Ick on old fish

[jduong916]

I have a bunch of fish in my tank who have had ick in the past, but have been clean and healthy without it for at least 3 years. I made the mistake of adding a starry blenny without QT (I thought blennies and gobies couldn't get it). I noticed a day or so later the starry blenny had what looked like ick, I wasn't a hundred percent sure as they kind of change color and white spots appear and go away on them. Anyhow of my ten fish (3 tangs) 2 tang have come down with little spots all over them. My purple and blue tang are affected, but not the powder brown. I don't want to treat the fish. They are pretty healthy and my tank is stable and fairly mature. Will the ick subside and go away if I keep the fish healthy? I dont care if ick is in my tank as long as it doesn't bother the fish. I'm not worried about stresser events, I maintain good husbandry, water quality and I feed well.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

I have a bunch of fish in my tank who have had ick in the past, but have been clean and healthy without it for at least 3 years. I made the mistake of adding a starry blenny without QT (I thought blennies and gobies couldn't get it). I noticed a day or so later the starry blenny had what looked like ick, I wasn't a hundred percent sure as they kind of change color and white spots appear and go away on them. Anyhow of my ten fish (3 tangs) 2 tang have come down with little spots all over them. My purple and blue tang are affected, but not the powder brown. I don't want to treat the fish. They are pretty healthy and my tank is stable and fairly mature. Will the ick subside and go away if I keep the fish healthy? I dont care if ick is in my tank as long as it doesn't bother the fish. I'm not worried about stresser events, I maintain good husbandry, water quality and I feed well.

Right now the thing I would do is to feed them really good foods treated with something like selcon, out of the bag Rod's Food and LRS Reef Frenzy are treated and are really good for your fish. You want to give their immune system lots of support.

If things persist you will need to set up hospital tanks for the most severely affected fish and possibly setup QT systems and let your main display tank go fishless for around 76 days.

 

[Humblefish]

I recommend reading this: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ich-eradication-vs-ich-management.188775/

 

[jduong916]

Right now the thing I would do is to feed them really good foods treated with something like selcon, out of the bag Rod's Food and LRS Reef Frenzy are treated and are really good for your fish. You want to give their immune system lots of support.

If things persist you will need to set up hospital tanks for the most severely affected fish and possibly setup QT systems and let your main display tank go fishless for around 76 days.

I like the first suggestion

 

[jduong916]

I recommend reading this: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ich-eradication-vs-ich-management.188775/

I have, the expert fish guy doesn't quarantine, but he still administers copper if a fish is infected. It also says avoid ick magnets such as tangs and these are the fish in my tank that are infected. I'm not too worried, I think they'll be ok. I just wanted to hear if any others had a similar situation and let it run its course.

 

[lagatbezan]

I have, the expert fish guy doesn't quarantine, but he still administers copper if a fish is infected. It also says avoid ick magnets such as tangs and these are the fish in my tank that are infected. I'm not too worried, I think they'll be ok. I just wanted to hear if any others had a similar situation and let it run its course.

Years ago when I used to not quarantine I had an ich outbreak in my 180g and decided to go the management route. Started feeding heavy, adding vitamins, large water changes and even got a large size UV sterilizer but it didnt help and I ended up losing all my livestock (over 15 of them) within a few weeks. It was really sad. I truly hope it works out for you and that you have a better outcome then me.

 

[jduong916]

Years ago when I used to not quarantine I had an ich outbreak in my 180g and decided to go the management route. Started feeding heavy, adding vitamins, large water changes and even got a large size UV sterilizer but it didnt help and I ended up losing all my livestock (over 15 of them) within a few weeks. It was really sad. I truly hope it works out for you and that you have a better outcome then me.

That's exactly what I didn't want to hear . I'll keep an eye on them, if it gets worse I may need to set up a quarantine.

 

[jduong916]

I know its early and this could be due to the ick cycle, but my purple tang looks real good now just a few spots on him. The blue tang looks a little disheveled lol, his fins seem like the have been ruffled, but he has lost about 80 to 90 percent of the spots on his body. I'll keep monitoring and will let you guys know if it comes back or not.

I have no idea about the status of the starry blenny who brought the ick in the first place. He changes colors and its too hard to tell if the spots are ick or just his regular white spots. When he turns full black i cant see anything on him though.

All tangs are still eating and behaving normally, but occasionally scratching themselves. All other fish have not gotten ick.

 

[jduong916]

One more update, purple tang looks grrrreat. Blue tang still covered but the spots are much smaller and the fins look much better, maybe the next cycle she might clear up. All other fish are fine. I will pull Dory out if she doesnt clear up or show better signs in 2 weeks.

 

[ngoodermuth]

Remember that the spots will come and go, gradually increasing in number, as part of the natural lifecycle. It may get worse before they build up an immunity to fight it off...if they can at all. At the very least, maybe pull the blue tang for a freshwater dip to provide some relief...followed by an acriflavine bath to ward off infection. It will be reinfected once it goes back in your tank but at least you might give it a bit of a head start...

 

[jduong916]

Remember that the spots will come and go, gradually increasing in number, as part of the natural lifecycle. It may get worse before they build up an immunity to fight it off...if they can at all. At the very least, maybe pull the blue tang for a freshwater dip to provide some relief...followed by an acriflavine bath to ward off infection. It will be reinfected once it goes back in your tank but at least you might give it a bit of a head start...

I get what you're saying. I'm just pretty confident the blue tang will fight it off. The purple has already kicked it and none of my other fish including my powder brown tang are affected. I would be a little more worried with new fish in a new system, which was the case three years ago when I quarantined everything. I will pull the blue tang if she doesn't show more signs of improvement in a week, but so far she seems to be doing better than the previous week.

 

[jduong916]

Ick has passed with no casualties thank goodness.