Ich decimated my tank... Now what?

[YellowDesmo998]

I had a nasty ich outbreak that quickly killed all but one of my fish. The one survivor is soon to be leaving us as well as he’s covered in white spots, eyes, fins, body, etc.

Question is now what? How long do I wait before restocking? What is the life cycle of ich without a host in the tank to reproduce? I’ve read 6 weeks. Is this the case?

[bohlke]

wrong post

[YellowDesmo998]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9401178#post9401178 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bohlke
wrong post

hu? Did something go down recently that I don't know about?

[Travis L. Stevens]

I would wait 6-8 weeks before adding any fish.

[AquaReeferMan]

Once the tank is rid of fish I would wait for 6-8 weeks. The longer the better. Heres a link to further understand the life cycle of the ich parasite.

Part 1
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php
Part 2
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-10/sp/feature/index.php

[blas]

I too would wait at least 6 weeks so those SOB's starve and die, I ended up going the UV route to help keep my tank free of them, seems to be working well have not seen a spot in months (fingers crossed)

[scumonkey]

Been There Done That!!!!
You must take out all fish, wait 8 weeks (this allows any eggs/spores (whatever) to hatch, swim around, not find a host and die- no more ich in tank.
You must QT all new fish for at least 4 weeks (6 is better) before placing back into display.
For hardy fish like chromis, I run a low dose of copper in the QT because these fish can carry ich and NEVER show it!!!!
Good Luck- I feel for you.

[YellowDesmo998]

A HUGE thank you to everyone. I've had ich problems in my past tanks but they have all been 110g and up. This little 24g nano seemed to allow the ich to propagate much more quickly.

What size UV would you run to keep ich out of the water column? I'm assuming a much higher wattage then just to control algae. I don't want to go through this again. I suffered watching the fish suffer.

[ocean.mirage]

you can get a 9v uv sterilzer for cheap at nanotuners.com

[Macimage]

Why didn't you treat the fish for the ich in a separate tank? What about the one you have left? Ich can be treated and the fish cured.

Joyce

[YellowDesmo998]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9405559#post9405559 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Macimage
Why didn't you treat the fish for the ich in a separate tank? What about the one you have left? Ich can be treated and the fish cured.

Joyce

I race motorcycles and was racing at Daytona this past weekend and left the fish in my wife’s care. I started to see the ich as I was preparing to leave and it spread quickly as my wife told me several fish died soon after. Everything happened so quickly.

[kfowler]

I'd save the money on the UV for now. Leave your tank fallow for 6-8 weeks (you might as well do 8 to be sure). Get a QT tank. Treat the fish in hypo for 6 weeks before introducing to your display. IMO, a UV can be an aid but should not be the focal point of your treatment.

If you use a QT correctly, your chances of ever dealing with Ich again or any other diseases becomes very small.

Good luck!

[Macimage]

Oh, from your post it looked like you had one left:

"The one survivor is soon to be leaving us as well as he’s covered in white spots, eyes, fins, body, etc."

I thought since you were able to post that you were home now and could treat the one fish you have left.

Joyce

[YellowDesmo998]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9407720#post9407720 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Macimage
Oh, from your post it looked like you had one left:

"The one survivor is soon to be leaving us as well as he’s covered in white spots, eyes, fins, body, etc."

I thought since you were able to post that you were home now and could treat the one fish you have left.

Joyce

I do have one left and he stopped eating a few days ago. Can I put him in quarantine with copper based meds? I don't expect him to last long as he won't eat a thing although he tries to. He's just not going after the food but will make the motions that he wants to eat.

It't killing me to see him like this...

[Macimage]

It's been a such long time since I've treated for ich, that I can't recall all the details. However, if you run a search for ich on RC, you will find tons of advice on hypo salinity and freshwater dips. Some fish do not do as well as others with copper. Also, check the Fish Disease section of RC. The fish does not have to die, as it is curable in many cases.

Hypo will help your fish so that will be easier for it to 'breath' so to speak when you lower the salinity. If it gets feeling even a bit better from a combination of a freshwater dip and hypo, it will start eating again.

Joyce

[DrBegalke]

Not sure what all is in this tank, but I'd also turn the heat up 85+ as that speeds up the life cycle of ich and the system will be ich free faster.

[Tony25]

I would put the fish in hypo salinity 1.009 for 6 weeks. It will kill the ick.

[bgcook]

YellowDesmo998

i am feeling your pain. two week ago my fiance and i went on vacation for a week. prior to leaving my tank was doing great. coral well expanded, fish fat and happy. when we got back - yellow eyed and hippo tang dead. flame angel, yellow tang and powder brown - had ich. since, the flame angel and powder brown have died. the yellow tang appears to have recovered, but not completely. i just do not know what happened. some sort of stressor happened when i was gone. levels are good. the only fish who seem completely oblivious to this outbreak is the maroon clown and marine beta, knock on wood.

this recent event brings some questions in mind. my understanding is that there is two schools of thought regarding ich. one hand, ich is always present and effects stressed/sick fish (i favor this one). the other - ich is a disease that can be introduced and treated. what do others think??

my next step is a uv sterilizer that i had on an old fowler tank. i purchased this after a puffer i had kept getting ich, no matter what i did. after the uv, no more outbreaks (took a few weeks though). i am hoping that this will have the same effect or help on my reef.

in the end - THIS SUCKS

greg

[taketz]

I would go ahead, set up a QT, and try to save the fish if you can. Try either the Hypo or Copper based treatments ASAP and you might be able to save the little guy. Reason being, if you succeed, great. If not, you have your QT set-up ready for the new fish you will now, no doubt, want to QT before putting them into the system...

[scumonkey]

"my understanding is that there is two schools of thought regarding ich. one hand, ich is always present and effects stressed/sick fish (i favor this one). the other - ich is a disease that can be introduced and treated. what do others think??"

read this- it should be a must for everyone with fish!

http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/ich.shtml

[tangyreefer05]

This happend to my first tank too bro.. it sucks. I realized the hard way saltwater ich is a strong bastard. I tried all the medicines but it wouldnt die i swear. The next time make sure all new fish are QT first, this can really reduce your chances of getting any parasite as it should die in the qt tank. I would try hyposalt method on new fish in the QT.

[cristhiam]

is not a desease it's a parasite, if you are carefull and QT you can have a ich free tank , I stress my fish everytime I do water changes, every time get new corals in, frags , crazy glue, moving rocks around, etc..... I have not seen ich come back. I too lost all my fish about a year ago due to ich, I tryied the wrong methods that is the feed garlic, water changes, vitamins... etc.. didn't work in my case. After that I set up a QT and hypo everyone, all the fish in my signature went throug hypo, from the store straight in hypo 3-4 weeks since I didn't see any signs of it, took me a year to fully stock my tank again. I'm paranoid now :)