How I beat ich without QT

[HomebroodExotics]

I am no expert on ich because my fish have never had it even once since I started saltwater in 2007.
I will defer to the experts who seem to get it over and over again. I am sure they know more about it.

What is your method for avoiding ich?

 

[WVNed]

What is your method for avoiding ich?

I don't avoid it. In fact I don't even think about it. I have been keeping fish a long time. I place fish in a tank that emulates the sea as closely as possible, with live rock and high flow. Then I feed them well with a variety of frozen foods. It has always worked for me.

 

[HomebroodExotics]

I don't avoid it. In fact I don't even think about it. I have been keeping fish a long time. I place fish in a tank that emulates the sea as closely as possible, with live rock and high flow. Then I feed them well with a variety of frozen foods. I has always worked for me.

What do you think the difference is between you and people that have fish that die from ich? Is it just the food? What kind of food do you feed?

 

[WVNed]

What do you think the difference is between you and people that have fish that die from ich? Is it just the food? What kind of food do you feed?

I feed LRS Reef Frenzy, Herbivore Frenzy, Mid Jersey Angel Diet and Reef Pro, Live white worms, Frozen, mysis shrimp plus stuff for the eels like squid and silversides.
I think it is the entire package though. Biodiversity in the tank, flow and varied feeding so a fish doesn't become nutritionally deficient in any way. Effective filtration that maintains excellent water quality. I am not talking about particulates you can catch in a filter sock, I don't even use those.
Make your tank as much like the sea as you can. It can never be a perfect copy. But if you get close enough I think a fish can stay healthy and shrug off the challenges it would normally be able to cope with in the ocean.

I strongly suspect that ich isn't a powerful swimmer. Decent flow may be able to disrupt it's life cycle by making it difficult to find fish in large numbers and return to the bottom to encyst. I do not turn it down at night either. `I also suspect the normal microfauna of a tank has some members that eat the cycts they find since almost everything in the sea is food for something.

A human placed in a small sterile space with stale air and a monotonous diet would not thrive. Neither will a fish.

 

[HomebroodExotics]

I feed LRS Reef Frenzy, Herbivore Frenzy, Mid Jersey Angel Diet and Reef Pro, Live white worms, Frozen, mysis shrimp plus stuff for the eels like squid and silversides.
I think it is the entire package though. Biodiversity in the tank, flow and varied feeding so a fish doesn't become nutritionally deficient in any way. Effective filtration that maintains excellent water quality. I am not talking about particulates you can catch in a filter sock, I don't even use those.
Make your tank as much like the sea as you can. It can never be a perfect copy. But if you get close enough I think a fish can stay healthy and shrug off the challenges it would normally be able to cope with in the ocean.

I strongly suspect that ich isn't a powerful swimmer. Decent flow may be able to disrupt it's life cycle by making it difficult to find fish in large numbers and return to the bottom to encyst. I do not turn it down at night either. `I also suspect the normal microfauna of a tank has some members that eat the cycts they find since almost everything in the sea is food for something.

A human placed in a small sterile space stale air and a monotonous diet would not thrive. Neither will a fish.

Is there a certain amount of time you wait for your tank to become established before introducing fish?

 

[WVNed]

Is there a certain amount of time you wait for your tank to become established before introducing fish?

Fish go in as soon as it becomes stable with no ammonia. I have done several tank upgrades but only 2 tank starts.
About 10 days say the dates on the pics. I generally start slowly adding fish as soon as the ammonia goes away.