500 gallons of ich

[Unknownpharoah1]

I have a deep 500 gallon tank.

I came in after the weekend to find two of my tangs had an outbreak of ICH.

With all the rockwork and depth of the tank, catching a singular fish is difficult if not impossible.

So I ask, other than treating the food with metro/focus, Can I treat an entire tank effectively for ICH to help the other fishes in the tank as well?

 

[blaxsun]

You can try something like Polyp Lab Medic in combination with a UV sterilizer. I've used it to successfully treat velvet, so it does work (there was no way I was going to catch all of my fish, either).

 

[Lavey29]

Vitamins and quality food for the fish. Build their immune system stronger and then it is just ich management for the tank.

 

[Unknownpharoah1]

Catching all those critters is out of the question. If I did that, I would just dismantle the whole tank, clean and start over. Not the best option. The UV sterilizer is on my short list. The trouble is with a tank of 500 gallons, the UV sterilizer I found which has the proper capacity is about the size of a bazooka! Not small and I would have to get creative with the plumbing for sure. I have a feeling that's happening sooner than expected though.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I had a battle in my 660g
Fish trap will be your friend
Medic although I’ve used is a gamble and is practically peroxide salts
Can you post pics under white lights to assure its ich and not something else?

 

[theMeat]

Do you have corals?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Catching all those critters is out of the question. If I did that, I would just dismantle the whole tank, clean and start over. Not the best option. The UV sterilizer is on my short list. The trouble is with a tank of 500 gallons, the UV sterilizer I found which has the proper capacity is about the size of a bazooka! Not small and I would have to get creative with the plumbing for sure. I have a feeling that's happening sooner than expected though.

It depends on how bad the infection is, as to if you'll be able to manage it, even with a strong UV and the best food/enviroment. What happens is that at a certain point, the propagule pressure (the relative number of theronts attacking the fish) becomes a stressor in itself, and ich management then often fails. The exact tipping point is unknown, but in my experieince, it happens around when you can see about 30 ich trophonts (white spots) on one side of the fish. Less than that, and management sometimes works, above that, and it may fail.

I'm not a fan of "reef safe" medications for displays with invertebrates. They very often prove to be "ich safe" as well. Polyp Lab Medic has a better track record than the "tonic" type treatments which are virtually useless. Ruby Reef Rally Pro has been used by some people as well.

Metro+Focus will almost always fail. To even begin to work, metronidazole in food needs to be at least 5000 ppm. At that level, most fish will avoid eating the food (it is very bitter). The tomonts on the fish's skin (that would be exposed to oral metro) are very tolerant, and difficult to kill. Most effective treatments target the free swimming theronts.

Jay

 

[Topekoms]

Is it a fish only system? Coral inverts?

 

[bnord]

Sorry Bud, some Tangs hold on better, what do you have? there is a Regal in the LFS display that shows up every 6-8 weeks without fail

Agree that the Fish trap to catch and treat, best nutrition possible for them and the rest of the tank, and a right sized/proper flow UV for the mid term

Good luck

 

[Doctorgori]

just providing sample/data …
I tried in-tank treatments: poly
Lab Medic and a high quality strong UV. As the story went: .Lost a adult Idol, all my basslets and 2 very robust tangs…OTOH a Atlantic blue, all angels, anthias and Foxface made it… next time I’m getting a red light and fish trap

 

[anthonygf]

There is a natural ich remedy that Petco has, made by Petco. "It Says" Safe for fish and plants, fresh or salt water. DO NOT USE IT, I tried it on my fresh water cichlid tank and killed most of my prized plecos and some other fish. But the fish with ich survived and then I used the proper medication "Ich-X" made by Hikari I believe , good for fresh and salt water fish. I don't know if it is reef safe. Works great for my cichlids.

 

[Lavey29]

I have hears also of remedies using pure ginger extract in the DT.

 

[Unknownpharoah1]

I had a battle in my 660g
Fish trap will be your friend
Medic although I’ve used is a gamble and is practically peroxide salts
Can you post pics under white lights to assure its ich and not something else?

I have had a bear of a time posting anything from my iphone to this site. I'll try again.

 

[Unknownpharoah1]

Is it a fish only system? Coral inverts?

Yes I have a handful of nems and a massive coral banded in the tank with possibly 10 + emerald crabs, decorator crab and snails.

 

[Unknownpharoah1]

Here is a couple pics. Not white light but you can see what’s going on. He’s more active today than yesterday so it’s possible he’s improving

 

[Unknownpharoah1]

I also noticed one of my socks is covered in red stuff. Never happened before either

 

[Topekoms]

I would fish trap them all and QT them in copper and let the tank go fallow for 90 days. I know it sucks and is a lot of work but it is really your best option then QT everything before it goes in your tank in the future. i had to do it in my 210. so i do know your pain.

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Hate to say this but thats not ich. The red lesions are worrisome. Might be brook or velvet but im not entirely sure. You have a pretty big problem on your hands that reef safe medication or uv will surely not fix. Fish trap and a qt system for all the fish is the only way to treat them. It's very likey more fish will be showing signs of infection shortly.