Thoughts on ich

[billsreef]

but..... ask anybody...UV's don't work...LOL...:lolspin:

It's all about the specific application, what you expect from it, how it's sized, and how it's maintained. Too many people expect miracles from them. While I don't think they are very effective for disease control in a single tank set up like most people use them, they can be very effective in multiple tank set ups and single source incoming sea water treatment.

 

[swcc]

It's all about the specific application, what you expect from it, how it's sized, and how it's maintained. Too many people expect miracles from them. While I don't think they are very effective for disease control in a single tank set up like most people use them, they can be very effective in multiple tank set ups and single source incoming sea water treatment.

I set mine up primarily as a clarifier...guess what..no ick or other diseases.... miraculously it seems to keep the disease away... Only thing I can figure is whatever it does to my water through clarification...well.. fish end up healthy as can be and don't get ick.

 

[KCombs]

I posted several time here that I went almost 20-30yrs w/o a sniff of ich...
I never quarantined before or during that time
then all of a sudden we recently had almost a entire tank wiped out ....

...personally I can't bare another $300 loss in fish...
I'm quarantining from now on ....
had this thread happened 6 mo ago I might have been on the other side of this discussion.... so perhaps; to each his own

 

[Paul B]

During this storm we had no power for 4 days, my tank went down to the upper 60s. No problems, the fish kept warm by huddling close to the fireclowns.
They also enjoyed the lack of water movement and used the time to reflect.

 

[Osteoclast]

Good luck to you all in the North East. We in the south have come to expect these types of storms yet never wish for them. As a hobbyist, scientist, and fellow reefer I wish you the best. All the preparation in the world leaves much to be desired and we are always flatfooted. God speed.

 

[b0bab0ey]

During this storm we had no power for 4 days, my tank went down to the upper 60s. No problems, the fish kept warm by huddling close to the fireclowns.
They also enjoyed the lack of water movement and used the time to reflect.

Good to hear man! :thumbsup:

 

[swcc]

I posted several time here that I went almost 20-30yrs w/o a sniff of ich...
I never quarantined before or during that time
then all of a sudden we recently had almost a entire tank wiped out ....

...personally I can't bare another $300 loss in fish...
I'm quarantining from now on ....
had this thread happened 6 mo ago I might have been on the other side of this discussion.... so perhaps; to each his own

things do not just happen 'all of a sudden' .... more info on this event?

 

[swcc]

During this storm we had no power for 4 days, my tank went down to the upper 60s. No problems, the fish kept warm by huddling close to the fireclowns.
They also enjoyed the lack of water movement and used the time to reflect.

good to hear all is well. So, no ick outbreak.

 

[KCombs]

things do not just happen 'all of a sudden' .... more info on this event?

I added a fish from a LFS w/o quarantining (like I've always done for the last 20+yrs)

...the original fish were not stressed (AFAIK) .... I'd say the tank was well maintained ...

but of course the usual "ich magnets": Tangs, Butterflies and Angels all died within 48hr of diagnosis

...and the usual suspects: Marine bettas, hawkfish and one anthias survived

I removed the few inverts and nuked the tank with coppersafe; changed about 100% of the water over the next few mo's.... didn't buy any new things for 5mo's or so

...just talking here:
...but yeah, not to buck the gist of the OP's post; I also think the ich/algae/pest threat gets a lil overblown to the point of paranoia on some of these forums....
but in the same breath, it is a function of someones investment/tolerance to the nefarious threats....

...after swallowing a few hundred bucks in fish, I personally ain't got the balz to risk it anymore (by not quarantining)

 

[swcc]

I added a fish from a LFS w/o quarantining (like I've always done for the last 20+yrs)

...the original fish were not stressed (AFAIK) .... I'd say the tank was well maintained ...

but of course the usual "ich magnets": Tangs, Butterflies and Angels all died within 48hr of diagnosis

...and the usual suspects: Marine bettas, hawkfish and one anthias survived

I removed the few inverts and nuked the tank with coppersafe; changed about 100% of the water over the next few mo's.... didn't buy any new things for 5mo's or so

...just talking here:
...but yeah, not to buck the gist of the OP's post; I also think the ich/algae/pest threat gets a lil overblown to the point of paranoia on some of these forums....
but in the same breath, it is a function of someones investment/tolerance to the nefarious threats....

...after swallowing a few hundred bucks in fish, I personally ain't got the balz to risk it anymore (by not quarantining)

got an UV on the tank?

 

[KCombs]

Naw.....I used to run one when I had like 100 tanks...but anymore I'm not sure how to effectivley rig one up and make the "pass through" efficient given the current setup with a overflow and all ...

