ICH please help

[timmyus]

Hi guys I have a major problem I think my clown has got Ich I am not too sure but there seems to be white spots on his body which from reading it looks like its ich the hippo which is the only other fish other than my stars and cleaner shrimp does not seem to infected. I dont currently have a quarantine tank available right now but getting that sorted out soon. But what I would like to know what I can do in the meantime to help my fish. He seems to be swimming and eating or at least he was eating yesterday. I am afraid that he is going to infect my other fish as I read that the hippo tang is crown the "KING OF ICH". I dont know whether invertebrates are affected by the desease too as nothing I read was clear on that. please if anybody has any advise for me on the subject I would appreciate it thanks

[Randall_James]

IF this is ICH, the tank is infected.

You should remove the clown to the hospital tank all the same and observe him. You need to verify that this is ich and then the real work starts as in all probability you will need to move all fish out of the display for 8 weeks to allow the parasite to perish.

The fact that the Tang does not have ich is a pretty good sign that the Clown does not either. The Hippo is the "King of ICH" and should have come down first.

Anyway, if you can isolate the clown and try to verify what it is he has, could be nothing at all.

[mavgi]

invert not infect in ich . you will need to treat the fish with hypo in QT and watch on the other fish because you never know if he infect.
since you have hypo tang to in your system i suggest to you to buy at least 20 gallon tank (long one it's better) because if he will infect in smal tank he will get stress.

[timmyus]

thanks for the info guys I have got myself a 20gal quaratine tank but its not setup yet I am gonna try and do that as soon as possible

[Shooter7]

Lots of links here...check the fish disease forum for further info.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=282934

[kau_cinta_ku]

i agree make sure it is ich first as i would think that the tang would have got it before the clowns.

[Randall_James]

Also, biggest failure of QT tanks IMO is the cycle process (or lack of it actually)

Get an ammonia indicator badge (the react very slowly but at least you get a visual indicator on levels full time) put it in the tank and have LOTS OF WATER ready for water changes.

If you do not have a power sponge already cycled and ready to go, you can expect to do two or three 50% water changes a day on days 2-7 while the bacteria get up to speed. It really bites to be sure and if you have some live rock you can move over there for now it helps too.

I really screwed up on this and learned the hard way, I had a little yellow Wrasse I blinded from ammonia levels from my QT tank, I felt bad for weeks deciding what to do with this guy, he could eat just enough to survive and I finally just did the 'fish ice cube' thing with him..

[timmyus]

what if I have a sponge filter already cycled from my main tank how long will the cycle process take when I use that and water frommy main display

[Randall_James]

It will help dramatically, the tank still cycles but you may only deal with hours instead of days depending on the bacteria in the sponge.

I would still plan on an ammonia spike but it should be short and sweet, same rule applies, monitor the tank closely and have water ready. Be aware that a fatal spike can come and go in a matter of hours. Many think they can test the tank at night or in the morning and be safe. This is not the case. A spike can occur in an hour or 2 and this is where the sponge kicks in, it takes that initial ammonia spike and consumes it while producing more bacteria. That is also why I use the Ammonia Detection Badges, they are slow reacting and can alert you to the issue when regular testing may not be practical or you may not have time.

[timmyus]

Thanks I will setup the quarantine as soon as I can. Hopefully I am able to do it by tomoro.