Ich or velvet?
- Thread starter buckeye
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Steve and his Animals
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Monster case of Ich. Fish needs to be in a QT with copper pronto (copper power or coppersafe). This goes for all the fish in that tank, not just the ones showing symptoms. Fish that don't show it externally can often be carriers, and having no fish in the tank for at least 4-6 weeks is one of the few ways to "eradicate" ich from a tank without using copper meds.
Lost in the Sauce
BANGERANG!!!!
Voting ick and a pretty serious case at that.
buckeye
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Thank you both for your quick replies. Tank is new, and I don’t have a qt set up. Googling to see best options. I have a 20g tub I can set up a qt in, or the tank is so new questioning if Im better off turning whole tank into qt. Tank is bare bottom has two tangs, firefish, couple clowns, two corals, and clean up crew. My main concern is fish, and I don’t know if they have a better chance of living in a tub for 30-45 days or just accept losing corals and clean up crew and treat display with copper
Lost in the Sauce
BANGERANG!!!!
That's kinda of the nuclear option. Your rock will continue sucking up the medications needed throughout your entire treatment, which will make it hard to keep your levels steady, The rock will also be as good as trashed afterwards.
What size tank are they in now?
What size tank are they in now?
Jay Hemdal
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Sharkbait19
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As mentioned, it’s best to treat in a separate qt or to pull all rock and inverts out if doing copper.
Hyposalinity is also an option, though I’m not sure how well it works at this stage of ich.
Hyposalinity is also an option, though I’m not sure how well it works at this stage of ich.
buckeye
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The powder blue I believe is who brought the ich, though it appears much more prevalent on purple today then anything I’ve seen on powder. When I introduced powder he didn’t eat readily, then had some stuff on skin. He then looked better and started eating so I thought he had just been stressed
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Jay Hemdal
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Yep, that's ich. The purple tang's spots were so large, I wanted to rule out mucus plugs as a possible cause, but the PBT has ich, so to me, that confirms the diagnosis.
I think hyposalinity at a specific gravity of 1.009 might be your best option - you'll have to move your CUC and corals, but it won't contaminate your LR. This is a pretty advanced case, so either way, you'll need to move quickly.
Here is a post about hypo:
Hyposalinity
Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2024 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...
www.reef2reef.com
Jay
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In this case, hypo seems like the better option.
Jay Hemdal
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Copper works better/faster than hypo does, but as mentioned, copper will contaminate your rocks, making it more difficult to use those rocks in tanks with invertebrates in the future.
Jay
buckeye
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I pulled rock, inverts, and couple corals out so its just glass bottomed. My lfs had Copper Power and I just treated it.
I guess the gameplan is to treat fish for two weeks(and pray for the best). Will bake the rock in the sun and wash thoroughly before returning. My inverts are in with corals which are attached to super tiny fragments of rock. How long should I wait after removing copper from water before returning to the tank?
I guess the gameplan is to treat fish for two weeks(and pray for the best). Will bake the rock in the sun and wash thoroughly before returning. My inverts are in with corals which are attached to super tiny fragments of rock. How long should I wait after removing copper from water before returning to the tank?
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Agree with Jay on ich and treatment important. As Hyposalinity will take a while to achieve my preference is copper safe or copper power at therapuetic level 2.25 and monitored by a reliable copper test kit such as Hanna brand for a full 30 days . Increase oxygen with use of an air stone during treatment and monitor ammonia levels with a reliable test kit during treatment.
For display tank, I would leave it fishless (fallow) for 60 days to assure all cysts and trophants have completed their life cycle with no host fish and have died off.
For display tank, I would leave it fishless (fallow) for 60 days to assure all cysts and trophants have completed their life cycle with no host fish and have died off.
Jay Hemdal
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You really need to go a full thirty days with copper power of coppersafe. These products don't kill the tomonts (resting stage) and you don't want to stop copper too soon, only to have th tomonts release new theronts that then start the infection back up again.
Jay
buckeye
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Thank you for the info, will do. It’s crazy, I kept a fish only for four years then a reef for 7 and never had to deal with this. I guess if it’s going to happen better now then down the line
Steve and his Animals
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Well, you now know first hand why people call the powder tangs "ich magnets." Almost all the Acanthurus deserve this name in my opinion.
That will do it, but you'll have some challenges.
Standard practice is 30 days. I would go a couple weeks beyond that. If there is any rock left, I would measure copper concentration with a test kit
There isn't a need to do that. As long as the rocks are fishless for 45+ days, any ich will have died without a host.
Your 2 goals are to treat all fish for at least 30 days, and to make sure any hard surfaces in tanks without copper to be fishless long enough for ich to die off without a host.
