Quarantine Tank questions

[Groovebox303]

Hi Everyone,

I have a 75 gallon aquarium that recently got ich courtesy of a blue tang introduced about 2 months ago. I have tried everything so far to cure in the DT (seachem metro, focus, garlic xtreme, frequent water changes, raising temperature) but it doesnt seem to be working. So instead of hoping for it to go im getting and setting up a quarantine tank where I will do hypo salinity to treat the fish since now i see spots on some of the other fish as well. I havnt done this before and have already spent a lot recently trying to get the DT setup so had some questions regarding what im thinking for the setup and what to do with my DT can you please answer the following, it would be extremely appreciated. its going to be a 30 gallon QT.

1) I am thinking about setting it up with 50% DT water and 50% fresh saltwater, can i introduce the fish immediately after putting the water in? and running the filter? whats the proper way of moving them from the DT to QT?

2) QT Equipment: 30 gallon QT, Aquaclear 70 HOB filter, heater, thermometer, PVC pipes, is a 30 gallon QT going to be good for the following for (4-6) weeks (3 inch Blue tang, 3 inch flame angel, 3 inch 6 line wrasse, 2.5 Royal gramma, small azure damsel and 5 chromis) is everyone going to be ok there for the 4-6 week treatment period? I think 30 is the biggest QT i could get since i dont have the luxury to look for a bigger used cheap tank and wait for a deal but didnt want to put them all in a 15-20 gallon....please let me know if you think if thats sufficient for the period?

3) What do i do with the invertebrates in DT? (cleaner shrimp, 5-10 hermit crabs, 5-10 snails)...do i need to feed them anything? once all the fish are removed do they need to be fed? if so how frequently and what? do i still do water changes in the DT?

 

[Groovebox303]

Quarantine Tank questions

oops had one more

4) I found a deal on a aquafuge 2 HOB refugium, (aquafuge 2 small) and have been thinking about getting one of those to increase pods/decrease nitrates in the DT..... can i set this up on DT while the fish are in QT and get it started maybe seed it with pods as well or does it need to have fish in there to feed the pods

Thanks to anyone who can provide answers for these in advance!!

 

[EllieSuz]

Let's begin with some basic information about Ich. If you go to the Disease Forum and read the stickies (permanent threads) at the top, many of your questions will be answered. It's important to understand the lifecycle of this parasite. In the meantime, you need to keep fish out of your DT for TEN weeks. You can leave all your invertebrates in the DT. They are not in any danger from the parasite. Ich needs a fish host to sustain its life cycle. I would feed the inverts a little something now and then. It will also help keep your biological balance up for the time when you re-introduce the fish. A 30 gallon should be adequate for those fish. You'll have to watch your ammonia levels very closely, especially until the media in your HOB filter populates with bacteria. Be certain to have lots of fresh saltwater made up for emergency water changes on the QT and plan daily water changes, in spite of zero ammonia levels. I siphon the bottom of the QT tank when I do water changes because it removes a lot of fish waste. Be sure to give your fish lots of PVC to hide in and keep the bottom bare. Since your fish already have Ich, this tank is really a hospital tank, as opposed to a quarantine one. Hypo salinity is just one method in the hospital tank and you should learn about the others. Hypo is subject to human error more than the others. If your salinity varies just a bit, the treatment is useless. Tank transfer is very popular, but with that many fish, would be difficult. I have only had one fish get Ich in quarantine and I treated it successfully with copper.

 

[Ambition]

1) Filling the 30 gallon tank up in that way is good as you want the parameters to match those of the DT as not to further stress your fish. I would personally let the tank run a day or two just to make sure everything is working properly and the water is at the right temperature. Catching your fish may be difficult, especially the damsel fish you have. If you have the tubs for it, I'd suggest draining the tank and digging a pit in the sand so you can easily catch the fish in the small area. That or training them to eat from a container so you can just scoop them up when feeding.

2) The fish should be fine in a 30 gallon tank for the treatment period as well as the 10 week fallow period in the display. The fallow period is a 10 week period of time where you keep the tank fishless as to let any remaining ich parasites starve due to not having a host.

