Stuart,
To give you a recap on the infection, ich made it's first attack back in October 05, it was during the time I was adding my Tangs.
I had gotten away with adding a Yellow Tang, Blue Tang, Kole Tang, and a Chevron Tang.
It's when I added the Tomini Tang that my tank entered it's first ich outbreak and the blue tang become covered in ich. The tomini had brought some type of white mucus on his head but he never developed the ich.
Ich then spread to my algae blenny, Orchid dottyback, and six line wrasse.
I had used in the past No-ich when I owned my nano cube so I went with what had worked in the past.
After treating the tank with No-ich for 2 whole weeks, the fish responded well and ich was completely eliminated visibly.
I ran the aquarium for 4 months ich free, when I decided to bring home my last edition, the Powder Blue and it's here that the problems started.
The PBT, was not quarentined and had just arrived from Indonesia and against my LFS I took him home and placed him in.
On the second day the PBT began showing signs of ich, which went from bad to worse.
I did absolutely nothing with meds, I figured my fish can overcome the ich since they had been exposed before, and this is where the problems began.
I ignored the tank for 2 full weeks and the ich just started to spread mainly on the PBT, but then on the Blue Tang and then finally the Chevron and Kole.
I went and purchased the No-ich and used the entire bottle but I rushed the dosages, since on that week my ozone unit had arrived and I wanted to set it up, big mistake.
Seeing that my fish were not getting better to the No-ich, I shut off the ozone unit that had run for only 1 week and I got another bottle of No-ich.
I ran this bottle exactly as the instructions said 1 full week, and during this time the ich didn't spread, but right after the last dosage, the ich started multiplying all over.
The ich came back super strong and literally covered the blue and chevron tang and the PBT.
At this time, I said no more on meds, I need to run the UV system along with the Ozone unit together in full power.
That brings us back to last monday March 20th; both units have been up and running 1 full week.
Okay here are some numbers, I have a turn over rate of 32x in a 72 gallon tank. My UV + Ozone turn over 6x. Over 1 week of constant circulation and increased flow, some if not a lot of the free floating ich is being targeted.
My observations and hypothesis, is that my units are destroying a good amount of the epidemic of free floating parasites. As the second wave of cysts drop to the sand bed, my powerheads are all directed towards the bottom to kick up the sand.
This second wave will and has infected my fish, but here is the kicker, they are not scratching nearly as much as before, they actually sleep in the night, when before they would dart around like mad as the ich would attack them in the night.
This has not been the case with the UV and ozone unit going for one week.
I'm hoping that these units keep the epidemic at bay and allow the fish to fight the smaller waves of cysts on their own.
With each day that passes what ever ich enters the free floating stage they have a good chance of running into the units.
With each successful pass, they are eliminated while others attach to my fish, it's giving them a fighting chance than without these two units.
What has died due to the ich as been two cleaner gobies that I added prior to the UV units. One died on the day I added him while the other lasted 1 week then died, after being covered in ich.
I have not lost any of my other fish to any of the ich as I write.
I have also decided to keep my temp at 77 degrees as I don't want them exploding all over my tank without any meds with a high temp.
I thought of the ich going crazy and getting sucked up by the units but I opted not to, since I don't want them going nuts eating my fish alive.
With the colder temp and the UV running, I see the strain not going nuts on my fish.
Well, that's everything current as I speak. I'll keep all posted as I enter week number 2.
MG
