Ick wont go

[JoeBore]

Hi,

When i first started adding fish to my reef i got ick. So i then took the fish out, quarantined them for 6 weeks. Treated them, then added them back. A week or so later, it was back. So i quarantined them for 8 weeks, treated them again with copper and put them in hypo salinity. I have just gone to put them back in and before i put any in, i checked them and my tang has one white spot on his side again.

What am i doing wrong? Im getting close to giving up as i have had no fish in the tank for a total of 14 weeks[emoji35]

Any help would be appreciated

 

[Crabs McJones]

The fallow period for Ick is 76 days and the tank has to sit without fish for the entire 76 days. any introduction or cross contamination restarts the clock.

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

Hi,

When i first started adding fish to my reef i got ick. So i then took the fish out, quarantined them for 6 weeks. Treated them, then added them back. A week or so later, it was back. So i quarantined them for 8 weeks, treated them again with copper and put them in hypo salinity. I have just gone to put them back in and before i put any in, i checked them and my tang has one white spot on his side again.

What am i doing wrong? Im getting close to giving up as i have had no fish in the tank for a total of 14 weeks[emoji35]

Any help would be appreciated

Also hypo can be tough to maintain, salinity levels will fluctuate with evaporation, etc and if it gets just a bit too high you’ve restarted the clock.
And as stated already the DT needs to be fishless for 76 days (11 weeks) to starve ich out.

 

[JoeBore]

The fallow period for Ick is 76 days and the tank has to sit without fish for the entire 76 days. any introduction or cross contamination restarts the clock.

Thats a longgg time [emoji23]

 

[JoeBore]

Also hypo can be tough to maintain, salinity levels will fluctuate with evaporation, etc and if it gets just a bit too high you’ve restarted the clock.

I drew a line on the glass on my quarantine and topped it up slightly every morning so the water met the line. I also treated with copper for 4 weeks at the same time so i thought that would have killed it?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Thats a longgg time [emoji23]

A very long time, i'm currently going through it myself

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

I drew a line on the glass on my quarantine and topped it up slightly every morning so the water met the line. I also treated with copper for 4 weeks at the same time so i thought that would have killed it?

Mixing copper and hypo isn’t a good idea. What copper did you use and what level did you keep?

 

[JoeBore]

A very long time, i'm currently going through it myself

I can understand why people end up quitting haha

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

I can understand why people end up quitting haha

Just think though, in 76 days you’ll have a disease free tank and then can add new fish after a QT without worry.

 

[JoeBore]

Mixing copper and hypo isn’t a good idea. What copper did you use and what level did you keep?

Tried staying around 1.5 ppm
The fish are fine, eatting and staying active and dont show any signs of stress

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

Tried staying around 1.5 ppm
The fish are fine, eatting and staying active and dont show any signs of stress

1.5ppm is the very bare minimum. If it dips below that you restart the clock. We are now recommending 2.0ppm to cover copper resistant strains of velvet,etc.

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

What fish do you have?

 

[JoeBore]

1.5ppm is the very bare minimum. If it dips below that you restart the clock. We are now recommending 2.0ppm to cover copper resistant strains of velvet,etc.

Right, ive read that anything beyond the 1.5 is toxic? If thats not the case ill bump it up. When you say you restart the clock, do you mean for treating the fish? How long does it take for the treatment to kill it off?

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

Right, ive read that anything beyond the 1.5 is toxic? If thats not the case ill bump it up. When you say you restart the clock, do you mean for treating the fish? How long does it take for the treatment to kill it off?

We used to recommend 1.75 ppm but lately there have been cases of velvet surviving through that so now the recommendation is 2.0ppm. 2.0 isn’t overly toxic unless you have a sensitive fish. Tangs and such typically tolerate 2.0ppm very well.
You either run copper for 30 days in the same tank or 14 if you have another sterile tank to transfer to after 14 days.

 

[JoeBore]

We used to recommend 1.75 ppm but lately there have been cases of velvet surviving through that so now the recommendation is 2.0ppm. 2.0 isn’t overly toxic unless you have a sensitive fish. Tangs and such typically tolerate 2.0ppm very well.
You either run copper for 30 days in the same tank or 14 if you have another sterile tank to transfer to after 14 days.

Ill take your advice. Thank you for your help!

 

[1stNoel]

I can understand why people end up quitting haha

I went fallow 6 months. Quarantined all new additions for 30 days, and the LAST fish I add had ick and I didn't notice it (Sohal with no visible spots). He also was a terror, so within a week of adding him my tank broke out in ick. I was able to catch and rehome the Sohal, but I'm now focused on ick management vs eradication.

My local LFS recommended PolypLab Medic. It won't eradicate ick, but it's suppose to suppress them in the free floating stage. I've been dosing it for 10 days, and I haven't lost any fish (fingers crossed). 2nd round of ick (after they initial fall off and reproduce) was significantly less (only a few fish broke out and nowhere near as bad). Corals haven't skipped a beat (dose it in your sump; not your display).

It's not cheap ($40), but it was worth it for me as I have a tank full of tangs.

 

[NinnJinn]

For copper is 30 days and for fishless main tank is 76 days.

When the clock resets that means you have to do copper for another full 30 days straight and if you add a fish in to the main tank with ick you have to go fishless for another 76 days

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

Ill take your advice. Thank you for your help!

Anytime that’s why we are here!

 

[JoeBore]

I went fallow 6 months. Quarantined all new additions for 30 days, and the LAST fish I add had ick and I didn't notice it (Sohal with no visible spots). He also was a terror, so within a week of adding him my tank broke out in ick. I was able to catch and rehome the Sohal, but I'm now focused on management vs eradication.

My local LFS recommended PolypLab Medic. It won't eradicate ick, but it's suppose to suppress them in the free floating stage. I've been dosing it for 10 days, and I haven't lost any fish (fingers crossed). 2nd round of ick (after the initial fall off and reproduce) was significantly less (only a few fish broke out and nowhere near as bad). Corals haven't skipped a beat (dose it in your sump; not your display).

It's not cheap ($40), but it was worth it for me as I have a tank full of tangs.

Funnily enough ive just been researching medic [emoji23]. There seems to be alot of mixed reviews for it but if i notice it in my tank again i think ill give it a go. Are mandarin's fine with it? Ive heard they dont do well with medications

 

[rkpetersen]

We used to recommend 1.75 ppm but lately there have been cases of velvet surviving through that so now the recommendation is 2.0ppm. 2.0 isn’t overly toxic unless you have a sensitive fish.

Not to hijack the thread, but specifically which fish would you hesitate to treat with 2 ppm copper?