Who has had ich and........

[RBU1]

Who has had ich and just let nature take its course? I am really just curious to see how many people have had ich in their tanks and have done nothing about it. I would like to hear what the outcome was. When I had my 75 gallon set up I never QT'd anything. My yellow tang had ich but it would come and go and it never seemed to bother the fish. All I did was keep feeding well and kept the water quality as good as possible. The fish went thru a tank breakdown and move and still did fine in its new home. So lets hear the stories from those that had ich and did nothing about it.....

 

[flameangel9]

I have a 180 reef and won't think of tearing it apart and chasing sick fish around only to stuff them into tight quarters in hopes of them getting better.
Its run its course. No ick has been seen in some time. I kept up on water changes and feed heavy when when it happened. I've done this on more than one tank without losses.

 

[RBU1]

Yeah well I am starting to think like you....Getting real frustrated with this hobby...I have been treating and QTing all my fish with Prazi Pro and Cuprmaine....No fish has been in QT for less than 6-7 weeks and Friday I moved my male crosshatch over from the 125 to the 300 main tank after being in QT since March 4th....And yesterday I noticed he has ich on him.....I give up....I will still continue to QT everything but I am done with giving a crap. I guess nature wins!!!!!

 

[swifty]

i also have a 180 reef with several tangs they all get a touch of ick from time to time and other than garlic i do all things as normal and it seems to run its course

 

[glaukos]

in my old 75 i never qtned anything and everything went ok
no loses
they got ick from time to time but after the first time which was the worst
the following where easy
total of 10 fishes

in my 125 though things where not so good
my fisrt 7-8 fish got through it but for 6-7 months EVERY fish i bought got ick and died
the same time the old ones had NOT even a single spot

 

[RBU1]

I spoke to a person this morning that I trust in this hobby. I explained to him how I thought I was doing everything right and to still get ich just really frustrates the heck out of me....He feels that because I have been Qting the fish and getting them stronger they stand a good chance of fighting it off.....I can tell you I am not tearing that 300 down again to remove all the fish for a THIRD time!!!!!! From now on whatever happens, happens....I will still QT but don't think I will treat unless they need it. During my other QT periods I was treating everything with Cuprmaine and PraziPro.

 

[khaosinc]

I tried so hard when I first set up my tank..... ended up with it anyway. I couldn't tear down my tank at this point if I wanted to, but everyone has made it so far.

 

[dun2run]

I just had the same problem. Tank had ich, took fish out for 2 months, treated new fish with cupramine, everything looked great in QT. After the blue hippo went in, TA DAAAAA! After a few days there it was again. But she is fat and healthy as can be. And I to, am definitely not pulling all the rock out of my tank again. Way more stress than its worth.

One more thing, the blue tang will have only 2-3 spots on her every other day, but they will be in different places. Its almost like I wont see the same spot everyday so I guess she is fighting it off.??

 

[glaukos]

did you put the blue hippo to the DT without treatment?

your old fish that were QTned showed any signs of ick?

 

[shawna1972]

Ok well I have to chime in from my own exp. when I first started I had Ich show up 3 times back then I had no idea what a Qt was nor that one was needed. I tried several methods of treating the fish in fear of stressing them out to get them out of my 125.

Hypo first choice........Great choice if you have exp doing hypo but for me I lost the fish bringing the salinity up to fast.

Reef safe meds hahahaha joke.......Tried kick ich,lifeguard,chem marins stop parasite ect..

and finally fed really well,kept up on water changes,tried garlic soaked foods,beta gluten,ginger root mixed,vitaminc everything I could throw at it...

All these methods I lost every fish (10) in all. Will I ever go back to not using a Qt....Never! It was the saddest thing watching these fish die one by one! I finally talked to someone a few years back regarding a qt tank and since then I have not seen Ich in my tank! My fish are healthy and I never have to worry about them getting stressed and coming down with Ich.
If it were not for the Qt tank I would have quit the hobby!
I personally think taking a fish out and putting them in qt is way less stress than fighting the parasite! and I personally think its our responsibility to treat this fish when they have parasites. This is just MO, not attacking anyone Everyone has their own way of doing things and Im just giving my exp from having not treated fish with Ich

As Far as the fish having Ich after 8 weeks in cupramine ? Are you sure the cupramine didnt fall below the correct level? or that you didnt contaminate the Qt with your display water "If Ich was present in your display?" Very odd!
And yes that would get me really upset but I dont know if Id say screw the Qt ? Anyhow sorry about your luck,This hobby is not easy and it sucks when you try to do the best thing and have to think about leaving the fish because what a pain the the a$$ it is to start over but personally me I would tear my 180 apart in a sec if it ever got back into my display. Again that's just MO but good luck whatever you decide to do.

