post 4? Look at the pics and compare them to what your clowns look like. How are the fish eating, breathing?
FW dips will help relieve the fish in lieu of formalin.

 

[brandoniscool]

Hypo is not effective in treating brook. Do both clowns have a pimple on the white stripe on the left side? It also appears one of the clowns also has a spot on its right side as well. Did you look at the link posted in Post 4? Look at the pics and compare them to what your clowns look like. How are the fish eating, breathing?
FW dips will help relieve the fish in lieu of formalin.

The fish seem completely normal, both are eating, are swimming lively, don't have color loss, fin damage, seem to be breathing fine and otherwise seem like they always are.

The pimple is on the right side of the female clown fish only. I looked closely at both fish.

How crazy do I have to get about keeping equipment clean. For example, can I use a refractometer to measure salinity if i wipe it off with alcohol afterwards? I'm keeping the nets, heater and other equipment separate but somethings i only have one of.

 

[brandoniscool]

Look at the pics and compare them to what your clowns look like.

The pimple on my clown does look like the marks on this fish.

 

[brandoniscool]

Hey RC,

Wanted to bump this back up to the top. I was hoping that someone could give me some advice about moving the coral out of my infected tank. Is there any way that I could disinfect it with some kind of dip so that can move it?

The female clown still has the pimple, but no other spots and is happy in the QT tank and is behaving and eating fine.

Thanks for your help,

Brandon

 

[snorvich]

It looks like brook to me. Fallow period for brook is 6 weeks. Fresh water dips will provide temporary relief but not a permanent cure.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

Why and where do you want to move the corals from the infected tank? They can stay in the tank while you run it fallow for 6 weeks. There is nothing you can dip the corals in to disinfect them or eradicate parasites.

 

[brandoniscool]

Why and where do you want to move the corals from the infected tank? They can stay in the tank while you run it fallow for 6 weeks. There is nothing you can dip the corals in to disinfect them or eradicate parasites.

I'm setting up a new tank in my school and have my 60 gallon tank had home crammed full of coral intended for the tank. I've been growing it out all spring and summer for this tank and now this happened. I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and let the tank stay fallow for 6-8 weeks as recommended.

The formalin I ordered just arrived, should I begin treatment? The two fish in quarantine seem to be doing well but the pimple remains.

 

[HumbleFish]

The formalin I ordered just arrived, should I begin treatment? The two fish in quarantine seem to be doing well but the pimple remains.

Are you planning on dosing formalin directly into the QT or doing formalin baths?

 

[brandoniscool]

I thought that I had to do both at the same time. I gave the first 50 minute bath today and also added 2 drops per gallon to the tank water. I noticed that the fish seem to be eating less.

 

[HumbleFish]

I thought that I had to do both at the same time. I gave the first 50 minute bath today and also added 2 drops per gallon to the tank water. I noticed that the fish seem to be eating less.

Yes, doing both is fine. But remember to increase aeration in both the QT and during the bath, as formalin depletes O2. Formalin can be harsh on a fish, so I'm not surprised that you're seeing appetite suppression. And for your own safety, understand that formalin is a known carcinogen so use rubber gloves when dealing with it.

 

[brandoniscool]

understand that formalin is a known carcinogen so use rubber gloves when dealing with it.

Thanks for the tip, I appreciate you checking my thread regularly. I used gloves and will put in an airstone. Any danger from the fumes? I was thinking about keeping the tank at school. I won't let the kids touch anything do to with the hospital tank but I was afraid that the formaldehyde fumes could also be dangerous.

 

[HumbleFish]

Thanks for the tip, I appreciate you checking my thread regularly. I used gloves and will put in an airstone. Any danger from the fumes? I was thinking about keeping the tank at school. I won't let the kids touch anything do to with the hospital tank but I was afraid that the formaldehyde fumes could also be dangerous.

I would suggest not housing the hospital tank at your school. I don't know for sure whether or not formaldehyde fumes are dangerous, but I wouldn't risk the kids accidentally coming into contact with that hospital tank. I'm sure you know they don't always do as told and sometimes go into areas they shouldn't.