I want to start off by saying that I am posting my experiences merely to share with others who may have the same beliefs as myslef, and not to recommend this as a suggested course of action.
Background: I had a 175G mixed reef running for a little over 2 years that never showed signs of ich. I never QT my fish (personal preference). During that 2 year period I added and removed many fish and never had a fish show signs of Ich.
A few months ago I upgraded to a new custom 210g. Same fish and live rock were transferred but I started with new sand. All inhabitants transferred successfully. With the added space I wanted to add more fish so i attempted a dwarf angel. Within 3 days it showed signs of ich and died. No other of the original inhabitants showed any signs of ich at all. Over the next few weeks I tried this with 3 more dwarf angels, a queen angel and atlantic blue tang. All showed signs of ich within the 1st week and died and all were purchased from the same reputable lfs store. However, now that last fish added was the queen angel and when it showed signs of Ich so did all original my tangs and angels!
Now I knew i had a problem. Reluctant to break down the tank and try to catch the fish I attempted to try and beat/control it within the display. My steps were the following:
- Installed a UV sterilizer adequately sized for my tank
- Soaked frozen foods in selcon and garlic
- Fed the tank heavily, 6X a day.
- Dosed hydrogen peroxide (60ml/Day) for 5 consecutive days.
I did this continously and within 2 weeks my tank inhabitants showed no signs of ich. And I never lost any of my original transferred inhabitants.
I waited 8 full weeks and have now successfully added 3 dwarf angels (purchased from same lfs as before) to my tank without any signs of ich after 2 weeks.
I am not suggesting this as a course of action and again I just share my experiences with others. I was a firm beleiver that fish can live in a DT with Ich if the appropriate courses of action are taken to properly control it and they are fed properly so that there immune systems can defend against it.
Again I do not QT and do not condone this behavior however, it is my personal choice.
Background: I had a 175G mixed reef running for a little over 2 years that never showed signs of ich. I never QT my fish (personal preference). During that 2 year period I added and removed many fish and never had a fish show signs of Ich.
A few months ago I upgraded to a new custom 210g. Same fish and live rock were transferred but I started with new sand. All inhabitants transferred successfully. With the added space I wanted to add more fish so i attempted a dwarf angel. Within 3 days it showed signs of ich and died. No other of the original inhabitants showed any signs of ich at all. Over the next few weeks I tried this with 3 more dwarf angels, a queen angel and atlantic blue tang. All showed signs of ich within the 1st week and died and all were purchased from the same reputable lfs store. However, now that last fish added was the queen angel and when it showed signs of Ich so did all original my tangs and angels!
Now I knew i had a problem. Reluctant to break down the tank and try to catch the fish I attempted to try and beat/control it within the display. My steps were the following:
- Installed a UV sterilizer adequately sized for my tank
- Soaked frozen foods in selcon and garlic
- Fed the tank heavily, 6X a day.
- Dosed hydrogen peroxide (60ml/Day) for 5 consecutive days.
I did this continously and within 2 weeks my tank inhabitants showed no signs of ich. And I never lost any of my original transferred inhabitants.
I waited 8 full weeks and have now successfully added 3 dwarf angels (purchased from same lfs as before) to my tank without any signs of ich after 2 weeks.
I am not suggesting this as a course of action and again I just share my experiences with others. I was a firm beleiver that fish can live in a DT with Ich if the appropriate courses of action are taken to properly control it and they are fed properly so that there immune systems can defend against it.
Again I do not QT and do not condone this behavior however, it is my personal choice.
