Ich?

[jhuntington12]

So a little history: Had a tank for almost 2 years. Not a single issue of ICH or even a hint of it. Same fish, same coral, etc.

Moved to a brand NEW larger tank, transferred everything over and the ONLY addition to the new tank was SAND. Sand was new carrib sea (2 bags).

Fish obv all get along....not a whole lot of stress or harrassment to be honest but I noticed this on my Purple Tang today. Could it be true....ICH from sand?

 

[Crabs McJones]

So a little history: Had a tank for almost 2 years. Not a single issue of ICH or even a hint of it. Same fish, same coral, etc.

Moved to a brand NEW larger tank, transferred everything over and the ONLY addition to the new tank was SAND. Sand was new carrib sea (2 bags).

Fish obv all get along....not a whole lot of stress or harrassment to be honest but I noticed this on my Purple Tang today. Could it be true....ICH from sand?

How long has it been since you last introduced something new (other than your sand) to your tank? do you quarantine before adding any new fish? It's possible that you had ich all along but the fish were able to fight it off, and then the stress from the move weakened it's immune system as tangs are extremely susceptible to it. Do you have a quarantine that you can move it over to?

 

[jhuntington12]

Have not added a fish for probably 2-3 years. Haven't added a coral in about a year. No new rock, tools, buckets, filtration at all.

Sand was the ONLY new addition to the tank. It could be possible they were just fending it off, but this looks like a very mild case and I and I am pretty in touch with these fish and corals. I would notice something right away, and this is the only time I have ever seen the slightest bit of disease other than some AEFW about a year and a half ago.

I do dip, (fish and coral) in multiple stages for every new addition but again I haven't had a new addition in years so this is just strange to me. Sand would have been the only way for it to get into this tank.

 

[Humblefish]

Was the new sand live or dry?

I'm not familiar with how they go about harvesting live sand to sell in bags, but both ich & velvet tomonts can encyst upon substrate. If the sand collected had previously been housed with fish infected with ich, the sand could contain tomonts for up to 76 days.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Have not added a fish for probably 2-3 years. Haven't added a coral in about a year. No new rock, tools, buckets, filtration at all.

Sand was the ONLY new addition to the tank. It could be possible they were just fending it off, but this looks like a very mild case and I and I am pretty in touch with these fish and corals. I would notice something right away, and this is the only time I have ever seen the slightest bit of disease other than some AEFW about a year and a half ago.

I do dip, (fish and coral) in multiple stages for every new addition but again I haven't had a new addition in years so this is just strange to me. Sand would have been the only way for it to get into this tank.

Have you noticed her "flashing" or scratching against rocks or sand? It's possible its just sand particles.

 

[jhuntington12]

Was the new sand live or dry?

I'm not familiar with how they go about harvesting live sand to sell in bags, but both ich & velvet tomonts can encyst upon substrate. If the sand collected had previously been housed with fish infected with ich, the sand could contain tomonts for up to 76 days.

Live bagged sand yes. Surely must have been the only way in my situation. I know albeit rare, but I guess we now know its possible.

 

[jhuntington12]

Have you noticed her "flashing" or scratching against rocks or sand? It's possible its just sand particles.

I have seen ICH before (not in my tanks) and am familiar with that behavior, however these fish are not exhibiting any of that currently. I have never seen sand particles stick like this so I hope that is the possibility? Ill have to see if they drop in faster than the usual ICH cycle.

 

[jhuntington12]

ugh, definately ICH. Now all but one of my tangs are showing spots.

 

[Reef Stu]

After moving to the new tank did you check your ammonia? If you had a spike this could of stressed your fish and the Pre-existing ich would show up. I think you have had it Lurking in your tank, but you had healthy happy fish with strong immune system’s.

 

[jhuntington12]

After moving to the new tank did you check your ammonia? If you had a spike this could of stressed your fish and the Pre-existing ich would show up. I think you have had it Lurking in your tank, but you had healthy happy fish with strong immune system’s.

Without signs of ICH in the old tank for years, and moving all the old rock and stuff over to this new set up wouldn't cause any spike in Ammonia (i dont think?)

I have tons of corals that i brought over too and everything is out and healthy. I did a triton test to make sure all my levels are good like a 1-2 weeks after the move because I wanted to be safe with my corals...and everything checked out ok. Mg was a little low, but everything perfect.

 

[Maritimer]

As far as I'm aware, it's very possible for very healthy fish to keep ich at bay - never showing outward symptoms, but always hosting a trophont or two in their gills - for years at a stretch. A stressful event - like being moved from one tank to another - can lower their immune systems just enough for ich to gain the upper hand.

