Questions, Hippo with ich, NEED HELP PLEASE!

[stumpovrtyme]

I moved my tank from one side of the house to the other and upgraded from 55 to 90. Hippo ever had ich before and does now. Also I noticed a round circle above left eye. What is that, fungus? Shes been swimming against the glass for like week now and almost seems in a panic attack or something. Why is that? Also if the ich is caused from stress and hopefully not a huge problem should I worry for my other fish a yank the blue tang or just ride it out?

Side note: Had ich 2 years ago and never seen any signs again till now. Thought that stuff died after so long?

 

[goldmaniac]

now would be the time to remove causes of stress, namely any fish that fights with it.
I have never had success when when trying to quarantine and already-sick fish. It usually stresses it out even more.
If you don't have any serious fighters with this hippo, I'd leave him alone, feed nori and selcon, and I like to put crushed raw garlic directly into the tank. i put 1 or 2 cloves in my 120 gallon when an outbreak happens. I haven't had an ich problem in years, however. Don't plan on ever getting rid of it, just good maintenance will help the fish overcome it on its own. Hippos are very VERY susceptible to ich, however. Good luck.

 

[username in use]

All the fish in the tank have ich now. The only way to rid it for good is to remove all fish for 6-8 weeks and treat them in a quarantine tank.

 

[goldmaniac]

... and you don't want to do that.

 

[username in use]

... and you don't want to do that.

true, you don't ever want to rid your tank of a life threatening parasite

 

[goldmaniac]

ok, first of all, i don't want to get into a spat about ich. There are plenty of opinions on how to treat it. I have been down most of those roads and all have their points.

All of the fish in his tank have had ich on them for at least two years, since the OP says the hippo got it a while ago and it's been in the tank all this time. (assumming no QT) It's an outbreak caused by something else that has caused the hippo to "get ich", namely stress (no offence original poster, it can't be helped some times).

Stump, the ich parasite grasps onto the fish's cells, namely the gills, and uses it as a host in its life cycle, so they've been living with ich all of this time. this is not something to worry about; their natural immunity will usually keep the outbreaks at bay. You're just unlucky that your hippo is so susceptible that he "got it" simply by getting the tank moved.

it has been my experience that trying to go ich-free is futile. It also stresses the fish to be treated with either copper or low salinity when trying. And i had a strain of ich that survived 10 weeks in 1.009 salinity in a QT tank. Since ignoring QT'ing specifically for ich about 2 years ago, my fish have been happier and so have I. I still QT new arrivals, but simply for visual inspection, not to rid the fish of any ich parasite that may be on it. One drop of a non-qt source of water and you don't know if ich is back in your tank.

 

[Phishguy]

I sort of agree with gold. I have learned not to panic when it comes to ich. Especially with tangs. Orr the years, I never had ich until I added a yellow tang a few years ago. I panicked and went nuts trying to remove it and ended up stressing my flame angel to death. My yellow lasted a day and then died. A few years later, I carefully watched a powder blue tang at the lfs for 3 weeks. Added him and in 3 days he had ich. I set up a qt tank and got it out. Lasted 3 days in qt.
Since then I added a kole tang. Fresh water bath and qt with cure I h for two weeks. Added without issue, recently I added a hippo after following the same method as the kole and he was fine for a week and then both tangs got it. However they were eating like pigs so I left them to fight it off on their own and they are doing fine. None of my other fish that I have had all these years have gotten ich.
I have heard story after story from trustworthy reefers about adding fish without qt at all and having no issues. I think if the fish is healthy and eating, it's best to leave it alone.

 

[stingythingy45]

true, you don't ever want to rid your tank of a life threatening parasite

LOL

Yeah,don't ever rid the fish of that.


"it has been my experience that trying to go ich-free is futile."

So my ich free tank is a miracle?Somebody call the Pope.

 

[stumpovrtyme]

So why is he swimming on the glass? The spot above his eye?

 

[stumpovrtyme]

bump

 

[goldmaniac]

LOL

Yeah,don't ever rid the fish of that.


"it has been my experience that trying to go ich-free is futile."

