Ich management questions

Voltaire81 · Jan 21, 2016

I have finally completed my upgrade to a 225g tank. All fish are in (Achilles,purple tang, blonde naso, chevron, blue hippo, bellus angel, swallowtail angel, 4 clowns, naoko wrasse, cleaner wrasse, and a gramma). Had some losses throughout my QT process, perhaps velvet was the cause. Luckily, it was isolated to one QT tank.

All fish have gone through TTM or copper and at least 3-4 weeks of observation. Im almost 99% sure I dont have Ich or velvet but I cant stop thinking what I would do if I do get Ich.

Hopefully, I dont ever have to make that decision but I think I would actually try to live with Ich in the tank if it does appear, so here are some questions that I jotted down:

- After 2 months and I dont notice any symptoms, am I in the clear? (thats if I dont add anything else wet which I dont plan to).
- How long does it generally take for Ich to kill a fish?
- If the fish has symptoms/white spots for a couple of weeks, is there a good chance the fish will survive?
- If the fish has symptoms/white spots, is there a way to give them relief? (Acriflavine, formaline, freshwater dips?)
- After showing symptoms and if fish are still eating, then will it likely survive Ich?

I honestly dont understand why Im so paranoid. Everyday, I scan my fish and looking for white spots, scratching, etc. It probably has to do with horror stories that Ive read. I keep questioning my methods since I'm a newbie. Did i cross contaminate with my hands or feeding materials, or nets? Did i transfer too late? Was copper always at 0.5? Were the QT tanks too close together which they probably were?

Anyway, if you could humor me and answer some of the questions, it would be great

Id like to have a plan in case something does come up.

I just want to enjoy the tank so i can start my frag tank!

melypr1985 · Jan 21, 2016

1. It's a good bet... yes
2. depends on the fish and it's general health and immune system
3. not necessarily... refer to #2
4. Yes. fresh water dips are good as are formalin dips
5. again.... refer to #2

It all depends on your maintenance routines, what you feed your fish, how often, how clean your tank is ect ect.. the list goes on and on. Stress in the tank is another big one. Keep stress as low as possible for a better chance.

Edit because I'm an idiot and my answer didn't make any sense. it does now though

Humblefish · Jan 21, 2016

To be completely honest with you, most fish can live with ich almost indefinitely. Not saying it's what's best for them or that they'll necessarily be healthy, but it can be done. There are some exceptions, however. First, any fish with a thin mucous coat (ex. Acanthurus tang) is going to have a more difficult time managing ich than a fish with a thick slime coat (exs. clownfish, anthias, wrasses and even mandarins). Also, any "stressor event" can be a game changer - prolonged power loss, heater sticks, SG fluctuation, fish fight, etc.

Don't know if you've already seen this, but it might be work a look: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ich-eradication-vs-ich-management.188775/

Sgt Jonny · Jan 23, 2016

Personally I think you should try and eradicate the ick, and not just manage it because eventually, you're going to pay the price. The ick will continue to multiply until it eventually overwhelms your fish which could be very costly. Just follow good QT protocol and quarantine EVERYTHING. And don't buy into those "reef safe ick medications". Check out my threads on the subject. Good luck.

Voltaire81 · Jan 25, 2016

Thanks for the responses. Im hoping I dont reply to this thread for two months meaning Im most likely disease free.

horseplay · Jan 25, 2016

Voltaire81 said:
All fish have gone through TTM or copper and at least 3-4 weeks of observation. Im almost 99% sure I dont have Ich or velvet but I cant stop thinking what I would do if I do get Ich.

Can't stop thinking about Ich is a major cause of Ich outbreak.

Voltaire81 · Jan 25, 2016

Haha. Yep. I have to stop thinking about it and just enjoy.

Humblefish · Jan 25, 2016

horseplay said:
Can't stop thinking about Ich is a major cause of Ich outbreak.

No, "stress" causes the ich to manifest out of nowhere! /sarc

Voltaire81 · Jan 28, 2016

Well, Im quite sure it wasnt Ich, but two of my fish perished in the last couple of days.

One snowflake clown disappeared. To be honest, Im not sure when. There were some aggression between the clowns so Im not sure if that was the cause. The CUC may have taken care of the body. The snowflake ate very little but was still eating.

The other fish is a female Bellus angel. After work yesterday, I found her stuck on my gyre 150, but still breathing. After I got her loose, he was no longer able to swim. I took her out, but died a few min later. She was eating well. She didnt like pellets but I feed frozen as well and she loved that.

I watched the remaining fish for a few of hours last night with my wife giving me the evil eye because thats all I did. No other noticeable symptoms from any other fish.

Some parameters:
- Water changes once a week - roughly 12-13%
- Ammonia - 0
- Nitrite - 0
- Nitrate - 5ppm
- Ph - 8.0 (will dip to 7.9 at night).

Ill keep observing but im hoping there's nothing seriously wrong in the tank.

Voltaire81 · Feb 11, 2016

Well bad news. Its either I have ich or velvet in the tank. Im not really sure at this point. Im thinking velvet since i have a couple of fish that have died in the last week, but these guys have been in QT so long that i figured, i wouldve seen it by now.

Anyway, all my fish are in several QT's now, but i have one critical question.

My blonde naso has cloudy eyes and i see sugar-like spots on his fins.

He's still eating ok, not really flashing or scratching.

I figured i should treat the cloudy eyes first so he can see. Im afraid that he wont be able to see soon.

The question is do i treat with antibiotics first (Kanaplex) then CP or copper? @Humblefish @melypr1985 - Pls help. Let me know if you need additional info.

horseplay · Feb 11, 2016

So just to recap events. You setup a new 225g tank. All fish have gone thru TTM (assuming executed properly). You moved all fish into new tank. Then 2 fish died. Then you lost more fish afterwards. Then you moved all your fish back to several QT tanks. Now your 225g is fishless. Am I correct?

Did you have a mini cycle? Usually it doesn't start right away but you do have a lot of fish introduced at once.

Voltaire81 · Feb 11, 2016

It could've gone through a mini cycle but likely not. I have one of those sachem alerts and as far as I know, it never turned light green. I also do 10-12% weekly water changes. FYI, my 120g sump was cycled before hooking up to system.

Lastly, I introduced the fish within 3 weeks.