There are 1000s of articles on ICH and I have read 100s. I have a 210 mixed reef with several different species of fish. I do not run a UV on the tank, I did 18w for about 1.5 years, never really saw any difference from an algae standpoint, just 1 more pump, 1 more buld and 1 more line to clean out so I disconnected. I feed the fish mainly flake food and occasional Nori (maybe 2 times per week). They all gobble up the flakes and I thought that due to the nutritional value this was the best route. All fish were in great condition. In Feb. I bought a Kole tang to add to the mix. There were a couple of Tangs in the tank so I expected a little bit of a fight. I bought the fish from a store that both treats and quarantines, cost a little more but I thought worth it. I then also put the tang in a 4 week tank prior to introduction to the main tank. The fighting between the fish was not as bad as I expected but within a few days the tank boss a PBT and the new Kole tang were showing signs of ICH. The PBT would periodically have a few spots here and there but never much more than that. I let it go a few days soaking the food in garlic hoping they would beat it naturally, they did not. It got worse and I started a treatment of KICK ICH. I used this a couple of years or so ago when I introduced the PBT and it seemed to do the job. I tried it again this time 2 complete treatments, it did not get better just slowed down the getting worse. I lost the kole tang (today), the powder blue (Saturday) and a flame angel (sort of surprised since it has scales some time last week). I started treating with "no sick fish" on Friday.
My conclusion - there is ICH in the tank, running a UV for nearly 2 years did not knock it out (which I would not have expected). The fish in the tank obviously built up a bit of a tolerance or immunity to it, stress from the introduction of the new tang allowed it to expand.
My rabbit fish and purple tang show little signs of it the cleaner wrasse is picking at them a little, clown fish looks as though he is going to go next.
So - now that it is in there, how do I ever get it out?
I ran an 18w UV on a Mag 5 for nearly 2 years, not to mention I think the odds of counting on every single floating parasite to flow through it is like winning the lottery twice - not likely. I think the UV may minimize but not eliminate.
I am only a so/so believer in the let their immunity system fight it off theory, I believe it had been in the tank and they had been fighting it off but the additional stress made it more than they could handle - just my theory.
Other than catching all of the fish and hoping to starve it out - not that I think for certain that would work either - what to do?
My conclusion - there is ICH in the tank, running a UV for nearly 2 years did not knock it out (which I would not have expected). The fish in the tank obviously built up a bit of a tolerance or immunity to it, stress from the introduction of the new tang allowed it to expand.
My rabbit fish and purple tang show little signs of it the cleaner wrasse is picking at them a little, clown fish looks as though he is going to go next.
So - now that it is in there, how do I ever get it out?
I ran an 18w UV on a Mag 5 for nearly 2 years, not to mention I think the odds of counting on every single floating parasite to flow through it is like winning the lottery twice - not likely. I think the UV may minimize but not eliminate.
I am only a so/so believer in the let their immunity system fight it off theory, I believe it had been in the tank and they had been fighting it off but the additional stress made it more than they could handle - just my theory.
Other than catching all of the fish and hoping to starve it out - not that I think for certain that would work either - what to do?
