Snorvich and Mrtuskfish question

[bdroddy]

About 6 months ago, I introduced a Hippo tang to my dt without qt'ing and every fish got ich. So following your directions, I pulled all of them out and treated ht with cupramine. I lost most of my fish except 3, 3 were jumpers the other two look like brook. I left the tank fallow for 11 weeks and reintroduced the 3 fish with no issues. I bought 3 more fish and proactively treated for 8 weeks and I just put them in, so far no issues.

I want to get another hippo tang and proactively treat it in a ht. My worry is it will get ich. In 15 years, I've had 4 hippos and only one didn't have ich, but I never qt'd anything. So, now I'm doing everything right, is it possible to keep a fish that is so prone to the parasite?

On more thing, I hope you guys don't start charging for a doctors visit. I don't think my copay will cover it.

 

[geaux xman]

I'll chime in since i have a blue hippo, achilles, and PBT(plus several other fish). Arguably the top 3 ich magnets in marine aquarium.

I proactively treat every fish with 3-4 weeks of .5ppm cupramine + a 1hr formalin dip prior to entering my DT.

It is certainly possible to run an ich free tank with an ich free blue tang.

Just dont cave in and add a fish that isnt treated.

I dont keep corals, so I dont run a risk of adding un-QT wet items into my tank.

I say go for it and GL.

 

[bdroddy]

Thanks geaux, appreciate it. If one truly believes the life cycle and treating with copper at least .35 or better at .5, then there should not be ich present on him once they are treated in the ht.

 

[MrTuskfish]

I am slowly starting to believe that tank-transfer, as described in Snorvich's sticky, is possibly the best method of treating/preventing ich for hobbyists that have the minimal equipment that is required. If TT can't be done; I'm still a big fan of Cupramine. I have used Cupramine, as a preventative measure, on a huge number of fish over many years. I haven't seen ich in any of my DTs since I started this. I don't keep any hippo tangs, but have many other tangs and all are ich-prone. Tangs are quite tolerant of Cupramine and I treat them at (or slightly below) the suggested .50ppm dosage recommended by SeaChem.Be sure the fish is eating and acclimated and introduce Cu slowly. Do not think ich isn't present just because you don't see it. Keep the tang in the QT/HT for at 4 weeks after 3 weeks of Cu. There is no such thing as 100% when it comes to ich; but tank transfer or proper Cu treatment will get you close. Of course, this assumes your tank is ich-free now and has gone fishless for at least 8-10 weeks since any ich was present. If ich is there, but not presently visible; the tang will probably become infected. But, sooner or later, other fish would too. "Managed" ich tanks don't stay that way indefinitely. Ich-free tanks with hippo tangs are certainly not rare at all---you just don't hear about them.

 

[sandwi54]

If you're proactively treating the hippo (or any fish) for ich, then there should be no worry at all. "Ich prone" just means the fish has a thinner body slime coat that exposes it (tangs in this case) to easy penetration to the body. However, it has nothing to do with gills. There are no slime coats in the gills, and ich usually likes to attacks the gills since the tissues are soft and water flow is strong there. An "ich-prone" and a "non-ich-prone" fish are equally likely to get infected in the gills, and will suffer the same degree of infections. So, even though you don't see white spots on the body of a "non-ich-prone" fish, its gills are still as loaded with ich as an "ich-prone" fish. The term "ich-prone" is a huge misnomer as all fish, whether "ich-prone" or not, are equally likely to get infected, and therefore require treatments.

Body infection is much less serious than gill infections, as gill infections interfere with the ability to breathe. That's why treatment is still necessary if ich infection is suspected, whether or not white spots show up on the body.

 

[MrTuskfish]

If you're proactively treating the hippo (or any fish) for ich, then there should be no worry at all. "Ich prone" just means the fish has a thinner body slime coat that exposes it (tangs in this case) to easy penetration to the body. However, it has nothing to do with gills. There are no slime coats in the gills, and ich usually likes to attacks the gills since the tissues are soft and water flow is strong there. An "ich-prone" and a "non-ich-prone" fish are equally likely to get infected in the gills, and will suffer the same degree of infections. So, even though you don't see white spots on the body of a "non-ich-prone" fish, its gills are still as loaded with ich as an "ich-prone" fish. The term "ich-prone" is a huge misnomer as all fish, whether "ich-prone" or not, are equally likely to get infected, and therefore require treatments.

Body infection is much less serious than gill infections, as gill infections interfere with the ability to breathe. That's why treatment is still necessary if ich infection is suspected, whether or not white spots show up on the body.

Yes, and I think many "mystery deaths' can be due to the invisible ich in the gills.

 

[snorvich]

My first choice for treatment and prophylactic isolation for ich is tank transfer. By far the easiest in my opinion. But this will do nothing for flukes, velvet, brook so observation beyond the 12 days is essential.

 

[bdroddy]

Thanks for all the responses. I used cupramine in treatment and all responded well. I'm going to do the same with this one. I bought a hippo from Hawaii. This is my first from there. All my others were Indo-pacific. I'm going to feed him for a week and do what Mrtuskfish recommended, slowly raise the Cu. Wish me luck guys.

 

[Wistler]

I am currently treating 4 fish in a 46 bow front with Cupramine. It is going on the second week and all are eating like crazy and doing well. I see no changes in the fish appetite or behavior. I ramped up the Cu over 4 days and continued to soak the food in Selcon and Zoe.

Another benefit that I have seen with doing a proper QT, that I never witnessed firsthand, was seeing a fish get used to ME. Last month I flew to LA with a fish vendor on a mini-vacation and I picked out a 4" orange shoulder tang at an importer near LAX.

It was shipped home a couple days later and I put him in a 20L QT tank. For the first two days he was stressed and sulking in a corner and changed his color to black. I thought he was gonna die for sure. However after a week he is now eating everything I add to the tank and when he sees movement he swims up to the glass waiting for me to lift the lid and feed him. As I had read about he is starting to learn ME and my schedule. I am confident that after my 180 tank is fallow for 8 weeks and I add him he will do great.

Now, rewind and imagine what would have happened if I took that fish, fresh off the airplane and dropped him in a tank with other fish and Ich present from a previous outbreak. My current fish are not showing signs, but I am sure that orange shoulder being stressed wouldn't have fared well and likely wouldn't have eaten at "feeding time."

I am a converted "4 week QT" aquarist after previously being from the "ahhhh he looks OK in the store, so lets put him in the tank to see how pretty he is" crowd.