So my ich free tank is a miracle?Somebody call the Pope.

Do you mean that your fish aren't swimming around with white dots, or that you can guarantee that there's no ich parasite in the water column?

Do you have corals? because I would LOVE to find out how you can QT corals to be ich-free when adding them to your tank. The only answer I was able to come up with was completely separate QT tank with no fish for 10-14 weeks before adding to the display. I never had the setup equipped with a separate lighting that would handle SPS corals or zoas for that period of time.

Conversely, and this isn't personal StingyThingy, I have noted most who claim ich-free just aren't aware of the 45 day incubation period on ich, don't realize that a single drop from a bag from the LFS is enough to deem the tank not ich-free. (edit) I would usually screw up and end up putting a wet object from the 'infected' water into the display tank by accident without thinking. weeks of QT down the drain.

 

[goldmaniac]

So why is he swimming on the glass? The spot above his eye?

ich is itchy, and fish will sometimes rub against sand or substrate to get the white bumps off. Maybe yours is doing the same thing on the glass for that cyst on his eye.

How's the Hippo today?

 

[stumpovrtyme]

Still a few spots of ich seems to be eating really well but still constanly swimming against the glass like freakin out. Haven't noticed any other fish with ich yet. Praying that doesn't happen!

 

[goldmaniac]

good to hear
lots of nori, if he eats it; he needs his vitamins! heh
any scars left from the white pox on his skin will heal.

 

[Lynnmw1208]

Still a few spots of ich seems to be eating really well but still constanly swimming against the glass like freakin out. Haven't noticed any other fish with ich yet. Praying that doesn't happen!

Do you have your lights off? I would turn the lights off for a couple of days to give him time to relax as he seems stressed. This might help.

 

[stingythingy45]

Do you mean that your fish aren't swimming around with white dots, or that you can guarantee that there's no ich parasite in the water column?

Do you have corals? because I would LOVE to find out how you can QT corals to be ich-free when adding them to your tank. The only answer I was able to come up with was completely separate QT tank with no fish for 10-14 weeks before adding to the display. I never had the setup equipped with a separate lighting that would handle SPS corals or zoas for that period of time.

Conversely, and this isn't personal StingyThingy, I have noted most who claim ich-free just aren't aware of the 45 day incubation period on ich, don't realize that a single drop from a bag from the LFS is enough to deem the tank not ich-free. (edit) I would usually screw up and end up putting a wet object from the 'infected' water into the display tank by accident without thinking. weeks of QT down the drain.

Very aware how long it takes ich to hatch.I did have a break out in my first year in the hobby.So.....I know unfortunately.
It's been a long time sisnce I've added any new fish(all qted).
I don't believe that corals can harbor ich as much as people think.
I may be just lucky as well.I have 2"ich magnets"Hippo and a YT.
They are very healthy and have never shown signs of ich.
I just don't think every tank has ich.

To the op.
I hope all goes well for you and managing the cryptocaryon works.

 

[jcw]

I just don't think every tank has ich.

To the op.
I hope all goes well for you and managing the cryptocaryon works.

I'm with you. Not every tank has ich.

And a treatment tank does not necessarily have to be stressful.

There is plenty of evidence that hyposalinity reduces energy consumption and eases stress particularly for sick fish.

 

[username in use]

Not to mention most lfs's have separate systems for fish and corals, so the odds of a coral having ich are reduced that much further.

That being said, there are still pests that can come in on coral and a quarantine tank is nice to observe the coral and make sure there aren't any on them. It doesn't need to be much, a 15 gallon tank is more than enough, and you can support sps in there for a week or so with some t5's or even pc's on that size tank.

 

[jwoyshnar]

My hippo just had an outbreak. I moved him from a 90 to a 180 then he got it. I did as the above posted said with feeding garlic, and also added a uv sterilizer. Hippo and all other fish are fine. Im sure its in the tank still but im just trying to control it. Garlic worked pretty good.

 

[stumpovrtyme]

Tang still has ich, still eating still looks healthy. More white spots now though. Hope this is just stress and he gets over it. Worried my other fish will catch it if this doesn't clear up soon.