Ich outbreak 3 tangs dead

[CT Reefer]

Hello all. I did an incredibly stupid thing a few weeks ago and put a new tang directly into my tank. In short out he showed very visible case of ich. I tried to catch him as well as the others to place in a QT tank... no luck, at least not until they were weak and near death. I ended up losing 3 tangs(powder blue, kole-eye and mimic). My dottybacks, a pair of clowns also have ich. I have a lot of live rock, caves and corals in my tank and cannot catch my fish. Interestingly, my two wrasse show no signs of ich, but despite 3x weekly water changes, ich appears to be thriving in my tank. My current plan is to use Kick-Ich and Rally as the manufacturer suggests. I know this product has mixed reviews, but I appear to be running out of options. I currently have a 140 gallon tank, mixed SPS, LPS and one leather, 3 clowns, 1 Christmas and 1 Red-tail wrasse, 1 dragonette, 2 dottybacks and lawnmower blenny, cleaner shrimp and loads of snails. I would be interested in any advise from those who have been successful with Kick-Ich, or if there is some way to catch fast swimming fish - other than completely dismantling my display tank.

Thanks.

[Sk8r]

DO this. Get, beg, or borrow 3-4 brute trashcans, or ANY garbage can lined with garbage bag. And set up your qt. Cut your autotopoff--off. SHut off your pump.
Dig a 5"x5" hole in the left front corner (if you're right-handed) and use your most powerful pump to lower the water level, filling those trashcans. 4 will hold 120 gallons, and that' should just about drain a rock-filled tank. As the water level lowers, every fish in your tank will go for that hole. The two to watch for are the wrasses, who will burrow in a panic: be sure to chase them that way early. Scoop the fish up into your qt...and I would say if that dragonet doesn't eat pellet, better leave him behind in the tank: their slime coat is so extreme (given good water conditions) they're nearly impossible for ich to assault.

This way nothing in your tank is disturbed, the sandbed is virtually intact, the rockwork is intact, and you set a bowl down on the sand now that your fish are out and just start watering that tank fast with what you pump out of those garbage cans. Aim for the bowl, and it will not kick up your sandbed.

I've done this more than once with a 100 gallon tank and never had a problem. Funny how the last water in the tank becomes popular.

Your dragonet should survive, and get fat off the resulting pods. No need to rescue any shrimp or snails: only fish, particularly the ones with no great slime coat, can host ich.

Next step: test your water for all the params in my sig, and match them. If your alkalinity is good, the slime coat is better, and there's no sense dividing those who have ich from those that don't. Treat in your spare tank---my recommendation is hypo, since not all species tolerate copper well, and it depresses appetite even in those that do. Doing hypo right requires a refractometer, and good observation under bright light: there are meticulous instructions among the stickies in the Fish Disease forum. If you do use copper, read up in Fish Diseases about non-tolerant species, and do it right.

8 weeks with no fish but that mandy, and immaculately kept water, should assure that the ich dies out unhosted.

[Sk8r]

Additional note: feed some finely chopped fresh garlic---as a cure for ich it's myth; but as an appetite stimulant and as a way of increasing the slime coat it may have some validity, and if you can keep and repair the slime coats on those fish they will be better off.

[CT Reefer]

Thanks so much for your very thoughtful reply. I had not heard of the sand/water lowering technique...I will most definitely try it.

I knew I'd never get that dragonette...good to know that it is so resistant to ICH.

Thanks again and much appreciated!

Kathy

[snorvich]

Please describe symptoms. If this is velvet, it is a different protocol for treatment. I am concerned that fish died so quickly.

[CT Reefer]

Originally Posted by snorvich

Please describe symptoms. If this is velvet, it is a different protocol for treatment. I am concerned that fish died so quickly.

I'd ordered the tangs from a specialty shop that provides "full-service" care. Ensuring health, de-worming...etc. I put the tangs directly in the tank (I know, I shouldn't have). I noticed that they did not eat well, and did not even nibble at the seaweed in the clip. A couple of days later I noticed the kole-eye had a few spots. The other two seemed ok...no spots, no rubbing, but not eating. Within 2 days I noticed ICH on all three. I tried to remove them and put them in the QT...but could not catch them or the others. By the time I did get the tangs, they were very week. I had just started the hyposalinty (2 days in QT). They declined and died. Within a few days of the tangs, I noticed the dottybacks had spots (and still do, 2 weeks later). The dottybacks are not getting worse, but they are not getting better. Two of my clowns frequently rub on rocks and my zoa's. They still are fat and eating, but their fins do not look well and they have a a few spots (not many). The two wrasse are fine as is the blenny and the dragonette. My water params are good, although my nitrates did creep up to about 20 ppm. I started changing out the water two weeks ago (20% 3x a week). Today I did a 30% change.

Hope this helps.

Kathy

[sandwi54]

Please read the ich stickies on this forum to understand more about ich, its life cycles, and proper treatments. don't bother with kick-ich. it has been shown to not work. the only three proven methods are hyposalinity, copper, and tank transfer.

definitely try Sk8r's method of catching the fish. I have not tried that but it sounds like a great method. for me, the one time I accidentally introduced ich into my DT, i just removed most of the rocks (about 200 lbs) to catch all my fish. it seemed like a lot of work but really wasn't. took about 10 min to remove the rocks and another 10 to catch the fish. of course, with a reef tank that gets really tough. wish you the best and in the future, always use a QT on new fish no matter what the source is, since it's just not worth the pain to tear a tank down.

[OhYeah]

Sorry to hear about the fish. Same thing happened to my inlaws tanks. +1 on the QT'ing

[BryanW]

I did the water lowering method last week and caught all but two(firefish and a watchman goby)in my 400gal reef. I have set up a trap, a small fly hook with bait, and I just dropped the water down again today, but still no luck catching the last two. What do you think the chances of ich surviving in the tank with just these two fish? Oh, and don't even waste your money on the kick ich like me...money down the toilet!