Ick laying dormant for 3 months or more....now what?

[maitai123]

Hi,

I have spent a lot of time reading, reading, and then more reading of posts on this forum trying to find an answer to my situation. I have read valuable information, posts from upset people with opposing views, people preaching as if they have never made mistakes in this great hobbie, and people refusing to admit to their mistakes (and costly ones at that).

Here is my situation.

I set up a large tank (300 gallon) 1 year ago. I have a 75 gallon wet/dry sump, and use a mechanical filter, with charcole, 25 micron filter, and UV, a huge protein skimmer, 3 tunze pumps etc). I use VHO, MH, 2 Phosban reactors, a Chiller to keep my water between 79 & 81 degrees. I do 10% water changes weekly.

Basically I spent a chunk of money on buying the best I could afford at the time..

The tank has inverts, corals, a few tangs (1 hippo, a few yellow tangs, 1 six line wrasse, and a clown). The fish were added over a period of 6 months, approx. 3 months ago. I was hesitant to add fish because of the horror stories I have read concerning ick....But I said what the hell, other people have had a lot of success, let me try it. I brought a QT tank and put the fish in the QT tank for 2 months (overkill I know, but wanted to be sure they were going to be fine).

I have been thoroughly enjoying my tank, and watching my softies grow with each passing day. My fish have been doing great! I feed them 2 times a day and they are like food monsters. They are a great addition, adding a lot of color and movement.

Ok, here goes with my questions:-

This morning I noticed my hippo had signs of ick!!! Not a bad infestation, only about 5 very tiny spots. I noticed one of my yellow tangs close to a cleaner shrimp, being "worked on".

I am at a loss as to how this happened. There have been no introductions of new fish, no water crossover, as I keep the hospital tank, pumps, nets, etc in a separate building. I read a link on a prior thread which suggested inck can lay dormant for months.

Now I am a very practical and logical guy. It is clear to me, unless an expert shows the error of my ways... this is what happened:-

I "thought" my fish additions were completely free of ick! I seem to have gone though a bout of bad luck lately, and this has added icing to the cake.

I can only conclude that a few of the parasites survived the medication and were hidden, either in the water which stayed on the fish as I acclimated them, prior to release in my big tank, or were hidden from view on the fish (gills, other, etc).

('') The main point: I now have the dreaded ick parasite in my big tank. I do not want to tear down a reef that took a year to build, remove my fish, and worst of all spend a week having my wife tell me "I told you so, adding fish was a huge mistake...too much money and a lot can go wrong!!".

Now my question: Is all hope lost, and they will all perish? I have started feeding garlic soaked flake food, pellets, etc. Other than a few white spots they are eating and swimming as normal.

What are my chances that they will survive, and tolerate the parasite?

Sorry for the long post guys.

 

[acrylic_300]

Keep feeding garlic. The ich will dissapear and reapear a few times but you should have it taken care of in a couple months if you keep feeding garlic.

If you can beat it without medication then the fish will become highly resistant to ich.

 

[maitai123]

Thank you Acrylic_300. I'll do just that and hope for the best!!

 

[maro1]

I know the feeling of hoping. But logic and experiance of some of the best peopole in this field suggest QT is necessary. I am currently getting ready for QT after throwing a fit myself. Watch them carefully and prepare for the QT to beat ich entirely.

Mar

 

[Triggerfish]

Re: Ick laying dormant for 3 months or more....now what?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8726870#post8726870 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by maitai123

The tank has inverts, corals, a few tangs. I brought a QT tank and put the fish in the QT tank for 2 months.
what quarantine method did you use and did you quarantine everything including inverts?


This morning I noticed my hippo had signs of ick!!!.
you're certain it's ich? often times sand grains can stick to slime coating, air bubbles, ect. unless it is on the fins..then it's more likely it would be a parasite.


I am at a loss as to how this happened. There have been no introductions of new fish, no water crossover, as I keep the hospital tank, pumps, nets, etc in a separate building. I read a link on a prior thread which suggested inck can lay dormant for months.
what about inverts,,corals.. anything with the possible exception of unmounted softies would be an introduction risk.
can you post the dormant link? this is the first i have heard about a dormant stage of the lifecycle.


I "thought" my fish additions were completely free of ick!
this can be a challenge to actually confirm. all your introductions would need to be analyzed regarding quarantine procedures and methods.


