Lost all but 4 to ich!

[305primo]

Hi fellow reefers I have been reading and reading about ich for the last 2 weeks now... and im sooo confused... my story is simple (i think) have a 125G with 30g sump , skimmer , 2 200w heaters and chaeto.. i have alot of coral hammers , frogspawns, montis, acans, bubbles , starpolys , zoos alot of other coral... also had (i repeat had) over 20 fish... i went one day 2 weeks ago and bought 3 new fish achilles tang , yellow tang and chocolate tang... well ich was introduced into my system apparently because 3 days after the fish were in everybody got ich... all but 2 chromys 1 red cardinal bangi and 1 rabbitfish (that has cloudy eye now) i have lost over 3k including 2 breeding pairs of clownfish, i would say the last 2 and half weeks im devastated now and been treating my tank with all sorts of things like ginger , garlic, did rally with kick ich , water changes ,blah blah blah... tried it all... so my question is basically... do i try and leave the current 4 fish in tank and not add any fish at all for 3 months? or do i remove the fish and wait 3 months and pray that the ich will be gone? i also have chaeto in sump do i remove that as well? im so confused with all the forums going on around everywhere... just need it i guess explained in simple terms any help would be greatly appericated and sorry for starting other thread on yet other ich problem..


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[305primo]

oh yeah also have 2 anomones and 3 cleaner shrimp and 1 fire shrimp still in tank if that makes any difference?

 

[Spar]

if all the fish had Ich just 3 days after you added new non-QT/treated fish, then the other fish already had Ich to begin with. it was likely just the onset of additional stress caused by the new fish being added that sparked the deterioration of health from the Ich.

regardless, the best plan of action for you is this:
ALL fish - need to come out and treated in a separate tank(s); Tank Transfer Method (TTM) being the method of choice (only consider copper or hypo IF you cannot or are not willing to do TTM); then keep those fish in a QT until your DT is ready for them (see next step)

Current DT - easy here, just leave it fishless (fallow) for 3 months, and it is highly likely that all the Ich completes its lifecycle without finding a host, i.e. dies. Everything that is not a fish can stay in the tank during this period, just remember to feed it.

 

[Deinonych]

if all the fish had Ich just 3 days after you added new non-QT/treated fish, then the other fish already had Ich to begin with. it was likely just the onset of additional stress caused by the new fish being added that sparked the deterioration of health from the Ich.

That, or it wasn't ich. Ich typically doesn't kill quickly or cause mass mortalities.

 

[305primo]

ok thanx guys now just to get those 4 remaining fish out is going to be the job lol.. those chromys ive had for 3 years and the rabbit and red cardinal for 2 years and alot of rock in the way to get them out... going to have to come up with a game plan...

 

[305primo]

and one more thing? even tho i did all the methods of killing the ich and the current fish dont have ich it is totally possible that they still have it and have no choice but to take them out huh? uuuggghhh this is going to be hard lol thanx again

 

[Spar]

right, if it is worse, i.e. velvet or brook, you will need/want to get them out regardless. you obviously had something big pop its ugly head in the tank. and I agree with Chris that Ich is unlikely given how quick it worked. the only time i have experienced a fish death that quick was with velvet. luckily was in QT.

 

[tassod]

Sounds like brook to me. Brook has been known to take down massive amounts of fish in only a few hours.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

I had to deal with this over the summer. This sounds like classic velvet to me, which is what I had. I lost 15 fish in 6 days. It was so fast, I couldn't really even react in time. Velvet looks similar to ICH, except smaller dots. You are going to have to take all the fish out and leave DT fishless for 6 weeks for Velvet or to play it safe, 76 days for ICH. Treat with copper in the QT or Chloroquine Phosphate.

 

[Deinonych]

and one more thing? even tho i did all the methods of killing the ich and the current fish dont have ich it is totally possible that they still have it and have no choice but to take them out huh? uuuggghhh this is going to be hard lol thanx again

The methods you cited above (garlic, ginger, Reef Rally, Kick-Ich) are not effective treatments. You will need to remove the fish from the tank and treat with one of the proven methods outlined in the stickies at the top of this forum (I highly recommend Tank Transfer Method).

 

[microlady]

Current DT - easy here, just leave it fishless (fallow) for 3 months, and it is highly likely that all the Ich completes its lifecycle without finding a host, i.e. dies. Everything that is not a fish can stay in the tank during this period, just remember to feed it.[/QUOTE]

3 months? I thought the fallow period was 72 days. I put my fish back in on day 75. Please tell me that I didn't screw up because I am NOT pulling them out again!

 

[Spar]

72ish days is correct. Saying 3 months is just easier to say and gives room for buffer...

 

[snorvich]

That, or it wasn't ich. Ich typically doesn't kill quickly or cause mass mortalities.

Yes, ich is unlikely. Describe fish behavior.

 

[snorvich]

The methods you cited above (garlic, ginger, Reef Rally, Kick-Ich) are not effective treatments. You will need to remove the fish from the tank and treat with one of the proven methods outlined in the stickies at the top of this forum (I highly recommend Tank Transfer Method).

What he said. TTM is preferred if ich, chloroquine phosphate is preferred for velvet.

 

[microlady]

72ish days is correct. Saying 3 months is just easier to say and gives room for buffer...

Ok great. I am hoping that ich is gone.