Ich and no QT advice?

mainn · Mar 4, 2018

To start, I have a small system and no QT. I got 2 new wrasses last week (7 days ago) and they went straight into the display. They have been eating well, very active, etc and today I noticed probably 2 spots of ich on each fish. Fish in my display have had it before and fought it off and I have never run a qt or let my tank go fallow to get rid of it. One of the clownfish might have a spot but I don't see anything on any of the other fish.

My question is do I need to go out tomorrow (I won't be able to go till after work ~6pm) and get a qt setup, hope I can find copper, tear my tank apart to catch all of the fish and qt everything or do you think the new fish can fight it off if I keep a good feeding schedule and keep everything good in the display? I am worried I won't be able to catch these fish and that if I don't succeed that it will be more stressful than just leaving them be.

Advice? Other options?

JoshKReef · Mar 4, 2018

I'd read through this.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ich-eradication-vs-ich-management.188775/

If it's ich, you can probably manage it, as long as you avoid ich sensitive species

Luna · Mar 4, 2018

So if a fish builds an immune to ick, will that eventually kill off the ick cause the fish can fight it off?

JoshKReef · Mar 4, 2018

Luna said:
So if a fish builds an immune to ick, will that eventually kill off the ick cause the fish can fight it off?

Ich never fully clears itself from the water once it is present, unless it has nothing to feed on for 76 days. It may not be actively visible all the time because the fish immune system is fighting it off, but a stress event could change that.

Luna · Mar 4, 2018

So if the fish fights it off for 3 months will that eliminate it?

JoshKReef · Mar 4, 2018

Luna said:
So if the fish fights it off for 3 months will that eliminate it?

No, it just won't be visible as the fishes immune system isn't compromised. If it ever becomes compromised you will see a breakout. The only way to clear a tank is to have it go fishless for 76 days.

cooltowncorals · Mar 4, 2018

There is thought that if no new fish are added to the system after around one year the ich will die out due to inbreeding causing a collapse of the population. I would hook up a UV and run a course of medic by polyp labs (might be off slightly on the name) which is reef safe. FYI it did kill the sponge in my tank (only casualty) but the fish in my system including two tangs all survived an ich outbreak by doing those things and it's been 4 months with no return of the ich.

cooltowncorals · Mar 4, 2018

Well no new strains of ich which would come on new fishes or corals or clams ect.

mainn · Mar 4, 2018

I've read some bad reviews on that killing tanks.

laverda · Mar 4, 2018

A UV with a slow flow will kill and free swimming ICH that go through it. It will not eliminate ICH, but will help control it. Cleaner shrimp may also help.

HotRocks · Mar 5, 2018

I would recommend the QT route. Treat all fish with copper, allow DT to sit fallow for 76 days (if you want to be 100% positive it's gone). Do you have pictures of the wrasse? Are you sure that the fish don't just have a sand particle stuck to their mucus coat? They typically burrow in the sand at night.

LuckyPhil · Mar 5, 2018

laverda said:
Cleaner shrimp may also help.

cleaner shrimp does not help

Humblefish · Mar 5, 2018

Luna said:
So if a fish builds an immune to ick, will that eventually kill off the ick cause the fish can fight it off?

Luna said:
So if the fish fights it off for 3 months will that eliminate it?

A fish which has developed immunity/resistance to ich is able to withstand the pathogen, showing little to no visible physical symptoms i.e. white dots. However, the gills are more suspectible to theront attack so you may still notice heavy breathing, head twitching, scratching the gills, etc.

100% elimination is highly unlikely.

laverda · Mar 6, 2018

LuckyPhil said:
cleaner shrimp does not help

My experience shows otherwise.

Luna · Mar 6, 2018

Is there a guarantee way to eliminate ick without qt?

mainn · Mar 6, 2018

laverda said:
My experience shows otherwise.

I wish my cleaner shrimp would clean. About the only thing he cleans is the food that makes it to the bottom of the tank.

Humblefish · Mar 6, 2018

Luna said:
Is there a guarantee way to eliminate ick without qt?

No

mainn · Mar 6, 2018

Fish are looking better this morning. These were the last fish for this tank so hopefully I don't have to deal with this again. When the time comes for a bigger display I will have to QT all of these fish though.

Mr. Limpid · Mar 6, 2018

If this is a fish only tank and no crustaceans you can hospitality your DT. This will have no effect on your bacteria. Make sure you use a Refractometer.