~Bruce

 

[jhuntington12]

As far as I'm aware, it's very possible for very healthy fish to keep ich at bay - never showing outward symptoms, but always hosting a trophont or two in their gills - for years at a stretch. A stressful event - like being moved from one tank to another - can lower their immune systems just enough for ich to gain the upper hand.

~Bruce

Indeed that is what must have happened, which sucks. That or the sand, but I guess we will never know.

My only option is to go fallow at this point to truly get rid of these jerks.

I still have the 120 that they came from and the ability to get it up and running in the other room. I can let this new tank go fallow for 3 months, (***)....but my questions are:

1. Can fish be happy living in tubes and only artificial room lights for this long? I do not have any other means to keep any light on the system to simulate day and night other than opening a window blind here and there. This will only provide little anyways.
2. Will the current reef bacteria widdle away without any fish in the system so much that when the fish are re-introduced they might cause some kind of nutrient (ammonia) spike?
3. What should I do in the quarantine tank to treat as everyone sits right now? Got any good recommendations on treatments?

 

[Maritimer]

The fish should be OK in the environment, provided the water quality remains high; use a Seachem ammonia badge to keep an eye on it at all times. Lighting shouldn't be a major issue, I'm currently running only a single Marineland "Hidden LED" unit over half of a 75 QT, and everyone seems OK with it.

Continue to feed your reef tank - corals, anemones, bristleworms, snails, shrimp, even 'pods. Whoever's living in there will continue to consume (smaller amounts of) food, and keep bacteria ticking over.

You've got a few options for treatment, depending on who else is in there with the purple tang. On the other side of this elegant and well-crafted link, you'll find a chart showing which fish are best suited for Copper, Chloroquine Phosphate (CP) or other methods of ich treatment: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-and-treatment-guidelines-with-chart.283450/#post-3449648

~Bruce

 

[jhuntington12]

Good info, thanks Bruce. Seems like everyone but my mandarin will take well to copper. They are usually disease free....is it even worth risking leaving him in the DT while everyone goes to QT?

 

[Maritimer]

Unfortunately, ich can parasitize his gills invisibly, even if he's the only fish in the tank - you won't be certain that ich is eradicated unless the tank is run completely without fish for the full 76 days.

~Bruce

 

[jhuntington12]

I know I am going to catch a bunch of flak for this but as of today, all of the fish “look” ich free and have been for the last month or longer.

I noticed a bit of an ich cycle where some would clear up to only seem to get worse a little later but (knock on wood) everyone has been able to fend it off without any mortalities.

I say “catch flak” because the only real change to the tank was the addition of my old emperor aquatics 80watt UV sterilizer. I plumbed it in such a way that the inlet and outlet go to and fro the display and not thru the overflow.

My hope was to catch as much circulation in the DT thru the sterilizer. I got the flow calculated at 400g per hour and with the strength of the UV I hoped it would suffice.

Now I know it didn’t cure it, but I feel it’s safe to say it definitely attributed to helping fend it off. I had it laying around from a while back so I figured it couldn’t hurt.....so far so good.

Just thought I’d share, certainly not the end all solution to ich but for what it’s worth in my scenario had some positive results. [emoji106]

 

[tangtime]

I know I am going to catch a bunch of flak for this but as of today, all of the fish “look” ich free and have been for the last month or longer.

I noticed a bit of an ich cycle where some would clear up to only seem to get worse a little later but (knock on wood) everyone has been able to fend it off without any mortalities.

I say “catch flak” because the only real change to the tank was the addition of my old emperor aquatics 80watt UV sterilizer. I plumbed it in such a way that the inlet and outlet go to and fro the display and not thru the overflow.

My hope was to catch as much circulation in the DT thru the sterilizer. I got the flow calculated at 400g per hour and with the strength of the UV I hoped it would suffice.

Now I know it didn’t cure it, but I feel it’s safe to say it definitely attributed to helping fend it off. I had it laying around from a while back so I figured it couldn’t hurt.....so far so good.

Just thought I’d share, certainly not the end all solution to ich but for what it’s worth in my scenario had some positive results. [emoji106]

It has been shown that UV can be effective however, ich will go “dormant” so to say,and fish will not display any symptoms until a stress event occurs again.

 

[jhuntington12]

It has been shown that UV can be effective however, ich will go “dormant” so to say,and fish will not display any symptoms until a stress event occurs again.

Exactly. Just wanted to share my experience with them though....I feel it definitely helped.