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Unread 11/10/2017, 05:07 PM   #36
mikluha
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Phoeniz, AZ
Posts: 80
My 2 cents.

240 gal tank got ich not so long time ago. Bought a fish from place I knew I shouldn't buy. Quarantine wasn't long enough, I suspect. I panicked. Started to catch all my fishes, freshwater dips, etc. Too much of headache. Lost few fishes during treatment (I think the catching them, freshwater dips, etc was too much stress, which is killer when combined with ich). Finally used cupramin, which took care. Tank was fallow for 80 days.

Moved fish back. In 3-4 weeks noticed ich on chocolate tang. The fish was eating like a pig, so I decided to ignore it. For 3 weeks he had few white spots on/off. Same time I realized my nitrates were too high (messing with DIY coral food) - 70 ppm or so.

Bumped vodka addition, water changes, etc. Nitrates went down to 0 in few days. The tang was healthy again couple of days later.

No problem since that incident. Recently I added Achilles tang, which is ich magnet. Of course, he got white spots within week or so. But they're pretty much all gone by now.

So, I proved for MYSELF that:

1) Ich may exist in fish tank. Dormant? Maybe. How long can it be dormant? Who knows. 80/90 days maybe good for one strain, but maybe not enough others (ich should have different genetic variations, correct?)

2) Optimal fish conditions is a must for disease-free tank. Who knows what is in my tank besides ich. I use variety of foods and always add diy selcon/garlic/vitamins/etc. I'd like to use blackworms like PaulB but nobody around here carries them.

3) In may case high nitrates triggered infection.

And, of course, quarantine all new fishes.


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