Ich in my reef

[johnnyfish]

Hi I'm johnnyfish. I'm 51 and have had fish since I was 10. I've had a reef off and on since 2002. I tend to not want to do anything about ich and let it run it's course but if someone has any suggestions besides turning up the temp or using cleaner shrimp or gobies your input would be much appreciated. I hate to wake up every morning and see my powder blue covered. Thanks

 

[falconut]

Many many years ago, I had a few fish pop up with what appeared to be ich. I spoaked in some Seachem Metronidazole with the food for a while and it seemed to help. Maybe it would have gone away on it's own, but who knows. I didn't see any ill effects on anything. You could try that or maybe just get some fresh garlic and blend it up and soak the food with the garlic juice. Good luck.

 

[mnat]

If you really want to kick ick, you may not like the best answer which is to setup a hospital tank, move all your fish there, and then leave your tank fallow (empty) for 8 or so weeks. With your fish in hosptial, you can run hypo salinity which will kill the ick. This will absotulely get rid of it.

You can try through nutrition, you can get the Dr. Gs food which has medication that will help your fish kick ick and add garlic to the food to help. This will help but might not get rid of it.

Freshwater dips will temporarily get rid of the the ick on the fish but won't get it out of your tank.

Research the bucket method on reef central that some people are having success with without going fallow and setting up a hospital tank.

Last point: How big is your tank? Tangs are ick magnets and if they are in too small of a tank you will always run into problems with ick as they will be stressed and more likely to come down with it. Is your tank a full reef or just fish only? If it is fish only, you can just run hypo salinity on your tank and kill all the ick that way.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Mike said it above…..hospital tank for your fish with eitherhyposalinity or copper while you DT sits fallow. To the best of my knowledge these are the only two ways to permanentlyrid your tank of ich.

 

[falconut]

Not sure if this is the tank you were looking to add another Tang to, but I wouldn't recommend adding any other fish to it while this is going on.

Like the others said, the best way to eradicate it would be the removal of the fish for a while, but didn't sound like that's what you wanted to do.

 

[johnnyfish]

Thanks for the suggestions. The problem I have is that the fish are in a reef and I don't have a trap or a way to get them out. I know Hippo's can go off and on all their life with bouts of ich so I was hoping the Powder Blue would get through this but I don't think it's gonna happen. BTW the tank is 55 gallons and it only has a 3" Powder Blue, 3" Queen Angel (NOT reef safe, I know) and 2 Bangai Cardinals. This was a temporary tank until a move to a larger aquarium. I'm currently growing out SPS only in this tank.

 

[mnat]

In your current system you are pretty much always going to battle ich due to stress. Queen angels get really big and are really nasty. The powder blue is more likely to come down with ich and having the queen in there is going to make the situation worse. Both of those fish need tanks 180g plus, and for the queen probably even more.

 

[NikkiT]

In your current system you are pretty much always going to battle ich due to stress. Queen angels get really big and are really nasty. The powder blue is more likely to come down with ich and having the queen in there is going to make the situation worse. Both of those fish need tanks 180g plus, and for the queen probably even more.

+1.
I hate to be the one to tell you this, but if the PB has ich now, I would rip the tank apart and get him out. It should not take you more than about 30 min to remove the rock into buckets/brutes etc., syphon off water to keep them wet, and once the tank is rock-free you should be able to get him out pretty easily. Think of it as a big water change, and have 20-30g of water ready.

I would remove all fish to hospital, and I'ld go hypo and keep the DT fallow for 8 weeks or more, as Mike said.

Your chances of eradicating Ich in a 55g reef are slim. This would be the best course of action.
When are you planning on setting up your big tank? It would be best if you could hospital the fish now, and get them healthy while you work on getting your DT set up.

 

[johnnyfish]

NikkiT, Thanks for your input but it's a reef, not just rock. It cannot be kept hypo.

 

[redfishbluefish]

NikkiT, Thanks for your input but it's a reef, not just rock. It cannot be kept hypo.

You take the hospital tank hypo while the display tank remains fishless (and at normal salinity) for the eight weeks. The ich needs fish to complete its life-cycle. With no fish for eight weeks, they die.

 

[johnnyfish]

Thanks RFBF and sorry NikkiT my reading comprehension isn't the best sometimes. I plan to move the contents of this 55 and a 65 that it is plumbed together with into a larger tank. Hopefully sooner than later. At that time I'll leave the new DT fallow and go hypo in the hospital tank. For now I'm going to leave things be and hopefully I don't lose too many fish. I have to say this though...I don't think you can ever eradicate the existence of ich in any reef. It can hitch hike onto anything and I doubt everyone quarantines or dips everything that enters their reef. A healthy, stress free environment is all you can ask for and normally it will produce an ich free tank. Just think of how many people have Hippo Tangs that go on and off with ich their whole lives while none of the others show any sign. I agree with the recommendations given, I just don't believe ich ever totally goes away. Then again I hope your right.


"Friends don't let friends buy Anthelia"