Ich Advice

[Supraz]

I have a 29G biocube. Its been setup since march and it had been without fish until Saturday. I recently had a flatworm outbreak and ive been trying to siphon them out. It seens to be going ok. I went to my LFS with the intention of getting a yellow damsel to see if it could help me with the process, but while i was there talking to the owners son they convinced me to buy a spotted mandrin. I have chaeto in the fuge area with some live rock and have been letting it build up with pods so I figured it wouldnt be an issue. Theres no competition for the pods unless the flatworms are eating them.

After putting the mandrin in the tank it seemed fine. Immediately swimming around and eating pods. I checked on him every hour or two throughout the day and he was very lively and hungry. This went on until this morning. I went to check on him before work and he was resting on the sand next to a rock. I could see him breathing but not moving at all. After a minute or so I walked off to get my camera and I turned on the tank lights, thinking I saw a small spot of Ich. Once the lights came on I noticed 4 spots around the mandrins mouth and a few spots on his side and a few on his fins.

He did move around a bit but not alot. I ran out of time and couldnt test the water to make sure there wasnt any other issues. I was under the impression that when a fish had Ich it still moved around and was active.

I do not have a QT. If I set one up for the mandrin how am I supposed to keep him fed. From what I understand you dont put any live rock in the QT right because the copper in the Ich treatment. Do I just buy some pods online and drop them straight into the QT? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Toolman]

Why not let it play out if there is only one fish in the tank if you lose the mandarin which I hope you don't you are going to go fish less for at least two months because it's in the tank now. JMO but let the pros weigh in they have forgotten more then I know

 

[Smitty]

It may have been the protective mucus that they have on them while sleeping at night. Mandarins are less likely to get ich because of their protective coating. Not saying they can't get it, it's just not as common.

 

[bjohanson1234]

What else do you have in the tank?

For you flatworm problem, if you are seeing them, you have a lot of hidden ones. I would recomend using Flatworm Exit. I have used it twice in the past and it has worked beautifully.

For the Ich, you will have to leave the tank without fish in it for atleast 2 months to fully get rid of it. There are no methods of getting rid of Ich that is "reef" safe. It will kill off the beneficial bacteria and all your other inverts if you treat the main tank with them. Anything that is "reef" safe only really treats one stage of the parasite. So it might look like it works but a few weeks later, it is back.

If you do set up a quarentine tank, you need to have all your fish in there. Not just the fish that are showing signs of Ich. As for feeding the mandarin while in the QT, I dont know, if he does eat frozen foods, use that. If he only eats live food, you could try getting some pods to add to the QT. Your LFS might have some also.

 

[Supraz]

It may have been the protective mucus that they have on them while sleeping at night. Mandarins are less likely to get ich because of their protective coating. Not saying they can't get it, it's just not as common.

Im at work until five so I wont be able to check on him until then. I hope your right. I am reading more on this mucus and everything im reading says they cant or its hard for them to get ich. I will update later. Thanks Smitty.

 

[Supraz]

What else do you have in the tank?

For you flatworm problem, if you are seeing them, you have a lot of hidden ones. I would recomend using Flatworm Exit. I have used it twice in the past and it has worked beautifully.

For the Ich, you will have to leave the tank without fish in it for atleast 2 months to fully get rid of it. There are no methods of getting rid of Ich that is "reef" safe. It will kill off the beneficial bacteria and all your other inverts if you treat the main tank with them. Anything that is "reef" safe only really treats one stage of the parasite. So it might look like it works but a few weeks later, it is back.

If you do set up a quarentine tank, you need to have all your fish in there. Not just the fish that are showing signs of Ich. As for feeding the mandarin while in the QT, I dont know, if he does eat frozen foods, use that. If he only eats live food, you could try getting some pods to add to the QT. Your LFS might have some also.

I was hoping to avoid chemicals for the flatworm issue. However I dont think the mandarin is even remotely interested in any food other than the pods.

 

[bjohanson1234]

I was hoping to avoid chemicals for the flatworm issue. However I dont think the mandarin is even remotely interested in any food other than the pods.

I understand that, I also try to avoid using chemical treatments in my tank. But for the flatworms, during my reasearch, I concluded that the most effective way was with the Flatworm Exit.

 

[Bifferwine]

If you are seeing flatworms on your rocks and glass, there are already too many in there for a fish to take care of. And it's not guaranteed that a fish will even eat them. It's good to be wary of using chemicals, but flatworms are a pest that almost all of us have had to deal with. I used Flatworm Exit earlier this year, with no visible signs of stress to my tank. Just follow the instructions on the package, and you will be okay. It's also okay to increase the dosage. I had to use 10 times the dose in the instructions when I treated my tank.

 

[wontonflip]

Here's an interesting flatworm article from melevsreef (someone posted this in another thread, as well). Hopefully, yours isn't as bad as his :shock:

Melevsreef.com - Flatworms | How to eliminate them!