 

[Jdbrine]

Ok well I have to chime in from my own exp. when I first started I had Ich show up 3 times back then I had no idea what a Qt was nor that one was needed. I tried several methods of treating the fish in fear of stressing them out to get them out of my 125.

Hypo first choice........Great choice if you have exp doing hypo but for me I lost the fish bringing the salinity up to fast.

Reef safe meds hahahaha joke.......Tried kick ich,lifeguard,chem marins stop parasite ect..

and finally fed really well,kept up on water changes,tried garlic soaked foods,beta gluten,ginger root mixed,vitaminc everything I could throw at it...

All these methods I lost every fish (10) in all. Will I ever go back to not using a Qt....Never! It was the saddest thing watching these fish die one by one! I finally talked to someone a few years back regarding a qt tank and since then I have not seen Ich in my tank! My fish are healthy and I never have to worry about them getting stressed and coming down with Ich.
If it were not for the Qt tank I would have quit the hobby!
I personally think taking a fish out and putting them in qt is way less stress than fighting the parasite! and I personally think its our responsibility to treat this fish when they have parasites. This is just MO, not attacking anyone Everyone has their own way of doing things and Im just giving my exp from having not treated fish with Ich

As Far as the fish having Ich after 8 weeks in cupramine ? Are you sure the cupramine didnt fall below the correct level? or that you didnt contaminate the Qt with your display water "If Ich was present in your display?" Very odd!
And yes that would get me really upset but I dont know if Id say screw the Qt ? Anyhow sorry about your luck,This hobby is not easy and it sucks when you try to do the best thing and have to think about leaving the fish because what a pain the the a$$ it is to start over but personally me I would tear my 180 apart in a sec if it ever got back into my display. Again that's just MO but good luck whatever you decide to do.

+1..... I agree 100%

 

[Monster00101]

I never qtd anything and then i qtd my trigger and tang at the same time. (from the lfs) After 6 weeks i put my trigger in my display tank and the next day my tang had ich he died a couple days later and the trigger has never had a problem or anything else in the tank. Is there a chance of ich in my display? its been 3 months and nothing.

 

[RBU1]

shawna, I used to agree with you 100% but I am now to the point of saying screw it.....I never saw a spot on any of the fish I had in QT and most of them were in QT for at least 8 weeks treated with Cuprmaine for 4 of the 8. Don't get me wrong I am still going to QT but I am not treating with anything unless I see a need. I figure maybe the only thing I will get out of QT is making the fish strong enough to be able to fight off ich if that is indeed whats in my main tank. In my 300 I have a hybrid blue angel, 2 black and white clowns, multi colored pygmy angel, coris wrasse and the male crosshatch. Every fish has been thru a QT with Cupramine maintained at .5 for 4 weeks and a prazipro treatment and have been in QT for at least 8 weeks. I was anal about my QT method and made sure nothing I used on my QT came near my main tank. Every fish, except the crosshatch, has been in that main tank for at least 2 months and I never saw a spot of anything on a single fish. I add the crosshatch last Friday and he has something all over his head and a couple spots on his body.....I will post some pictures later today....It is extremly frustrating to say the least. Will I be breaking down the 300 for a third time to remove fish NO WAY!!!!!! This time I am letting nature take its course and if I get to frustrated again I will be selling my system and calling it quit's....

 

[khaosinc]

that was my problem as well. When I set my first tank up I was pretty new and used to fresh water tanks. When it failed and I ordered my current tank and had my other one torn down, all my fish were treated, and everything else was fishless for ages. No trouble with the new tank until I think I cross contaminated it when I was QTing a couple of tangs.

I physically can't tear down my tank anymore, so I'm hoping for the best. Everything has looked good and pulled through so far but I've gotten lucky.

 

[disciple]

My pair of clowns got ich when I set up my tank 2 years ago. I was advised by an awesome LFS owner to drop the salinity level to about 1.020 and just let the tank and fish fight the infection. I do believe I treated their food with garlic. The ich went away and haven't seen it since.

 

[RBU1]

My pair of clowns got ich when I set up my tank 2 years ago. I was advised by an awesome LFS owner to drop the salinity level to about 1.020 and just let the tank and fish fight the infection. I do believe I treated their food with garlic. The ich went away and haven't seen it since.

I might try this....I was under the impression that lowering the salinity aids in how the fish move oxygen across the gills. Not sure if I have that right but thats what I think. So a lower salinity helps with oxygen and might help with stress.. The only thing I am unsure about is how low can I go with inverts and corals. I might slowly lower things and keep an eye on how the inverts and corals react. I am still up in the air on this....

