Being ATTACKED by ICH!!!!

[franky831]

Hello everybody,

I have my 120 gallon DT, in it 50 pounds of live rock, 1 diamond watchman gobby, 1 bi-color blennie, 2 firefish, 2 clownfish, 3 snail, 2 cleaner shrimp, 5 hermit crabs, 1 green bubble tip anemone. In my 10 Gallon QT tank I have 1 blue tang, 1 yellow tang. Well I noticed that my blue tang and yellow tang had some with spot on it and I had ich before, but when I had freshwater fish. I went and put the blue and the yellow tang in the QT treated them and this tuesday was the last day they showed signs of ich, I waited tyl sunday to put them back in the DT. But later on that night they had it again?. My fish in the DT do not show any symptoms of ich. what should I do?

 

[ccCapt]

What did you treat them with while in QT?
If 1 fish in the tank shows signs of ich, all the fish can be carriers. Every fish needs to be removed and treated and the tank left fishless for 6-8 weeks so the ich parasite will die off.

 

[franky831]

I treated them whit Rid+Ich, will my 10 gallon QT be able to handle all my fish?

 

[BL1]

No, it won't. Honestly it's probably too small for the two tangs to be in at all

 

[franky831]

any suggestions?

 

[ccCapt]

Rid Ich is useless. You need to use either copper or hyposalinity.
Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

A 10g is too small to treat all those fish. You can use a large tupperware type storage bin. You can find them cheap at HD or Lowes in 30g sizes.

 

[franky831]

Ok will try to find something bigger, and keep you guys updated. thanks

 

[BL1]

Good luck!

 

[franky831]

I have a 2 bathtubs, I never use one would that be an option?

 

[Bifferwine]

Everyone has got you on track. The only two methods that have been proven to work against ich are copper and hyposalinity. RidIch doesn't actually kill it... Since you put the fish in the display, all fish have been exposed to it and must be treated.

Also, it takes about 8 weeks to actually kill the ich since it goes in different life cycles. You will need to quarantine and treat for that long... Treating one day then putting the fish in your tank the next isn't effective.

Good luck!

 

[bjohanson1234]

I wouldnt. Even if you dont use it, someone has. And there are chemicals and soap residue on the bathtub. I believe it is better to just spend the ten bucks on a tote.

 

[Cottonwood]

Home Depot had their 18gallon containers for like $5 each when I was just there. Maybe a few of those for your fish...the time would suck to have them in those but, you would be ick less and then you can qt your future fish before putting them in and be good to go. Just be sure to have a heater and power head in there as well to kee the water right.

 

[Melosu58]

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: A Quarantine Tank for Everything by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part II by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

 

[franky831]

ok, well I have started the hypo-salinity, Finally today I was able to get to 1.011, I was dropping the salinity by two and finally I got to it today. My question is how long does it take for hypo-salinity to work? please details.

 

[OhNoNemo]

I did hypo last year with full success.......I left my fish in hypo for 32 days at 1.008...they were fine and even looked happy...you must maintain and monitor your salinity everyday( even 2x a day) don't let it creep back up due to evaporation ...leave the DT empty for 8 weeks ,the ich will starve and die off...I know in your head your thinking what a PITA,but trust me,a year ago i felt the same way..Now i look back and say glad i did it..good luck ,and feel free to ask more questions :Cheers:

 

[wontonflip]

I hope you didn't lower it TOO slow -- ich can adjust (like fish) to low salinity if you go too slowly, rendering it useless. I am not sure of the guidelines to how fast you should do it, but I know you can lower salinity rather quickly with little to no ill effects, but raising it has to be done very slowly.

 

[OhNoNemo]

I hope you didn't lower it TOO slow -- ich can adjust (like fish) to low salinity if you go too slowly, rendering it useless. I am not sure of the guidelines to how fast you should do it, but I know you can lower salinity rather quickly with little to no ill effects, but raising it has to be done very slowly.

+1,,,it should take no longer than 72 hours to lower it.Some say 48 is a good target time also...i did it somewhere between the 2...it must also be lowered to a minimum of 1.009 to be effective..Raising it should be done by .001 a day
Edit: i sure hope your using a refract also....not even the glass floating hydros will due, IMO