Ick breakout

LBReefer · Nov 30, 2016

After relocating my fish, corals, and live rock to a temporary tank, all of my fish have succumbed to what looks like Ick. My inverts and corals seem unaffected.

I was using a temporary tank because I was setting up a new tank in my new office. At what point can I move the live rock and inverts to the new tank without risking contamination?

Thanks in advance for the advice.

- Drew

TheEngineer · Nov 30, 2016

The corals, inverts and rock will need to be in a fishless system for 76 days to eradicate the ich from them. You can treat the fish in the meanwhile. You're lucky that you already have them in another tank. Having to catch them all usually requires breaking the whole tank down.

USMC 4 LIFE · Nov 30, 2016

It wouldn't require you to break the tank down. Simply buying a big 10" net to capture the fish easier and consolidating the rock to one side side of the tank to capture the fish.

Brew12 · Nov 30, 2016

Drew Schneider said:
After relocating my fish, corals, and live rock to a temporary tank, all of my fish have succumbed to what looks like Ick. My inverts and corals seem unaffected.

I was using a temporary tank because I was setting up a new tank in my new office. At what point can I move the live rock and inverts to the new tank without risking contamination?

Thanks in advance for the advice.

- Drew

I'm sorry for the loss of your fish. Unfortunately, you really want to leave the rocks, corals, and inverts in the temporary tank for 76 days before putting them back into a system with fish in it. You need time to starve the Ich out.

Empress · Nov 30, 2016

Move the rocks/corals/inverts to your new tank and leave it be for 76 days. Don't add anything else to that tank.

Leave the fish in the tank that they're in now and treat the fish with either CP or Copper at therapeutic levels for 30 days. But don't put them in the new tank until the 76 days are up.

Humblefish · Nov 30, 2016

icecool2 said:
The corals, inverts and rock will need to be in a fishless system for 76 days to eradicate the ich from them. You can treat the fish in the meanwhile. You're lucky that you already have them in another tank. Having to catch them all usually requires breaking the whole tank down.

+1 How to treat ich: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ich-cryptocaryon-irritans.191226/

Empress · Nov 30, 2016

Empress said:
Move the rocks/corals/inverts to your new tank and leave it be for 76 days. Don't add anything else to that tank.

Leave the fish in the tank that they're in now and treat the fish with either CP or Copper at therapeutic levels for 30 days. But don't put them in the new tank until the 76 days are up.

Also, if you transfer anything to your new tank watch out for ammonia as you might run into a mini cycle depending on how closely you can match the water perimeters from tank to tank (temp/salinity/ph etc.) [emoji6]

melypr1985 · Nov 30, 2016

Great advice given. +1 to all

Oh and Welcome to R2R @Drew Schneider!!

Breakthecycle2 · Nov 30, 2016

USMC 4 LIFE said:
It wouldn't require you to break the tank down. Simply buying a big 10" net to capture the fish easier and consolidating the rock to one side side of the tank to capture the fish.

That definitely does not make it any easier. How do you keep the fish from getting to the rock side?

nervousmonkey · Nov 30, 2016

Late to the thread, but everyone here is correct about 76 days fallow... It is a pain to catch your fish, but you are going to have to do it for them to survive. I just had to do that a month ago with a velvet outbreak that @Humblefish helped me with, and once I understood his advice to start tearing my tank apart to catch all of the fish, only 3 out of 12 made it. At least I got those out in time...