 

[shawna1972]

shawna, I used to agree with you 100% but I am now to the point of saying screw it.....I never saw a spot on any of the fish I had in QT and most of them were in QT for at least 8 weeks treated with Cuprmaine for 4 of the 8. Don't get me wrong I am still going to QT but I am not treating with anything unless I see a need. I figure maybe the only thing I will get out of QT is making the fish strong enough to be able to fight off ich if that is indeed whats in my main tank. In my 300 I have a hybrid blue angel, 2 black and white clowns, multi colored pygmy angel, coris wrasse and the male crosshatch. Every fish has been thru a QT with Cupramine maintained at .5 for 4 weeks and a prazipro treatment and have been in QT for at least 8 weeks. I was anal about my QT method and made sure nothing I used on my QT came near my main tank. Every fish, except the crosshatch, has been in that main tank for at least 2 months and I never saw a spot of anything on a single fish. I add the crosshatch last Friday and he has something all over his head and a couple spots on his body.....I will post some pictures later today....It is extremly frustrating to say the least. Will I be breaking down the 300 for a third time to remove fish NO WAY!!!!!! This time I am letting nature take its course and if I get to frustrated again I will be selling my system and calling it quit's....

First let me say I agree 100% with you also and it is (Frustrating) and you did everything you should have not to bring disease or parasites into the display and it really sucks when this happens! I personally would be devestated!
I currently have a long nosed butterfly in Qt at the moment with Prazi for black Ich "Cant remember the correct name) but anyhow I did a really stupid mistake and (may) Have to tear my 180 apart sometime soon?
I was acclimating my butterfly on the ledge of my 180, its in wall so I have a ledge and I was using the drip method well it over filled enough to let the water run out over the top and the water got over my ledge and into my sump undereath "Which goes into my display" was it enough water to do any harm???????? Dont know!
Point being, I like you,tried to do everything by the book and It took one STUPID mistake on my part! I am so mad and at the same time can only blame myself! So time being I am watching the fish in my display for signs and trying to keep the Long nosed butterfly healthy!
Seems like you did everything correct and no cross contamination so Im stumped! as I only keep my my fish in cupramine for 2 weeks and Prazi for 2 weeks and all fish are Ich free. 4 weeks of Prazi should have been more than enough time. This maybe a dumb question but are you sure it's Ich?

 

[RBU1]

No such thing as a dumb question....I willpost some pictures. I would say I am almost certain.

 

[WDLV]

Ok well I have to chime in from my own exp. when I first started I had Ich show up 3 times back then I had no idea what a Qt was nor that one was needed. I tried several methods of treating the fish in fear of stressing them out to get them out of my 125.

Hypo first choice........Great choice if you have exp doing hypo but for me I lost the fish bringing the salinity up to fast.

Reef safe meds hahahaha joke.......Tried kick ich,lifeguard,chem marins stop parasite ect..

and finally fed really well,kept up on water changes,tried garlic soaked foods,beta gluten,ginger root mixed,vitaminc everything I could throw at it...

All these methods I lost every fish (10) in all. Will I ever go back to not using a Qt....Never! It was the saddest thing watching these fish die one by one! I finally talked to someone a few years back regarding a qt tank and since then I have not seen Ich in my tank! My fish are healthy and I never have to worry about them getting stressed and coming down with Ich.
If it were not for the Qt tank I would have quit the hobby!
I personally think taking a fish out and putting them in qt is way less stress than fighting the parasite! and I personally think its our responsibility to treat this fish when they have parasites. This is just MO, not attacking anyone Everyone has their own way of doing things and Im just giving my exp from having not treated fish with Ich

As Far as the fish having Ich after 8 weeks in cupramine ? Are you sure the cupramine didnt fall below the correct level? or that you didnt contaminate the Qt with your display water "If Ich was present in your display?" Very odd!
And yes that would get me really upset but I dont know if Id say screw the Qt ? Anyhow sorry about your luck,This hobby is not easy and it sucks when you try to do the best thing and have to think about leaving the fish because what a pain the the a$$ it is to start over but personally me I would tear my 180 apart in a sec if it ever got back into my display. Again that's just MO but good luck whatever you decide to do.

+1 more.

If I were more of a coral-holic I might feel differently but for me corals are more for decoration than anything else. Some of my fish are so rare that I would crash the system and lose every coral in it before I would even consider letting them die. I don't know your methods and will not claim to have read every line in this thread but if you're not quarrantining everything wet you will always run a greater risk of introducing a pathogen.

There is something to be said for doing everything you can to boost a fish's immune system and provide a stress free environment but this is IMO something that should be done hand in hand with proper quarrantine. The world's public aquariums don't utilize these procedures for nothing.

 

[fishychris]

Very interesting to hear everyone's stories. I agree that most of the time you just have to let nature take its course. I do qt but that's it. It's been about 3 years since I have used cupramine and prazipro. And that was a really BAD case of ich and I had lost 5 already. Other than that, nature is the way to go.