stupid ick

[Petstorejunkie]

okay this one has really made me angry for hte last time.
18W Uv sterilizer
happy stinky skimmer
salinity 1.020 (and falling to 1.016 over the next 72 hours)
pH 8.2
no NH3 or NO2
nitrate below 12.5
temp: 77 degrees farenheight
lots of place for the fish to hide and swim
no agression between tankmates
diet includes mysis squid clams nori organic shrimp scallops krill and spectrum pellets


previously soaked food in metronitazole

i ran copper at 15 for about two weeks and have cut it back to 10, and this stupid ick keeps rearing its ugly head!

the bulb in the uv is brand new, as well as the pump it has been on the tank for 40 days

i am stopping the copper because i dont want it to start to cause negative effects on my emperor angel and puffers, and cowfish from long termed use.

okay the life cycle of ick is 28 days, there has been at least a reading of 10 for the copper for months now and the uv has been on for more than a month. no new fish have been added and no drastic temperature changes
what the heck is going on?!
i am stumped and so are all of my co workers

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

UV and skimmers will remove the copper. What copper are you using and are you using a test kit that is compatible?
You are treating some very sensitive fish. They may be having a reaction to the copper. I would remove the copper w/ carbon, get your water in tip top shape and see if that helps. 2 weeks in copper should have cleared it up

 

[Petstorejunkie]

uv sterilizers (sterizing organic materials*copper inorganic)and skimmers (remove protein fish waste and possible minute amounts of copper)do not remove copper in a magnitude that woudl deem it ineffective with these peices of equipment (i know this because a. we treat around 4000gals of water at work with it and it has a uv and skimmer on it. and b. my copper test still reads the correct amount c. i am using seacure copper and fastest test kit (the same combo as used at work)
my water parameters are in tip top shape (no3 under 12.5, which is the lowest the test kit reads before 0, and since i am not keeping sps etc, i dont deem it necessecary to use a more "accurate" test kit.
i am beginning the stages for enduring hyposalinity for about 6 weeks, hoping that it will rid the system of this little critter....
if i was not a religous water changer and copper tester etc, i could understand the repeat ick out breaks.

now you see why i am so confused and frustrated....

 

[leebca]

Dear Confused and Frustrated. . .

Your original post is written with some absolutes. In this hobby, there are practically no absolutes. The best answers are usually, "It depends."

The "life cycle" of Marine Ich (Crytpocaryon irritans) is not 28 days. It's a range of days. The cyst that falls off the fish that releases the free-swimming, infective Theronts have been found by Dr. Burgess to exist up to 6 weeks before they release their Theronts. This is not common, but it can happen.

The copper concentration and the copper test kit all depend upon what medication you are using. You need to know what concentration to keep the copper reading at, and you want to use the medication manufacturer's recommended test kit to test their copper in the tank.

In your last post you indicated you are using SeaCure copper. That copper is not chelated and it is easily removed from seawater. In fact, non-chelated copper will actually drop out of solution by interacting with seawater. It is hard to maintain the proper concentration.

Speaking in generalities, the copper concentration most often chosen with chelated copper meds is 0.5 to 0.6 ppm for me, when I am using Cupramine and the Seachem copper test kit.

So, I don't know if the copper numbers you posted ("10" and "15" are correct or not), nor do you say what the units of measure are for these numbers.

Another often too common scenario is that the aquarist keeps reinfecting the tank with diseased water, equipment, or splash overs. This happens more often than you would think. This accounts for many 're-infections' of MI.

Regarding UV and skimming -- follow the medication manufacturer's recommendation. They know their product best.

Good luck!

 

[Petstorejunkie]

well, as an update i am trying the whole hyposalinity thing. i have dropped my salinity to 1.015, and bumped the temp up to 82. i ran copper at 20 mg/l (the highest therapudic dose mentioned on the package) and then for the next 3 days i am going to run it at 15 (the ideal) and then gradually bring it down from there. i am doing a 5% water change daily and using a greavel siphon to stir up the substrate to physically remove what critters i can and hopefully suspend enough for the UV to do its job. i am planning on using the hyposalinity method for 6-8 weeks to make sure that all of the ich present has endure one life sysle(ending in a hopefully painful death for the ick)
the spots have decreased on the fish, but my guess is that is because i am approacking 5 days of their presents and they are starting to fall off.
i will keep everyone posted as to how this goes.

 

[Petstorejunkie]

i am beginning to wonder if the UV bulb is functioning properly.....

 

[leebca]

A specific gravity of 1.015 is not very effective against Marine Ich. You'll need no more than 1.009 and I prefer 1.008. The best measurement is not specific gravity, but salinity (11ppt).