New to Crypt

[sdreefers]

Ok, so I have ich on a purple tang. The spots were first extremely tiny and difficult to see. Now, after about a week they are huge, probably about 1mm in size. I have never had a fish with ich so don't know if this is normal. Initially when I looked at the fish this morning I thought that the fish had contracted way more ich, but I think it's just growing, so, is this a common stage of this parasite?

Thanks,
Nathan

 

[hutch1814]

first off u should always QT fish for some period of time to make sure they have no illness but since u do have ich u need to put him in a qt tank and start a treatment whether its a copper or a lowering of the sal. and watch him. But for the question yes this is normal for the parasite and what it is doin is useing the fish as a host to reproduce itself and majority of the time the fish will die to the parasite so u should be thinkin of your treatment opitions now.

 

[sdreefers]

I am thinking that removing the fish and putting into a qtank during this fragile state will probably stress the fish more and end up killing it. Does the parasite look appear to grow in size over a few days?

 

[hansonfam]

Yeo it is just in its visible state now.
Ina day or two it is going to look like it is all gone. But what has happened is the parasite has dropped to the sand and it will then come back 10 fold. It is not going to go away. You need to put him in a hospital tank and treat for ick. And you need to keep you tank fishless for 4-6 weeks to kill off any parasites as they cannot live without a fish host.The trip to the hospital tank may be stressfull but not being able to breath because a parasite is in your gills would be much more stressful to him. While he is in hospital soak all his food in garlic to boost his immune system and selcon viatmin drops as that will keep his system up to par.

Good luck and i hope he gets better soon.

Lisa

 

[sdreefers]

I have like 30 fish in my tank! My tangs alone are like 8 inches across. I would need to have a 75 gallon tank just as a q tank. Is there another option?

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

Nope....the larger your display and the more fish you keep, you need a qt that can accommodate the fish if necessary..I have 2-55 gallons and a 20 gallon. But I qt all my new fish so I doubt I'll ever need to use them for treatment tanks

The only way you will be rid of ich is to do as Hansomfam stated...otherwise, you end up with a lot of dead fish

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

Oh...and if you have 30 fish, including several Tangs all in a 75...your way overstocked and heading for more problems

 

[sdreefers]

Well, I believe stocking is all a matter of opinion, and without knowing the setup you just can't immediately come to a conclusion. Say I had 28 green chromis and 3 small tangs. The bioload would be virtually nothing and a 75 could easily accomodate this with the proper setup. Also, QT tanks are fine, but, when you move the fish from quarantine to the display tank, how do you not introduce ich into the display. I mean, how can you be sure that the QT tank is ich free? Also, in the next few months I will be getting a larger 275 tank and will be using the 75 as a QT. I am unable to setup a QT until the 275 gets here, so I am wondering what gives the fish the best chance? Should I feed garlic, or do freshwater dips, or just let it be and hope for the best?

 

[hansonfam]

The reason you know you are not reintroducing ick back into the display is you have either hypo'd it or cooper'd it. In which case both kill the parasite. You treat in the quarintine tank for 4 weeks after the last ick spot that you saw. So overall if you have no ick on your fish for 4 weeks and you have fully treated them with either remedies than you are not able to transfer anything back. You can treat them with garlic and selcon soaked foods. It is by no means guarenteed to work but hey it might. You can also invest in a good uv sterilizer.They are no good when it is on the fish but when they drop of it might catch them but not neccessarily all.If you can't move them than the only thing you have is ,garlic and selcon and hope for the best....

Good luck and i hope they all recover.

Lisa

 

[sdreefers]

I did invest in a UV sterilizer and have had it hooked up for a couple weeks!! I will keep on the garlic and get some selcon. As for the QT tank, that will come in the next few months. I want to give these guys a fighting chance, but just can't get another tank going as the other one will be ready in a couple of months. Thanks for the help!!