What would you do?

[Oilman]

I am having a bout with ick and I need some advise.

Currently I have the following in my tank:

1 Powder brown tang
1 Hippo tang
1 Sailfin tang
1 Foxface
2 Fasle Percs
1 Scooter blenny
Various SPS and LPS

the tank is 260g with a sand bed and plenty of liverock and the water perameters are:

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0-5ppm
Calcium - 420ppm
PH - 8.2

The powder brown tang is my most recent addition and was doing well until the last couple of days. He has been in the tank for about 4 weeks now and has eaten well and looked healthy until today. Now I see ick all over him and a few spots on the other tangs.

My question is I have a 30g tank that I can quarintine them in but it is not cycled and I am worried that the water conditions would deteriorate rapidly with so many fish in such a small tank. Also my scooter blenny feeds mainly off of the live rock and I would not want him to starve. What would you do?

[Stipe]

WOuld daily water changes be an option? If not buy bigger tupaware tubs and set out a couple of tanks, with one fish per tank. One trick I've learned is that once the ick falls of the fish you move the fish to a new quaratine and that halfs the infection as the little 'ichs' dont reach a ish and die.

Im nto sure a blenny can get ich or has a very good mucus layer to fight off ich. Can anyone else varify that?

[TWallace]

I've always read that no fish is immune to ich, even mandarins, eels or hawkfish (none of which I've ever seen with ich). However, I eradicated ich in my main tank but left my flame hawk in it. No fish in that tank has had ich in a few months now (I quarantine new fish). I did not treat the main tank at all for ich either.

You're pretty much going to have to take your fish out and treat. Maybe buy a couple of small, cheap tanks to treat them in, rather than forcing them all into a 30 where they'll probably fight.

If you're worried about the tanks being uncycled, you should stick a sponge in your main tank's sump for a couple weeks. Then when you setup a new QT, move the sponge into the filtration setup of the new tank. As long as you don't overstock the new tank, you won't have an ammonia/nitrite spike. I always leave a sponge in my tank's refugium for this very reason.

[Oilman]

One other thing, what specific gravity is prefered for hyposalinity treatment?

[Lambianz]

Rally's Kick Ick or Marine Max, water temperature around 81 degrees and soak food in salt water from tank and crushed garlic then feed to fish while your using either or med's

[meklo_h2o]

I agree with Twallace. You can use media from your main to help your sick tank. If you can't spare enough media, pieces of live rock will work. And isn't a bad idea even if you do have enough media. Atleast provide some shelter for the fish.

As far as your scooter blenny is concerned. I would not worry. Mine will readily eat frozen brine shrimp. So don't worry that he'll starve.

In my area you can by 10 gallon tanks for about 10 dollars a piece. Which is about that same price as a large rubbermaid tub. Which you could use for a little bit. Hope I was of some help

Meklo

[old salty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7762283#post7762283 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Oilman
One other thing, what specific gravity is prefered for hyposalinity treatment?


1.009 - using a refractometer.


I don't know what your tank looks like, but you may want to consider leaving the fish in it and removing everything else. The LR should be fine in a few rubbermaid containers. Since no fish will be in the containters, the ich should die off. Put the corals in the 30g and again, the ich (if present) will die off without hypo. Then you can have the entire tank at low salinity and not worry about fighting or anything of the sort.

Just a suggestion.

[Duchess]

Check in the Fish Diseases Forum for specific ich advice, especially on how to lower the salinity to hypo levels without stressing the fish.

You're going to need to let the tank stay fishless for about six weeks to allow the ich to die off so your fish are not reinfected when they return to the tank.

Good luck!

[ablazinob]

powder tangs always get the ich

[wds21921]

Why not try what nature does?
Cleaner Shrimp.

[1package]

You did not mention the size of the tank or too much about the coral population.

If you can easily remove the fish, I would do that.

I had a similar problem about 4 months ago when I introduced a powder blue tang.

I am not such a believer in the garlic, although I see often where others are. I tried it minced soaked with the food in netting, powder form mixed in food, could never see an improvement.

UV only will get a % of what passes through the light and only a % is going to pass through - I use 40w anyway.

Cleaner shrimp are more prevention than cure, I have at least 4 in my tank, did not eliminate the problem.

I used ICH KICK or KICK ICH, not sure which it is. I was treating in a 210g with a 75g sump, knew catching fish was not an option and DID NOT want to tear it down, did not want to lose all of the fish........would have harpooned the PBT as an option at that point. Not sure that I would use the KICK ICH again, no skimmer during treatments although I lost no fish or shrimp and did lose the ICH. I did lose a couple SPS pieces but that could have been due to the need to estimate how much water is in the system, excluding all of the rock so I may have overdosed. Either way, it worked..............wish I could get Phishy to replace that blue torte I lost though.

Just another opinion - good luck.

[bcwalz]

When I got ich in my reef I used cleaner shrimp and Kordon's ich attack. The fish that brought the ich into the tank didn't survive but it didn't spread to any of the other fish at all. I attribute that mostly to the cleaner shrimp and not the ich attack stuff. I can say that the cleaner shrimp were very busy for the first few days of the attack.

[Michael Mota]

I know this is going to sound weird but if it was me I would leave the fish alone. as long as they are eating and acting normal they should be able to fight the ick disease on there own. you could try garlic in the food also but I am not sure if it works but my opinion is it can't hurt. I believe ick is in every tank just waiting for the right opportunity ( stressed fish) to attack. Try to locate any stress producers or causes and try to eliminate them. This is what I do in my tank. My blue hippo was prone to ick when I got him and then I realized the four line wrasse was beating him up so the wrasse is gone and the tang has been OK ever since. Healed on his own. You have gotten some good advice here now its up to you to make a decision on what to do, got to love the hobby. JMHO
take care and good luck

[Oilman]

Thanks for all of the advise everyone, I do have two cleaner shrimp and a UV system running at this time. I am having second thoughts about tearing the system down and putting all fish in quarintine as the stress of that may do more harm than good. I guess I should have quarantined from the start - too late now for that.

[TKByrnes]

kordon ich attack its 100% organic and wont hurt corals at all. i have been using it for 2 days now on my main tank. they guy at my lfs uses it in hist tanks and has had no problem with it and coral or inverts. he has been using it for 3 years. not 1 coral or invert died from it. also it is only $11 and treats up to 970 gal in 1 bottle. good luck.