Another Ick Infection in DT

Kimmy696 · Sep 7, 2024

Hi All,
I'm brand new to the group and have had my 1st saltwater tank 1 year next month. I am fairly versed with freshwater aquariums and sadly ick. I did quarantine as recommended but added a purple tang and a CB to the tank 2 weeks ago. The two spot tang who was also a fairly new lost his mind and killed my purple tang overnight. Just so this group knows, I watched for aggression every waking moment. First thing I did every morning was check the tank and on the 3rd day my PT was dead. Heartbreaking.

The original tang also harassed the angel who broke out with ick. Now the culprit that started this whole ordeal is covered. I have spent endless nights researching and I don't see any other option but to remove all corals/invertebrates into a emergency QT and copper the tank. I currently have 2 clowns, blenny, 2 gobys, 2 cardinals, dragonette, my fav Dr. Watson my filefish and the angel.

I have polylabs medic and a rush 2 day air UV on the way but they will not get here till Tuesday.

I love these animals and my question for the group is when do I know I absolutely need to pull this trigger? The tang is flashing and begging the cleaner crabs to pick but I do not see signs of ick on any other fish exceptthe angel. Should I hold off till Tuesday and try the medic and UV or should I act now, get a spare QT up tomorrow and start dosing? The infection is about 1-2 weeks in progress. Also any other recommendations are very appreciated. While I just joined I have been actively reading posts for a year.

Great group of folks with amazing experience and I'm glad to be here. Thanks everyone!

One last question. I have 2 urchins, a ton of crabs, sps and lps. I would be putting up a new QT for them. I will use live rock and sand and I have some spare media in the sump. Anything else I should do?

vetteguy53081 · Sep 7, 2024

Kimmy696 said:
Hi All,
I'm brand new to the group and have had my 1st saltwater tank 1 year next month. I am fairly versed with freshwater aquariums and sadly ick. I did quarantine as recommended but added a purple tang and a CB to the tank 2 weeks ago. The two spot tang who was also a fairly new lost his mind and killed my purple tang overnight. Just so this group knows, I watched for aggression every waking moment. First thing I did every morning was check the tank and on the 3rd day my PT was dead. Heartbreaking.

The original tang also harassed the angel who broke out with ick. Now the culprit that started this whole ordeal is covered. I have spent endless nights researching and I don't see any other option but to remove all corals/invertebrates into a emergency QT and copper the tank. I currently have 2 clowns, blenny, 2 gobys, 2 cardinals, dragonette, my fav Dr. Watson my filefish and the angel.

I have polylabs medic and a rush 2 day air UV on the way but they will not get here till Tuesday.

I love these animals and my question for the group is when do I know I absolutely need to pull this trigger? The tang is flashing and begging the cleaner crabs to pick but I do not see signs of ick on any other fish exceptthe angel. Should I hold off till Tuesday and try the medic and UV or should I act now, get a spare QT up tomorrow and start dosing? The infection is about 1-2 weeks in progress. Also any other recommendations are very appreciated. While I just joined I have been actively reading posts for a year.

Great group of folks with amazing experience and I'm glad to be here. Thanks everyone!

One last question. I have 2 urchins, a ton of crabs, sps and lps. I would be putting up a new QT for them. I will use live rock and sand and I have some spare media in the sump. Anything else I should do?

Do not treat the display tank as you will never be able to reintroduce coral and inverts likely even with cuprisorb. A quarantine tank can be as simple as a tank from a second hand store or a starter kit from Walmart which most of the needed essentials and even a rubbermaid tub.
You will need to place fish in Quarantine tank and treat with Coppersafe or Copper Power at therapeutic level 2.25-2.5 For a FULL 30 days (do not interrupt this 30 day period) monitored by a reliable Copper Test kit such as Hanna Brand- No API brand. Also monitor Ammonia levels while in quarantine with a reliable test kit and add aeration during treatment using an air stone.
The display tank will have to be kept fishless (FALLOW) for 6-8 weeks to assure the existing parasites go through their life cycle without a host fish and die off and with occupants exposed, they too should go into quarantine

Kimmy696 · Sep 7, 2024

Thanks and I completely agree. I'm not sure I would have entered the saltwater world for a fish only tank. I have many spare tanks on hand but I would need 2 or the tang will surely kill the angel. I am also having a heck of a time trying to catch them and ripping the DT apart would be terrible and stress the remainder of the fish. Am I correct that I now have ick in the tank unless I treat? How can I be sure the rest won't break out? What if I add a new fish in the future? Will they now be at risk? I will definitely take your advice and make this my very last resort for the better of the entire community. A crystal ball would be great.