3) Leave the inverts in your DT, they won't be harmed by the ich. They also should not be subjected to hypo or copper treatments because they will die. How big of a display do you have? The hermits and snails should be fine without too much additional feedings. Although, to keep your biofilter up I would ghost feed (feed as though you have a couple of fish in the tank) the tank which will provide supplemental feedings for your inverts as well.

4) You could add the refugium if you want while the fish are in the hospital tank. The pods will be fine without the fish as they will feed off of detritus within the tank. The supplemental ghost feedings for the inverts will be good for them as well.

 

[Groovebox303]

Quarantine Tank questions

Thanks for your replies Ellie and Ambition I tried to reply earlier but Reef central's servers were down . I am still deciding between copper or hypo salinity treatment. I have also been told that i should try to treat in a display tank and not do quarantine for marine ich since its not guaranteed to work and might stress the fish out even more. From what i have been reading treating it in QT seems to be the more common response.

Ambition thanks for your replies to each point. I will treat them in a 38 gallon
QT i just found. I will keep your suggestions in mind while treating them, I brought a refractometer but am hearing mixed things about either treatment (copper / Hypo salinity) is there one you would prefer? and why?

I will leave the shrimp and crabs/snails in the DT. Can you explain what you mean by ghost feeding? drop some flakes/pellets in there, how often?

Thanks for your insight and help again.

 

[SteviesReef]

Don't treat your diplay tank with copper. It will KILL your inverts, and it will get into the rocks, substrate, and everything else.

 

[EllieSuz]

Anybody that gives you advice to use any method of curing Ich in the Display Tank is very misguided. There is absolutely no known cure for Ich that wouldn't kill either the clean-up crew or the beneficial bacteria in the case of both copper and/or hypo salinity. Hypo salinity works, but it takes a very exacting regimen of testing to keep the water at 1.09. Any higher than that and the quarantine period has to begin again. Copper also requires quite a bit of care and testing. You need a test kit for copper and you have to adjust the dosage to compensate for water lost to water changes. You could also read about the tank transfer method. I've never tried it, but I'm sure a search here on RC would give you the details.

 

[Groovebox303]

Im sorry i think my last reply was misunderstood. When i said some people including my LFS have recommended treating ich they arent recommending treating with copper or hyposalinity but they recommended seachem (seachem metronidazole + focus) or supplementing their food with Garlic which is what i had been doing for the last 4 weeks. The tang has just started getting better in the last week, but another fish (royal gramma) caught ich and died so before i introduce more fish i would like to definitely take care of ich for the long run so hopefully it doesnt come back, I think i will go by the collective wisdom of putting them in the other tank for treatment for right now.

 

[phillyfishguy]

I would clear your display and treat with known cures for ick. While Metro will help and is said to clear ick. I would go with less harsh treatments first.

 

[MrTuskfish]

EllieSuz has some good info above; and I should get her OK to post in an ich thread.:fun2:

First; it seems that every ich thread includes some magical reference to garlic. Garlic does not cure or prevent anything. It MAY help appetite, which will help the immune system; but this is a long=-term question and won't help with a present ich infection. There is absolutely no way to cure ich in a reef tank and its almost impossible in a FOWLR tank. Rock and substrate/release absorb copper; making the vital copper testing impossible.

In a QT/HT; tank-transfer works great, but as was said, it may not be possible with lots of fish. IMO & IME: I no longer think hypo is an option. It is very demanding, prone to hobbyist error, and (just my opinion) I think strains of ich are becoming tolerant of the low SG used in hypo. It seems to fail a lot. There a couple of quinine drugs that sound like they may work well. I haven't tried them, but some excellent hobbyists swear by the stuff. Its tough stuff to find. IMO & IME; Cupramine copper is the safest and most effective treatment, if you can't do tank-transfer.

I would read the stickies suggested above and post your situation in the disease section of the forum. There are several little quirks with Cupramine and someone there will help.

 

[EllieSuz]

EllieSuz has some good info above; and I should get her OK to post in an ich thread.:fun2:

LOL, inside joke.