@lion king I practiced ich management for almost 30 years. Got tired of getting my butt kicked by a 48 x 27 micrometer parasite, so I decided to learn everything I could about eradicating it. Haven't seen it since, except in a QT. 
An Ich Story
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lion king
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Yeah it's ich management for me too, I treated this tank once before; not doing it again. I'm pretty sure this guy brought it in with him, and just got run down and stressed. I know people that use cupramine in their qt and have still gotten ich months later, so I don't believe you can treat it prophylactically.
Lionfish Lair
Renee
Copper is one of the proven treatments. If it doesn't work it's probably user error or a defective product.
scoopsthedog
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So for the TLDR crowd: no fish in DT for 72 days plus QT all fish with copper and in QT for 72 days = no ich?
Lionfish Lair
Renee
Copper levels aren't reliable in a tank with live rock. Im not one who likes to medicate my DT at any rate.
Yes, but the presence of rock/sand will make it difficult to maintain a stable copper concentration due to absorption.
Lionfish Lair
Renee
My 100g with smaller lions and scorps had ich as well. Every now and then I would see a spot on 3 of the individuals. Never saw any on the others. None of the fish in that tank died of Ich, so it's not something you have to treat for, it just can be a pain if it's persistent and becomes troublesome at the drop of a hat. If I had that tank back, I wouldn't treat them for Ich. It's a very individual thing. I would have treated my volitans, however. I shouldn't have let him die and feel bad for that.
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4FordFamily
Tang, Angel, and Wrasse Nerd!
Sorry but that logic is poor. I also heard people have been abducted by lizard men.
But seriously ich management can work in the short run, but these days velvet is everywhere and every bit as common. You cannot manage that, by and large. If ich came back it's because the treatment or fallow period was not correct or complete, something wasn't done correctly (it's happened to me many times, @Humblefish can tell ya).
The other reason it comes back is because we add something "wet" from someone else's tank practicing ich management as well.
Just my .02, I wish you luck either way.
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4FordFamily
Tang, Angel, and Wrasse Nerd!
This is true although I've done it (as you know, Humble I'm saying this for the op) most absorption happens in first couple weeks, once it becomes more stable it requires say weekly corrections if any at all. Removing it is a pain. I've done this many times but it's not my recommended solution for the reasons mentioned.
76 days, but few fish could withstand being in copper for that long. So the alternative is to treat for 30 days and observe to see if symptoms return for at least 2 weeks after that. This strategy works most of the time unless you were to encounter a rare strain of ich which took longer than 30 days to complete it's lifecycle.
To account for a rare strain, a better way would be to treat with copper in a QT for 30 days, and then transfer the fish into a non-medicated holding tank at least 10 feet away from the copper treatment tank (to account for aerosol transmission). This strategy would leave behind any unhatched tomonts in the treatment tank.
Or you can outrun the front end of ich's known lifecycle by implementing TTM: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-transfer-method.192655/
TTM's weakness is it DOES NOT treat Marine Velvet Disease, which can look similar to ich and is running rampant right now.
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lion king
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I'm not sure what you mean by my logic being poor; not treating the tank again or prophylactic treatment not working. if it's the later; I'm not alone. I know many very experienced people, including a marine biologist that believe this.
I guess it's kinda like the flu shot, does it really work
4FordFamily
Tang, Angel, and Wrasse Nerd!
@lion king. This. Sorry I didn't see you tagged me. I appreciate your candor but assure you you're incorrect in that every tank has ich. My tanks do not, but I worked/work hard to get that way and keep it that way.You can treat and cure ick on a fish. You can leave your tank fallow for 76 days to starve it out of the system before putting the healthy fish in it. There are any number of articles and experts on this site that can help you with that if you wish.Here are just a sampling for some light reading :
How to Quarantine
The DOs and DON’Ts of Quarantine
Fallow periods: Going Fishless
Treatment Options Index
Check it out. Get back to us with any questions. We are here to help!
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