Kimmy696 · Sep 7, 2024

Kimmy696 said:
Thanks and I completely agree. I'm not sure I would have entered the saltwater world for a fish only tank. I have many spare tanks on hand but I would need 2 or the tang will surely kill the angel. I am also having a heck of a time trying to catch them and ripping the DT apart would be terrible and stress the remainder of the fish. Am I correct that I now have ick in the tank unless I treat? How can I be sure the rest won't break out? What if I add a new fish in the future? Will they now be at risk? I will definitely take your advice and make this my very last resort for the better of the entire community. A crystal ball would be great.

Scratch that response I am just realizing that I would need to quarantine the entire tank. I just do not have the resources or space for that. I will do some research to see if there would be any way to swing that. It would almost be easier to just replace my DT in the nearer future. This is a bummer

Jay Hemdal · Sep 8, 2024

Kimmy696 said:
Scratch that response I am just realizing that I would need to quarantine the entire tank. I just do not have the resources or space for that. I will do some research to see if there would be any way to swing that. It would almost be easier to just replace my DT in the nearer future. This is a bummer

Welcome to reef2reef!

Why not pull the invertebrates and run hyposalinity in your main tank? Here is an article I wrote on that:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2024 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...

www.reef2reef.com

threebuoys · Sep 8, 2024

Kimmy696 said:
Scratch that response I am just realizing that I would need to quarantine the entire tank. I just do not have the resources or space for that. I will do some research to see if there would be any way to swing that. It would almost be easier to just replace my DT in the nearer future. This is a bummer

You may already understand this, if you choose to use copper rather than hyposalinity, you will need to use either CopperPower or CopperSafe. Polylabs Medic is not copper and will not be helpful for treating ich.

Kimmy696 · Sep 18, 2024

Hi All,
I wanted to provide an update on my situation - both good and bad. I sadly lost the tang and returned the coral beauty to the store so they could save her. The following day I noticed Ick on my clowns (very expensive), my blenny, and a couple of spots on the cardinals. That was it I moved all of the fish to a QT for copper treatment. I apologize to keep bothering you with questions but I have no good resources locally and I really need help.

When I first moved the fish to QT I thought at least 3 were going to die. On day 3 all are swimming around but amazingly the Ick has dialed back quite a bit. Here are my questions: 1) I feel like I should hold off on the copper treatment and wait the x days to see if they continue to get better or reinfect. 2) I have a scooter dragonet that I do not know how to feed. Internet says do not add copepods to an uncycled tank - not sure how to get hun to eat. I have a huge amount of various diets, but recommendations welcome.

Finally, I have a brute full of saltwater - testing for ammonia daily and plan to go the 84 days in QT prior to moving them back to the DT. Keeping the UV sterilizer running while the fish are removed.

Thanks everyone!

Jay Hemdal · Sep 18, 2024

Kimmy696 said:
Hi All,
I wanted to provide an update on my situation - both good and bad. I sadly lost the tang and returned the coral beauty to the store so they could save her. The following day I noticed Ick on my clowns (very expensive), my blenny, and a couple of spots on the cardinals. That was it I moved all of the fish to a QT for copper treatment. I apologize to keep bothering you with questions but I have no good resources locally and I really need help.

When I first moved the fish to QT I thought at least 3 were going to die. On day 3 all are swimming around but amazingly the Ick has dialed back quite a bit. Here are my questions: 1) I feel like I should hold off on the copper treatment and wait the x days to see if they continue to get better or reinfect. 2) I have a scooter dragonet that I do not know how to feed. Internet says do not add copepods to an uncycled tank - not sure how to get hun to eat. I have a huge amount of various diets, but recommendations welcome.

Finally, I have a brute full of saltwater - testing for ammonia daily and plan to go the 84 days in QT prior to moving them back to the DT. Keeping the UV sterilizer running while the fish are removed.

Thanks everyone!