 

[swcc]

Naw.....I used to run one when I had like 100 tanks...but anymore I'm not sure how to effectivley rig one up and make the "pass through" efficient given the current setup with a overflow and all ...

get one large enough to run off the return, or split it off the return and then back into the return with a couple Y or T connectors. You could also run separate pumps and then T the UV into the return.

 

[b0bab0ey]

but of course the usual "ich magnets": Tangs, Butterflies and Angels all died within 48hr of diagnosis

Ich doesn't usually kill that fast. This sounds more like Oodinium (Velvet) to me.

 

[KCombs]

^yeah, thats what I thought .... shoot, yeah totally possible it was velvet, it wasn't as if I did a autoptsy or whatever

get one large enough to run off the return, or split it off the return and then back into the return with a couple Y or T connectors. You could also run separate pumps and then T the UV into the return.

man just asking, but it was h3ll keeping that glass sleeve clean in FW (I had a double Lifeguard setup; the real tall ones), I can only imagine how quickly it must coat in SW....
you really think UV is that effective? (not askin in a rhetorical way, but genuinley curious)

 

[swcc]

^yeah, thats what I thought .... shoot, yeah totally possible it was velvet, it wasn't as if I did a autoptsy or whatever



man just asking, but it was h3ll keeping that glass sleeve clean in FW (I had a double Lifeguard setup; the real tall ones), I can only imagine how quickly it must coat in SW....
you really think UV is that effective? (not askin in a rhetorical way, but genuinley curious)

All I can say is I see a night and day difference in my fish health running UV vs tanks I have run without one...and I run my UV as a clarifier(basically 10-20x flow per watt) so I am not in any way running them to kill ick with super low flow per watt. So, yes, I see a big difference...and all 'ick magnet' fish I have owned or own (tangs etc..) never show ick. Only filtration I ever use is an UV and a skimmer(no carbon, gfo, macro etc..) I have set up tanks without UV and also with carbon or macro (both) and there is just no comparison in how much better an uv and skimmer tank combo works in my experience.

 

[reefgeezer]

I always thought that, although possible, considerable contact time was required for UV to kill free swimming parasites. I'll give you that the UV may kill enough bacteria to keep fish from being killed by a secondary infection resulting from an Ich outbreak, but not for controlling Ich itself in a closed system... particularly with 10-20X turn-over. I was always taught the best way to run UV was to have just enough flow to keep the water from being heating up. Even then, control of bacteria and virus was the goal. Any reduction of parasites in the water column was considered a bonus.

That being said, I have noticed over the years that anytime I had an Ich outbreak there was a stress event (other than adding a new fish i.e. severe temp drop or salinity swing) associated with it. However, I won't even pretend to understand why it happens or even suggest that the stress event was the cause. I will say I've never had an Ich outbreak in a tank that I wasn't adding fist to.

 

[plowro8]

A few days ago I added a cardinal.
I add NSW and mud from the Long Island Sound all the time.

Bill I have been through the New York Aquarium back stage a few times as recently as this year and I was checking out their NSW intake system that feeds their coral tanks. It comes right from a pipe out off of the beach on Coney Island.
I don't know if they quarantine but the water is right off the beach.
Maybe New York water kills ich because I use it and I also don't have problems with ich.
Maybe it's from those hot dog venders in Manhattan dumping the water from those dirty water dogs down the storm drains. :lol2:

I have read a lot about the use of water taken directly from the sea and used in an aquarium as being a great way to promote a healthy, natural environment.

I have also heard from a few that, in theory, using RODI water (being it is so sterile) may in fact help promote disease... the whole going to the hospital and coming home sick theory....

I live in central Indiana and cant easily get my hands on sea water, but I am curious, as silly as it may sound, if I could use natural freshwater from lakes or rivers and mix it with Reef Crystals... This may be a disaster waiting to happen due to the salt mixing with the natural biology of the freshwater, but freshwater and saltwater do eventually meet in brack. Any thoughts, anyone?

 

[Paul B]

I think fresh water from a lake may be fine, but sometimes there are chemicals in natural freshwater that you may not want in a reef tank. Freshwater lakes contain tannons and other materials from rotting vegetation such as nitrates or phosphates from stream and river run offs. Using RO/DI water would IMO be better than lake water only because the company that makes the artificial salt assumes that you will be using base water that is devoid of chemicals so only the chemicals they provide is in the final product.

 

[billsreef]

I have also heard from a few that, in theory, using RODI water (being it is so sterile) may in fact help promote disease... the whole going to the hospital and coming home sick theory....

Bad theory. The reason people get sick in a hospital isn't because of sterility, it's because of all the germ infected sick people there

 

[Lateralus]

Bad theory. The reason people get sick in a hospital isn't because of sterility, it's because of all the germ infected sick people there

Sometimes the most obvious answer is the best one.