Will start Ich Treatment this weekend...

[ronhjr]

Currently have 180 gallon FOWLR, thin sandbed, 220 lbs live rock in display tank/ refugium and sump. Currently have 6 fish- w/o ich symptons.
Problem is every time I add a fish they die due to ich. So its time to get this fixed. This is what I plan on doing. Please let me know if I should change anything.

1. Remove all Live rock/ Macro Algea and place in large rubbermaid trashcan
filled w/ saltwater from the aquarium 1.024 and a heater 82F w/ a powerhead for water movement ( replace water in display tank w/ new RO water. ) Also unplug/disconnect UV Sterilizer. Add light over trashcan.

2. Leave all fish in display tank while treating w/ Cupramine, raise temp from 77F to 82F, replace live rock w/ Large PVC pipes to make fish comfertable.
--- My fish are too large to move from display tank.---

3. Disconnect both phosban reactors ( one filled w/ Carbon, other filled w/ Phosban )

4. Protein Skimmer --- Do I keep it running ?

5. Lower lighting from 8hrs a day to 6hrs a day.

6. Increase Cupramine dosing as instructed on instructions Treat for 8 weeks

7. After 8 weeks, large water change, and use Seachem Cuprisorb, to remove cupramine from system

8. Add live rock and pray for no more ich.

My fish are too large to move from display tank.

[steelhead77]

Do you ever want to keep corals, anemones or a cuc? If so, this will not be possible after you add copper (cupramine) to the DT. It will get into the silicone and contaninate the tank for years to come. Even if you don't, think of the guy you sell your tank to. You must inform him, otherwise his inverts and corals will die and he won't know why. There is a reason people say to remove the fish from the DT and not the way you propose.

BTW, if your fish exhibit no signs of ich, and have not for awhile, they are likely immune and the parasite will have died off after 6-8 weeks without a suitable host, even if there are fish in the tank. Some will say that the parasite will live in the gills, well, maybe for awhile, but I do not believe it lives forever and will eventually die off.

[ronhjr]

Originally Posted by steelhead77

Do you ever want to keep corals, anemones or a cuc? If so, this will not be possible after you add copper (cupramine) to the DT. It will get into the silicone and contaninate the tank for years to come. Even if you don't, think of the guy you sell your tank to. You must inform him, otherwise his inverts and corals will die and he won't know why. There is a reason people say to remove the fish from the DT and not the way you propose.

BTW, if your fish exhibit no signs of ich, and have not for awhile, they are likely immune and the parasite will have died off after 6-8 weeks without a suitable host, even if there are fish in the tank. Some will say that the parasite will live in the gills, well, maybe for awhile, but I do not believe it lives forever and will eventually die off.

[ronhjr]

Out of the 6 fish I have, Only my Rabbitfish and my Batfish get it. but they are stong enough to beat it every time. Wont cuprisorb remove the copper from the silicone?

[Makenna]

Originally Posted by steelhead77

Do you ever want to keep corals, anemones or a cuc? If so, this will not be possible after you add copper (cupramine) to the DT. It will get into the silicone and contaninate the tank for years to come. Even if you don't, think of the guy you sell your tank to. You must inform him, otherwise his inverts and corals will die and he won't know why. There is a reason people say to remove the fish from the DT and not the way you propose.

BTW, if your fish exhibit no signs of ich, and have not for awhile, they are likely immune and the parasite will have died off after 6-8 weeks without a suitable host, even if there are fish in the tank. Some will say that the parasite will live in the gills, well, maybe for awhile, but I do not believe it lives forever and will eventually die off.

I have to disagree with you on this. I have in the past year coppered my 220g DT full of rock and sand with cupramine at a level of .5ppm for 6 weeks. Used Cuprisorb and carbon to remove it over the course of a month, and it is now a thriving reef 6 months later. That is, after the month of removal, i began adding corals and have never had an issue.

There may of course be difference in different types of copper, I cant speak to that. But it is a fallacy that once there is copper in a tank that it can never house inverts again.

[niqiri]

steelhead77 is wrong about ich dying off in 6-8 weeks. This only holds true if there are NO fish hosts in the tank, it doesn't matter how long the fish have been exposed. And people say to remove the fish from the display because most people just want to treat their tanks with cupramine while the live rock is still inside. This causes a massive die off and subsequent ammonia spike which will kill most things in the tank.
I have heard of many people reusing copper-treated tanks after using products like cuprisorb or polyfilter.
You may also want to remove the sand as well because even though it is a thin layer it is a 180 gallon tank and there may be enough to absorb appreciable amounts of copper. Save some money and remove it, too.

[steelhead77]

OK. In My experience, I am NOT wrong about this. Two years and two tank upgrades after this pic was taken I have had no other outbreaks. At the time, I had about 6 other fish in the tank and none came down with it. No QT, no treatment. Since then I have added about 6 more fish and none have come down with it and this guy is healthy and happy. Please don't tell me that it's only a matter of a heater failure before it strikes. Afte two upgrades, I think there's been plenty of stress and I am 100% sure that my tank is ich free. I seriously doubt that my experience is unique. Ich will go away if the fish are kept otherwise healthy and water params kept reasonably good.

[fishyness]

Here we go again. The OP already stated when he adds a fish it dies. I had the same problem. It doesn't just " go away". It must be treated if you ever want to add more fish. Have you, OP, considered hypo-salinity? Its very easy and I only did it for 5 weeks and my tank is now ich-free.

[ronhjr]

Originally Posted by fishyness

Here we go again. The OP already stated when he adds a fish it dies. I had the same problem. It doesn't just " go away". It must be treated if you ever want to add more fish. Have you, OP, considered hypo-salinity? Its very easy and I only did it for 5 weeks and my tank is now ich-free.

Ive never tried Hypo-Salinity. If I try this route, Can I assume I keep the tank running as is ( no rmoval rock,sand fish )?

[fishyness]

No, live rock and inverts cannot take hypo and will die. Its a pain to get the fish out, but its well worth it to have an ich-free tank. I still get all excited when I see my blue tang all colorful and with NO SPOTS!!! YAY!

[lhm nole]

Originally Posted by Makenna

I have to disagree with you on this. I have in the past year coppered my 220g DT full of rock and sand with cupramine at a level of .5ppm for 6 weeks. Used Cuprisorb and carbon to remove it over the course of a month, and it is now a thriving reef 6 months later. That is, after the month of removal, i began adding corals and have never had an issue.

There may of course be difference in different types of copper, I cant speak to that. But it is a fallacy that once there is copper in a tank that it can never house inverts again.

I have also done it running a nano that was coppered and is a little reef setup