Questions regarding Ich

[stingythingy45]

I have some serious issues going on right now....all my doing.
Two weeks ago I bought a Scopus Tang and added it to my tank without QT.:rolleye1:
Big mistake,end of the first day it showed signs of white spots near the tail.Then the next day seemed to be fine,eating,some spots but grazing on LR.Then I started feeding nori soaked in garlic and also feeding garlic to the other fish:
2 Clowns
1 blenny
1 Green Chromis
2 Damsels

Then one day I get a call at work that the fish is being pushed around by the flow.When I got home all was well,fish was eating and looked fine except one side seemed to have marks,almost like marks from when it was netted maybe.One week goes by and the fish looks pretty good.Then Saturday night I notice it has quite a few white specks again.Sunday morning....no Scopus.
Found him dead under some tonga branch.
I observed the fish for about 3 days after that and thought I noticed some specks on the clowns and Damsels.I set up a 10 gal hospital tank right away and moved all the fish in there.I literaly had to remove almost all the LR and drain the tank,especially to get Blenny.I treated with 3 consecutive days of Rid Ick+ from Kordon's.At the same time lowing SG each day by .005 ppm.
I did a water change the other day of 5 gallons to rid the tank of the meds.I did a water teat for ammonia after and had 2. ppm even though I have a Marineland ammonia badge in there.
Decided that the 10 wasn't going to cut it and set up a 20L I had laying around.The fish are much more comfortable in there with PVC to hide in,Whisper filter,and a #1 koralia PH.
When I got into this hobby I made an oath to try and do things right if I were going to give these incredible creatures a home.
I made a terrible mistake that will never happen again.
I picked up some Amequel the other day and poly pads incase ammonia rises.I'm hoping that someone will say that I caught the Ich in time and wont need to go a full 6-8 weeks
.I thought of swapping filters with a Aquaclear I'm running on the display to get some bacteria culters.
But I'm afraid that Ich might be in that filter.I'm very cautious about cross contamination.
Right now all the fish have no spot or anything.They are all eating well.And the SG is at 1.015 to go to 1.010 tonight.
So that's my story.......and I'm sticking with it.
Any advice would be great.

 

[paulamrein]

I wouldn't go below 1.009 sg. It has to maintain the 1.009-1.010 range for the 6-8 week period. Sorry to say, there is really no short cut to this and you said it yourself you want to do it right, so, there it is. Study the life cycle of ich and all the research will lean towards that 6-8 week period. No treatment works while the cyst is on the fish or in it's dormant stage, that is why it has to be that long. Bad news I know, but the truth is very narrow minded. You will find that it's not even that long of time. And once it's done and done right. There is no more worry. As long as you QT everything wet coming into the tank afterwards. Rock, Coral, sand, inverts. Everything. There will be no worries, and you may even cut your mortality rate in half.

 

[LargeAngels]

Only proven methods for treating ich are copper and hypo. But make sure it is ich and not velvet if you do hypo cause hypo doesn't cure velvet.

Some good reading http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/treatments.html



As stated above if you do hypo then stay at the 1.09-1.010 level, but buy an accurate refractometor like this http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...duct_Code=REFRACT-PA&Category_Code=Hydrometer and not a cheap swing type.

 

[stingythingy45]

The fish really didn't have any spots when I put them in the QT tank.I might have noticed a few on the clowns and the damsel.But,I could have just been making mountains out of mole hills.The fish have been in QT now for almost 2 weeks with no spots at all.When I first caught them I put them in a 10 gallon and treated with Rid Ich+(formaline and Malichite green).For 3 days with water changes.Now they are all in a 20 long with SG at 1.009-1.010.I moved my HOB(Auquaclear 50 from the display that had a filter pad at least 2 weeks old.I have Amequel for emergencies and I run a Poly pad to remove ammonia,nitite,nitrate as much as possible.All the fish seem happy and are eating.The display is fallow except for inverts.
*I have that refractor*

 

[jetta]

Maybe it's me but I don't think you can ever truly rid your tank of ich. I just upgraded tanks, didn't add anything new and my blue tang has ich. Same thing happened during a move a year ago.

I have always felt that moving your fish from tank to tank and subjecting them to more stress during treatment was more harmful than helpful. If the rest of your tank is healthy and your water parameters are good ich should run it's course and the fish will become strong enough to keep from getting it.

Good luck either way.

 

[spike78]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11383435#post11383435 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stingythingy45
When I first caught them I put them in a 10 gallon and treated with Rid Ich+(formaline and Malichite green).For 3 days with water changes.

Isn't Rid Ich+ supposed to be used for 3 days past the disappearance of white spots?