Blue tang 10g

[Pittsford_Pets]

You qt'd your corals, inverts, and fish, yet your fish still got ich and you don't know why. Your qt protocol has a flaw and you don't know where. Focus on your current fish.

From what I've read and from other aquarists, all fish have ich. Their immune systems are weak under stress and that can cause ich to thrive. I changed some stuff around and they got stressed. I followed numerous people's same exact quarantine strategy that they've had work and up until now it worked for me.

 

[eatbreakfast]

From what I've read and from other aquarists, all fish have ich, just their immune systems are weak under stress. I changed some stuff around and they got stressed. I followed numerous people's sam exact quarantine strategy that they've had work and up until now it worked for me.

That is not how ich works. Ich is a parasite. Stress does not create a parasite. Stress qeakens the immune system, making the fish susceptible to existing parasites. The point of qt is to ensure these parasites don't get into the display. There was a failure in your qt because the clowns got ich.

Develop your skills before adding a hippo. Your confidence may be there, but your history does and experience are not equal to your confidence.

 

[Pittsford_Pets]

That is not how ich works. Ich is a parasite. Stress does not create a parasite. Stress qeakens the immune system, making the fish susceptible to existing parasites. The point of qt is to ensure these parasites don't get into the display. There was a failure in your qt because the clowns got ich.

Develop your skills before adding a hippo. Your confidence may be there, but your history does and experience are not equal to your confidence.

I'm aware that stress weakens the immune system and I'm aware that it doesn't create a parasite. But according to multiple aquarists, articles, and videos it can thrive when a fish is under stress. No matter how many precautions you take there will always be something that goes wrong.

 

[GHsaltie]

I think what @eatbreakfast is trying to say is to perfect (as much as we can perfect this hobby ) what you have now, focus on your current responsibilities, before adding more to your plate. Yes you could certainly treat the tang, and ultimately it's your decision, but it's one more variable for something to go wrong. If you treat your clowns, figure out where you went wrong with your current tank and focus on getting the 75g running then by that time you will have more knowledge and experience at your disposal. What if the tang has velvet? Or flukes? Do you know how to treat those or have the meds for it? Would you know what to look for if the tang were to get a secondary infection due to the parasites?

 

[eatbreakfast]

I'm aware that stress weakens the immune system and I'm aware that it doesn't create a parasite. But according to multiple aquarists, articles, and videos it can thrive when a fish is under stress. No matter how many precautions you take there will always be something that goes wrong.

That is simply incorrect. Ich has a very specific life cycle, which is why it is completely possible to prevent ich from entering a display. Ich needs a fish host. If it does not get a host in a designated period of time, it dies. That is why 76 days is recommended as a fallow period. Without a fish in a dt for 76 days, all ich specimens die. If fish are treated in a qt then added to a display that had been fallow, still no ich. Then, any corals or inverts are held in qt for 76 days without fish, still no ich making it's way in the dt.

Post on the fish disease forum and see what is suggest there.

You want somebody to tell you that it will be ok to add the hippo, you would be doing that because YOU want to do it, not because it will help the hippo. That is just what you are telling yourself to justify doing what you want.

 

[GHsaltie]

On the subject of the ich, yes stressor events can make it pop up. But the parasite has to be in the tank to begin with. In cases where you see an account of an aquarist who all of a sudden has ich on their fish after years because of a move,new fish, etc. it's because they were practicing ich management, whether they realized it or not.

 

[Waters]

Eatbreakfast is 100% correct.....Ich is a parasite that has a complex reproductive cycle. It does not exist in every tank. A lot of times it will remain "hidden" while the fish fight it off and will reappear due to stress related events. Once it is removed from your system, it will not return unless it is reintroduced. As far as trying to help a fish, as bad as it sounds I would just concentrate on your own fish. If you start trying to help every fish you see at the LFS, you will be losing a never-ending battle.

 

[Javamahn]

Understand that the ich cycle is up to 79 days which is why the Main tank will need to remain fallow for at least that time. That is the only way to be relatively sure that any ich in the tank has not found suitable host fish to continue the reproduction cycle. If you introduce the tang in with the clowns then whatever your treatment is currently in the QT you will need to start it over again or optionally QT the tang separately. Either way I would not introduce any fish back into your main tank which currently has ich until at least 79 days has passed.

 

[Javamahn]

From what I've read and from other aquarists, all fish have ich. Their immune systems are weak under stress and that can cause ich to thrive. I changed some stuff around and they got stressed. I followed numerous people's same exact quarantine strategy that they've had work and up until now it worked for me.

That is not correct. All fish do not have ich. All fish become more susceptible to ich if they are stressed as their immune system is weakened. The ich is introduced and then is in the tank for other fish to contract.

 

[James Johnson]

I understand how you feel I am a pet person myself.

But this is an unfortunate circumstance. For starters I find it really sad that a fish store would actually sell a sick fish and not have them in a quarantine tank under treatment but instead have them out for sale and infecting the rest of their fish.

But here's the problem if you buy that fish then the store is going to look at that as a successful sale and just keep buying more and letting them get infected with ich to. So for everyone that keeps buying one because they feel bad for it it just causes a new fish to get put into the same situation.

Now on the other hand if the sick fish doesn't sell and they keep dying then maybe the shop will stop selling them and break the cycle. I would instead mention the sick fish to an employee and see what there reaction is, that should tell you all you need to know about that shop. If you keep buying from shops like this they will stay in business and keep giving our hobby a bad name. I don't know about you but I only support shops with good ethics and that keep the health of their livestock as a top priority.

 

[Idoc]

If I'm going to put money in a fish, it's going to be healthy when I buy it. There's a good chance you are just throwing your hard earned money down the drain getting an already sick fish!

Plus, your clowns already in quarantine may stress it out further!

Plus, you have to start your copper treatment all over with a slow ramp up for the blue tang... and now subjecting the clowns to an extended copper treatment as well... adding to their stress.

Maybe just finish this round of quarantine and then start looking when these are done?

 

[drawman]

It would be great practice for you to QT your existing fish and leave your display fallow at first. You can get experience with treatment options such as FW dips, copper, TTM, etc. Ridding your tank of ich would be a great objective then later you can always try your hand at treating sick fish. There are a lot of great stickies/resources in the fish disease forum that you could start reading.

That said it's probably best not to support a store with routinely sick fish. Rather, support the store that has better practices. Just keep in mind it's impossible for a store to always sell completely healthy fish and you should only trust your own quarantine.

Here is a good starter read for you:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ich-cryptocaryon-irritans.191226/