Newbies and others take note How I got Ick, I think

[hkgar]

Really stupid, in hindsight.

In January I purchased a 180, to upgrade from my 90, from a fellow reefer. She threw in a UV sterilizer and 100 lbs. of live rock. She had bought the sterilizer because of a suspected case of Ick, but said it went away by itself so had never used it. I just took it and planned to sell it as I don't believe in UV for tanks. Since I had never had an Ick problem in 10+ years of reefing, I knew nothing about it (my bad).

The live rock was sitting in about 8 inches of water in the bottom of the tank I bought for about a week. I think that this rock was carrying Ick and also probably cause a mini cycle when I set up the tank in my house, causing the death of most of the corals I transferred.
Ammonia went to about .5

I made some really poor decisions and now am paying a big price for little or knowledge about a problem I could have easily avoided.

Rock bought from another reefer should be suspect. I will never get rock from a previous tank.

 

[hkgar]

I thought about posting this in the New Reefers forum, but will let the mods decide. Maybe both places?

Get ALL the education you can about everything about this hobby.

 

[HumbleFish]

She probably thought the UV killed all the Ich living in her tank, including the rocks. She wouldn't be the first (or the last) person to ever make that false assumption.

 

[hkgar]

No, she never used the UV, so she said.

 

[TruReef]

Really stupid, in hindsight.

In January I purchased a 180, to upgrade from my 90, from a fellow reefer. She threw in a UV sterilizer and 100 lbs. of live rock. She had bought the sterilizer because of a suspected case of Ick, but said it went away by itself so had never used it. I just took it and planned to sell it as I don't believe in UV for tanks. Since I had never had an Ick problem in 10+ years of reefing, I knew nothing about it (my bad).

The live rock was sitting in about 8 inches of water in the bottom of the tank I bought for about a week. I think that this rock was carrying Ick and also probably cause a mini cycle when I set up the tank in my house, causing the death of most of the corals I transferred.
Ammonia went to about .5

I made some really poor decisions and now am paying a big price for little or knowledge about a problem I could have easily avoided.

Rock bought from another reefer should be suspect. I will never get rock from a previous tank.[/QUOTE]



Go ahead and get the rock, it will be cheaper then you can get it at the store. Then just nuke it to be positive it is clean. Now just re-populate the rock with bacteria and your good to go.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1914426

 

[HumbleFish]

No, she never used the UV, so she said.

Whoops! Just saw where you said she, "said it went away by itself so had never used it." This is even worse! Have you added any fish yet?

Also, you said the rock was sitting in 8 inches of water for about a week. Was there any circulation going? If not, a lot of the bacteria might have died off which led to the mini-cycle.

 

[hkgar]

Whoops! Just saw where you said she, "said it went away by itself so had never used it." This is even worse! Have you added any fish yet?

Also, you said the rock was sitting in 8 inches of water for about a week. Was there any circulation going? If not, a lot of the bacteria might have died off which led to the mini-cycle.

Nope no circulation

 

[HumbleFish]

Nope no circulation

Don't beat yourself up too bad over this. I've been doing this 30+ years, and I still make bonehead mistakes from time to time. :frog:

 

[MrTuskfish]

"Ich going away by itself" should be a giant red flag, this doesn't happen. You can use the UV with your tank; it can kill a lot of harmful bacteria and a few parasites; just don't let it give you a false sense of security----UV does not cure a parasite infestation. Thanks for sharing this, many seasoned hobbyists would never admit a mistake like this. Good luck with the new tank.

 

[wooden_reefer]

I hope you don't get rid of the UV.

The UV is useless against ich but very useful in vastly reducing the waterborne pathogenic bacteria. This is very useful in reducing incidents and seriousness of bacterial infection.

 

[hkgar]

I hope you don't get rid of the UV.

The UV is useless against ich but very useful in vastly reducing the waterborne pathogenic bacteria. This is very useful in reducing incidents and seriousness of bacterial infection.

Does it effect the beneficial bacteria as part of the filtration system

 

[Basman346]

I am always careful to ask about the medications and other conditions of the tank that livestock is coming from. It's a risk when buying used equipment or livestock.

 

[wooden_reefer]

Does it effect the beneficial bacteria as part of the filtration system

No, since nearly all good bacteria never become waterborne.

It is always possible to use old tank water to seed a medium to cycle, however. This may be that a few do become waterborne, or that they live on particles in the water.

Those live on particles suspended in the water will likely be harmed, but this has no impact on nitrification.

 

[hkgar]

Don't beat yourself up too bad over this. I've been doing this 30+ years, and I still make bonehead mistakes from time to time. :frog:

Not beating myself up, just wanted to share in the hope I can deep someone else from making this or a similar mistake.

I appreciate everyone's responses and thank you

 

[wooden_reefer]

The fact that UV is not useful against ich has been repeated many many times here.

The need to QT for the purpose of eradication ich has also been repeated many many times.

To not trust any one else to QT for you, or to assume that any unknown fish is really ich-free, has also been repeated here.