I can only conclude that a few of the parasites survived the medication and were hidden, either in the water which stayed on the fish as I acclimated them, prior to release in my big tank, or were hidden from view on the fish (gills, other, etc).
i gather you pre-treated with copper? how long and what dosage? again,,inverts can introduce as well.


Now my question: Is all hope lost, and they will all perish? Other than a few white spots they are eating and swimming as normal.
since the fish are doing fine, i would hold off undertaking any drastic measures at this time.. give it a bit and see what transpires. then we can re-evaluate.


What are my chances that they will survive, and tolerate the parasite?
i have seen many aquarists reef tanks with evidence of the parasite..all fish seemd to be thriving..however, the outbreak population appeared to be very low..i believe this can be both strain dependent along with overall fish health.

 

[Zoom]

My reef tank is 14 years old now-I have not put any fish in that tank for three years till my son accidently overflow his reef tank with his RO/DI system for two days the ro water was running in the sump the salinity when down to 1008 and kill everything in his reef tank the only fish that survive was a purple Tang that he had for three years.
I transfer this fish to my quarantine tank with the same salinity for six weeks and put the fish in my 200G tank.
in one week the PT start to have ick spots - they never really got to bad but they still doing there cycle every seven to ten days.
This is not the first time my fish will get ick from a ick carrier I may have in the tank.
I never do anything any more my fish are immune to the ick parasite and even if they get some ick spots they always recover.

 

[maitai123]

Hi Trigger Fish,

Sorry for the delay in responding...I am sure they have ick. Terrible white spots all over their body. I decided to remove them and put them in my 95 gallon QT tank. Dismantling my reef was heartbreaking. I have started the Hypo treatment...its been 24 hours now. I have lost my flame angel and 1 yellow tang so far. My hippo tank looks terrible, but still swimming and eating. Hopefully they will come out of this ok. I posted another note earlier today to provide an update (please read post from Maitai123 for an overview of what I had to do.). What a horrible experience I have gone through. Hopefully this is the last time.

 

[Triggerfish]

double post..

l
l
l
V

 

[Triggerfish]

that blows... i'll read it over tomorrow am and respond....
quick note..if your fish are really bad with heavy gill infestation..i had good luck either FW dipping or bathing with a fresh/salt ratio of 10:1..it gave my angel instant relief on more than one occassion. not a cure though.

 

[maitai123]

Ok great Trigger. What was the dip duration? Tonight I found my Hippo laying on its side in the QT tank. I had little choice but to go for the FW dip....nothing to lose.

I filled a small tupperware container with freshwater (same temperature, and adjusted the PH).

I netted him, removed him from the tank and lowered him and the net into the pan. After 2 minutes he started to come around. I left him in the Freshwater for exactly 5 minutes and put him back in the QT tank. He seemed re-energised. I "think" the ICK on his gills must have exploded, dropped off, etc. This could have been a coincidence...not sure. Anyway he is currently swimming much better and took a bite out of Garlic laced food. I have my fingers crossed I will awake to find him alive. Tomorrow morning I will reach 1.009.

 

[law086]

Maitai - it's not clear to me what treatment you used while the fish was in quarentine the first time. Did you use hypo or copper?

If you didn't hypo or didn't use copper (or used it in the incorrect dosage), I would believe the parasite could have existed on the fish in very small quanitites perhaps and never really got a foot hold on the fish to show up.

I know the battle with Ich well. I had a wondering reef tank, much like you, with about 1/2 dozen thriving fish. Introduced on small cheap fish and it wiped out everything.

Started over and now I quanentine fish (still don't with coral).

Best of luck
Ron

 

[lemadl]

Hi Law086,

Well I do not think there was a "first" time, even though the local store said the fish were healthy. Stupid me, misplaced faith in others.

I truly believe the pet stores selling fish have an ethical obligation to sell fish that have been properly QT'd? Why are they an exception?

It would be acceptable for you to purchase a horse, bird, dolphin that has a desease so awful it can kill every member of your farm?

To me, simply saying, oh it is up to the buyer to QT the animals is a cop out in my book. Regardless of the animal living or dying the pet store STILL has your money!! Therefore you lose twice. The money and the animal.

I have learned a valuable lesson. I have to assume every animal is sick / dying, and will from now do the QT properly. The only person I can trust to protect my money and live stock is myself. Sorry for the rant, but I was on a roll!

Hope your luck is improving as well.