Ick game plan with questions

[Mish]

I am trying to get a game plan going for treating what I think is Ick. I have 5 fish, but only 2 show signs of ick. So, do I Hypo-salinity treat all of the fish, or just the ones that show signs? Will any of these fish have trouble with the hypo treatment?

Lawnmower Blenny
Bi-Color Pseudo
Coral Beauty
Six Line Wrasse
Blue Chin Trigger

My plan: ( any suggestions are welcome)

I have a reef, so I will be removing the fish to a QT tank/bucket. For 6-8 weeks.

The display tank will remain fish free for the 6-8 week time span. I will do normal water changes and feedings. to keep rock, coral, and inverts alive.

No medication or chemicals will be used in either tank. I am considering feeding Metrodiazonal with Focus and garlic to the fish in QT though.

If I am understanding this correctly, Ick can not host on inverts or corals, right? So, this should cause it to die.

My goal is to rid the display of Ick. Is this going to be an effective method?
Also, I read that 50% water changes everyday, may remove ick, can this be done on the display tank with the fish in it? or is it ineffective with fish in the tank?

Thanks

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

You are on the right track. Remove all fish from your display to a qt and leave the main fallow for 6-8 weeks. You can preform your regular maintenance on your main as the ich will die without a host.
You can do 50% daily water changes on your qt..this keeps your water quality up and you will be removing ich at the same time.

 

[Mish]

Got it, So just doing 50% water changes everyday on a tank with ick is not going to solve the problem?

The husband is not real happy about removing fish and running two separate tanks for two months. This is taking a lot of patience on my part. It's hard to convince him that this is necessary.

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

Oh I know..I got 3 new Tangs for my new tank 6 weeks ago. I put them in 2 separate qt tanks, of course they all came down with ich Right now I have 2 display tanks, 2 qt tanks and my 240 cycling


Doing 50% water changes everyday will help remove some ich, but not all. You would have to do 100% daily for water changes to cure ich. Just do hypo in a qt..check your water daily. PH will drop so you will need to add buffer when that happens. also check for Ammonia. Daily water changes will keep water pristine and keep ammonia at bay.
Use a refractometer
I have just finished raising the sg in my quarantines. I am so glad this is almost over!!
Good luck to you

 

[Mish]

Wow! Thanks for the info. I'm not looking forward to this. I also don't have a Qt tank. I am considering using a Rubbermaid bucket. Any thoughts on this? I have been looking for a cheap Qt tank, but haven't found one yet. The ich found me first.

This is going to be hard.

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

A Rubbermaid will work...the only thing I don't like about them is the fact you can't see the fish.. But they are cheap and better than nothing.

This is a lot of work but in the end when all the fish are ich free, its worth it

 

[Triggerfish]

keeping the tank fallow for 8 weeks is a good idea..

what will you use to measure salinity in qt?

also,,get the qt cycled first before adding the fish to it. this has proven to be an issue with most aquarists that setup a qt on the fly like this.

the rubbermaid would not be a good idea for observation purposes..you really need to ensure the fish are clean to the eye prior to adding back in the main tank. with the rubbermaid that will be very difficult to ensure.

 

[Mish]

Yep, I gave up on the rubbermaid idea. I bought a 10 and a 20 long to house my fish. I have a refratometer, so no problems there. Now I just have to catch the fish.

Triggerfish, I had read some of the really long thread on your hypo treatment, and that convinced me that I needed the tanks. This is going to be hard. I also have the advantage of being able to check the ammonia 3 times a day. I work 5min from home, so I go home at lunch an tend to the tank. I also have Prime to help with the ammonia, and I cut some of the filter floss from my sump up, and put it the QT filters. I don't know if this will help the cycle, but worth a try.

Thanks

 

[Triggerfish]

Mish-
you could get some 'Cycle' and add to the tank..that should help a great deal...i wouldn't rely too much on the Prime product.

use the cycled floss,,it's contaminated, but you're treating the tank so it shouldn't matter all that much.

the larger tank you can use the better as overall water quality degrades slower.

 

[Mish]

OK, I didn't really think about the floss being contaminated. In this case the hypo will probablly kill whatever is in the floss anyway. I will get cycle as well. But when I am through with this I was going to take the biowheels that are in the QT filters and put them back in the main display sump to gear up for the next time I need them. It sounds like I shouldn't do this, so do I throw these biowheels out and buy new for next time?

Can I let fresh biowheels soak in my sump to gain bacteria for when I need them later?

 

[Triggerfish]

should be fine..however..it may be easier to just let the wheels sit for a week and dry out prior to placing back in main sump.

you can let any type of media sit in sump to cycle.

 

[Mish]

Oh good, I've learned my lesson.

 

[ERICN]

cant you just take 10g out of display and put in QT tank to avoid the cycle sure you are taking the ich with you but with daily water changes and hypo you are treating it anyway if you don't in my opinion you are going to further stress a sick fish.

 

[Mish]

I did use tank water in my QTs, but if I am understanding the cycle process, the water really has no good bacteria. It's the filter media that allows the bacteria to grow. In otherwards there is not enough in the water to do any good.

I will be moving fish to the QTs tonight. This involves taking rock out to catch the fish, too bad I like my aquscaping. : (

I also want to mention that the wrasse didn't make it. So I'm left with:
LMBlenny
Bi-Color Pseudo
Coral Beauty
Blue Chin Trigger

I will be splitting these into two groups, half in a 10gal, and half in a 20Long, hypo for 8 weeks.

 

[TerryB]

Be preparred to make a lot of water changes using well aged and aerated saltwater. Get as much seeded filter material as you can for the quarantine. You can use some Poly Filter by Poly Bio Marine (chem filter pad) to help control the ammonia. I recommend keeping a cycled Qtank running at all times to avoid complications from cycling while treating fish.

Terry B

 

[Mish]

Thanks, I am prepared to do large water changes. This is going to be difficult. Keeping a QT running is not really an option, so I need to be able to move media from main tank to QT when needed. My husband is going to kill me before this is all over. He has no idea what this involves. I just hope it works.