Ich Issue

andys · Apr 11, 2016

Hello

So not sure what to do here. my main display shows signs of Ich on a yellow tang that has been in there for over a year. little white spots all over her. and there only there in the evening. there is probably 20 to 30 fish in there with mostly sps corals. everyone is eating like nothing is wrong. so I'm really not sure what to do. I would have to completely break down the tank just to get all the fish out. I'm not even sure how Ich got in there since i haven't added anything in months. anyway not sure what to do

rayn · Apr 11, 2016

@melypr1985 @Humblefish

My take would be that you have to decide your course of action. Is it worth tearing the tank down or better to try and live with it? Do you have enough QT space even if you did? Maybe those two tagged in here will have a better answer for you.

melypr1985 · Apr 11, 2016

I'd like to see clear pictures of these fish and their spots. Are there too many to count? Do they have a dusty/dirty appearance? Scratching or flashing going on? Swimming into the flow of a powerhead? Sorry for all the questions, but the picture and the answers to these questions will help a lot.

andys · Apr 11, 2016

Here are some pics

andys · Apr 11, 2016

Only at night is it visible. just FYI

melypr1985 · Apr 11, 2016

That looks more like velvet to me. What's the last thing you added to the tank and when? I would advise you start getting a QT ready for these fish - all of them and copper to treat with. I recommend CopperSafe and an API copper test kit

cameronh · Apr 11, 2016

andys said:
Only at night is it visible. just FYI

melypr1985 said:
That looks more like velvet to me. What's the last thing you added to the tank and when? I would advise you start getting a QT ready for these fish - all of them and copper to treat with. I recommend CopperSafe and an API copper test kit

I agree with velvet

andys · Apr 11, 2016

The tank is packed. i would have to tear it down to catch them all. as for adding anything its been months

andys · Apr 11, 2016

whats odd as she has been like that for a week maybe less but her behavior has not changed

melypr1985 · Apr 11, 2016

andys said:
The tank is packed. i would have to tear it down to catch them all. as for adding anything its been months

Not even a coral or inverts like snails or hermits?

andys · Apr 11, 2016

nope nothing

andys · Apr 11, 2016

One would think this fish would be dead but it's not if it had velvet

melypr1985 · Apr 11, 2016

andys said:
nope nothing

It would be odd for velvet to wait this long before showing itself and I would expect the yellow tang to have died after a week with it. Though neither is out of the realm of possibility. Either way, you'll want to take the fish out and treat. Leave the tank fallow for 76 days to be sure that both ich and velvet have been starved out.

andys · Apr 11, 2016

melypr1985 said:
It would be odd for velvet to wait this long before showing itself and I would expect the yellow tang to have died after a week with it. Though neither is out of the realm of possibility. Either way, you'll want to take the fish out and treat. Leave the tank fallow for 76 days to be sure that both ich and velvet have been starved out.

I guess my question is. how do you do that with a fully mature tank. it could cost me 10 times if i disassemble the tank just to get the fish

melypr1985 · Apr 11, 2016

andys said:
I guess my question is. how do you do that with a fully mature tank. it could cost me 10 times if i disassemble the tank just to get the fish

I'll say first - this is going to suck- but it's worth it

When I did it, my tank was a year old. I had several buckets and totes. I drained the water down into the buckets (of course the first step was setting up the QT tank and having it ready to go). I removed the corals and rocks to the buckets then continued to drain the tank lower. Caught all the fish and put them in QT then replaced the rocks and corals. Now I learned the hard way on this and took several days to get all the fish out during the entire process. At the end I decided it would have been better to just take all the rocks and corals out the first time and get them all out on the first day in just an hour or two. The worst part was that I couldn't get my rock scape back to the way I had it before- which I LOVED. The best part is that now my tank is disease free thanks to that fallow period and a strict QT protocol from that point forward. I'm not afraid of my fish coming down with this again and having to do the whole process over again now.

andys · Apr 12, 2016

Oh geee this is not a good thing

melypr1985 · Apr 12, 2016

andys said:
Oh geee this is not a good thing

Well, I agree. But it's totally worth it for a healthy tank and having that peace of mind. Now, a good QT protocol is important to maintain that and this is the first step. there just isn't much point in it if you already have these things in your system. You know... why put a fish through QT just to reinfect them when they go into your tank?

jetmaker · Apr 12, 2016

andys said:
Oh geee this is not a good thing

If its velvet and you don't qt it will kill them all eventually.

andys · Apr 12, 2016

Well sh--- I'm leaving out of town for work tomorrow. going to have to cross my fingers. this is going to be a huge undertaking

FarmerTy · Apr 12, 2016

A fish trap is your best friend in this type of situation. I've caught all my fish out 3x over with this fish trap in a matter of days. I should say it takes me a day or two of feeding them only through the trap for them to trust it.

This is in a fully stocked 215-gallon with 20+ fish each time so it is possible.

Good luck and I agree with the advice given so far, remove and treat or lose them all if it is velvet.