If I understand correctly, you moved the fish, and have not begun a copper treatment, but the visible ich trophonts on the fish have decreased? This is typical when moving fish out of an infected tank, you partially break the life cycle because the resting stage tomonts were all in the DT. This may be a temporary improvement. If you did this tank swap three times in succession, you can actually eliminate ich (this is called the Tank Transfer method - TTM). However, if done only once, the infection is likely still simmering with the fish in the new tank and may well break out again. Now is the time to start with an amine-based copper product such as Coppersafe or Copper Power, at 2.25 ppm for 30 days. Then, you can hold the fish in the QT for an additional 30 days. By then, all of the tomonts in the DT will have died out and you can move the fish back to the DT.

Kimmy696 · Sep 18, 2024

Thank you again!

Just to ensure I am understanding this. I have not started treatment and the Ich has definitely decreased. I have them in a 30 gallon long right now (it was all I had) but I was going to build a quick stand and get a 40 gallon breeder at Petco. So if I can get this done tonight, I would move them from the 30 to the 40, wait 3 days and back to the 30? Ultimately I would like them in the 40 for 90 days as I fallow the DT. I saw another comment from you on another post. If I feed my shrimp in the DT during the fallow period could that impact the process of killing the Ich? I had to ask because my shrimp are hungry and I did plan to put food in the QT. Also, any recommendation on how I can feed the dragonet throughout this process?

Jay Hemdal · Sep 18, 2024

Kimmy696 said:
Thank you again! Just to ensure I am understanding this. I have not started treatment and the Ich has definitely decreased. I have them in a 30 gallon long right now (it was all I had) but I was going to build a quick stand and get a 40 gallon breeder at Petco. So if I can get this done tonight, I would move them from the 30 to the 40, wait 3 days and back to the 30? Ultimately I would like them in the 40 for 90 days as I fallow the DT. I saw another comment from you on another post. If I feed my shrimp in the DT during the fallow period could that impact the process of killing the Ich? I had to ask because my shrimp are hungry and I did plan to put food in the QT. Also, any recommendation on how I can feed the dragonet throughout this process?

Feeding the shrimp in your DT, with no fish in it, will not change the fallow period. Dragonets are an issue - they don't do well in treatment tanks, but they can carry ich. They need to go through the TTM process along with the other fish. The fallow period should be 60 days, although if the water temperature is kept above 80 degrees F., you can sometimes skate with going with 45 days.

Kimmy696 · Sep 18, 2024

OK got it. I bought a bunch of additional food today so I will try to get him fed. I should have the other tank available tomorrow and can move them over. Also, my DT was at 78 and when I added the UV it took it up to 80. I did speed the flow a bit but it says I need slower to kill parasites so 80 it is. Finally, now that I have gone through this, I would prefer to not rush it but 60 days sounds great. I had to rip my entire tank apart to catch them, almost got eaten by a 5 inch fireworm who I call the lochness monster, so now that I am here I dont want to take any chances. If this works, I need to send you a gift card for a free dinner on us!

Jay Hemdal · Sep 19, 2024

Kimmy696 said:
OK got it. I bought a bunch of additional food today so I will try to get him fed. I should have the other tank available tomorrow and can move them over. Also, my DT was at 78 and when I added the UV it took it up to 80. I did speed the flow a bit but it says I need slower to kill parasites so 80 it is. Finally, now that I have gone through this, I would prefer to not rush it but 60 days sounds great. I had to rip my entire tank apart to catch them, almost got eaten by a 5 inch fireworm who I call the lochness monster, so now that I am here I dont want to take any chances. If this works, I need to send you a gift card for a free dinner on us!

I hope it works out - no need to thank us, just try to pay it forward here by helping others if you can.

Kimmy696 · Oct 7, 2024

Good Evening!

I thought I would provide a quick update. First off I was very lucky. Secondly I now have full time QTs - 1 for coral and 1 for new fish. I did the TTM only twice with 4 days in between. This was due to not having a setup ready on the 3rd day. Everyone is clean and has survived so far 3 weeks in, even the Dragonette. I had to put a tank and water bin in my kitchen oh well! My biggest issue now is managing the ammonia and nitrites and my goodness the tank just will not cycle. I even used the Fritz turbo. Spending hundreds on salt but I feel like I should soon be cycled and go back to a semi normal life. I just wanted to thank the group again for all the great recommendations! Kim