Lost almost entire stock to ich

[ebeez]

Man am I frustrated... I have lost the following to ich:

1 Yellow tang
2 Damsel
1 spotted grouper
1 tomato clown
1 Red striped emperor
-all within a week and a half

My tank was as clean as a whistle until two weeks ago. All the levels are still good. 60 gal tank running 2 protien skimmers (remora pro and coralife super) and an Eheim

I have 1 Picasso triger, 1 orange starfish, 2 serpent stars, and 2 shrimp left, What can I do to saves these guys? I have been doing 20% water changes every other day, syphoning from the bottom, and treating with Rally Ruby Reef.

I am just freak'n as I have to flush these... any suggestions would be appreciated.
:eek1:

 

[danorth]

Do you have any cured live rock? If so, I'd setup a new 20GL with a skimmer and LR in it and fresh water dip the fish before placing it in and let the other tank sit for a month and a half. I'd only move out the trigger and let the others fight it out. Are you sure it is ich?

 

[lemadl]

Ebeez,

Like you I have had a terrible time with ick. I have lost a lot of fish this year, after 15 years of keeping fish. This year has caught up to me big time. Money down the drain, big time. Based on tons of sleepless nights reading everything I can about what others have experienced and done, the safest thing you can do is assume all your fish have it, and they will either be a carrier and pass it on forever, or will die if not treated. If I were you I would bite the bullet. Catch all of them and treat them in a QT tank for 6 to 8 weeks and leave your main display "fishless" during this time. This will kill the parasite as it attempts its natural cycle. Copper or Hyposalinity treatment will be effective, but please watch your tang very carefully in the QT tank, especially if you decide on copper.

Others may give better advice than me, but my own experience taught me a great lesson. There are no short cuts. Even medications that are the miracle cure, will only lead to costing you more time, frustration and loss of life. The odds are against you that this will clear up on its own. Sorry for the negative input. Hell I am going through this nightmare myself, and know the sting of watching hundreds of dollars get flushed down the drain over this parasite.

Setup a QT tank, pick one of the options above and hope for the best!! There are no guarantees in this hobbie. Hopefully your luck will be better than mine has been lately.

 

[ebeez]

Thanks for the quick replies guys! very much appreciated. I pretty sure it's ick... took a photo of the Emperor before it died to Big Al's and confirmed. I am surprised the the serpent and orange star aren't showing any visible signs? I did the garlic trick last night... as a last ditch effort.. wife is really impressed with that odor!? Any idea of how to tell when the parasite is gone? Is it just based on a life cycle of a month and a half?

 

[Puffer Queen]

The stars will not show symptoms - the parasite has to have a fish to feed on to complete its life cycle.

 

[ebeez]

Does that mean the stars will not contract the parasite? what about shrimp? Will they contact the parasite? they all seem quite conent right now.

 

[Puffer Queen]

The parasite feeds on the skin/mucous of a fish.....so inverts and corals do not have this skin so they can not get ich but they can carry or transport the cyst.

 

[lemadl]

ebeez,

Let me say that first, that I am no expert. I am merely a fairly intelliegent guy that has gone through hell this year, and am learning all the time. There are people out there that are the true experts. However I have learned a great deal at the same time. So for fear of being disagreed with, my best input is simply the following:-

1. Corals and Inverts do not carry Ick, nor can they be a host to Ick. This is not your concern.

2. The real enemy is the water that Corals and Inverts come in. The water is what can introduce the parasite into your tank. You cannot completely fix this, because you cannot totally separate corals and inverts from the water they are transported in. One drop of contaminated water introduced into your display tank is all you need for disaster to ensue.

3. You need to QT everything because of this. My personal view is to QT the corals and inverts for a minimum of 6 weeks. This will make sure that the parasite, if it was on the coral or invert, via the transport water, will be dead.

This is the only tried and literally proven solution. Anything else is wishfull thinking or marketing hype of people trying to push their products on you. While some may work, or you may just get lucky, it is not the best strategy to employ. I only wish I was smart enough to take my own freaking advice. I would not be in the current situation I am in right now. Please do not take a short cut. QT everything, wait out the 6 weeks and pat yourself on the back when it is over.

Obviously do not introduce anything new to your display tank, including inverts and corals. If you do, you basically have to reset the 6 week clock and begin the wait all over again.

 

[ebeez]

Thank you very much for your posts Surfer Dave! Very much appreciated! I will be starting the QT shortly and crossing my fingures!

 

[Puffer Queen]

Corals and inverts can tranport the cyst stage of ich on them. This is not my opinion but a proven fact by researchers and fish veterinarians.

The water in the transport bag can have both the free swimming and the cyst stages of ich.

 

[Randall_James]

As no one else did this

ebeez
<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

Sorry your first post was such a sad one+

Anyway, qt your fish for 8 weeks, the main tank must remain fallow to allow any other parasites to die off. 8 weeks should pretty much leave your tank Ich free unless you reintroduce it with other fish.

 

[ebeez]

Thank you Randall! I only have 3 starfish and 2 shrimp legt in the tank now :eek2:
I have started up a 20 gal tank (bout 2 pounds of live rock and substarte, hooked up with the coralife skimmer) to use as a QT for all future new intros... Thanks for the advise... I am counting down the weeks already!

 

[Randall_James]

A good idea not to have rock or substrate in your qt tank. These both adsorb copper like a sponge (and it is a common treatment).

Get yourself a powersponge filter and some pvc elbows and pieces so that the fish have somewhere to hide.

I have a collection of links and good info from the experts Here

The qt tank should be stored dry when not in use. I would just wait at least 4 weeks before getting your first replacement fish. This way if he is still 100% at 4 or 6 weeks, your main display will be safe again as well.

Good luck and post pictures

 

[Vi3tKid420]

get a cleaner shrimp and cleaner wrasse, they've helped my fish partly. Even if your fish have ich, then it comes off later on, that means they came off the fish to breed so it will spread so dont think that its gone for sure. If anything check ur temperatures when ur light is on and off and ur temperature fluctuations. I use kick ich and it works great, just works kinda slow. Use kick ich, and just to tell you make sure u use it for all the days it tells you b/c it will come back! My ich is gone, one of my clowns had it and now its having fun. Dont worry i lost a lot of live stock do to ich also (lion fish/puffer/5 clowns/a lot more) I hope everything gets better.

 

[Randall_James]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8854656#post8854656 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Vi3tKid420
get a cleaner shrimp and cleaner wrasse, they've helped my fish partly. Even if your fish have ich, then it comes off later on, that means they came off the fish to breed so it will spread so dont think that its gone for sure. If anything check ur temperatures when ur light is on and off and ur temperature fluctuations. I use kick ich and it works great, just works kinda slow. Use kick ich, and just to tell you make sure u use it for all the days it tells you b/c it will come back! My ich is gone, one of my clowns had it and now its having fun. Dont worry i lost a lot of live stock do to ich also (lion fish/puffer/5 clowns/a lot more) I hope everything gets better.

You lost a lot of fish to Ich due to lack of quarantine and a few other issues from what I can see. Only 2 things are proven effective on ich and "kick ich" is not one of them. Also cleaner shrimp, lighting, temp really have no real effect on ichs ability to wipe out your tank.

There are NO REEF SAFE cures for ich, only patience, quarantine, and one of the proven treatments is going to provide long term relief.

I have ich free tanks and have never lost a fish to ich. Lost my fish to my first poor attempts at quarantine however...