It seems I have Ich!

Mark75 · Nov 29, 2015

For whatever reason I have an outbreak of Ich.

Two clowns, one showing symptoms, and a Kole Tang covered in it. I only have 3 fish in the tank so far as it has only been set-up for 2.5 months.

From my research it doesn't look good, seems I need to empty the tank till spring or tear down and start over. This early on I am thinking I should just tear it down and start over.

This is like totaling your new car before you leave the dealers lot. :mad:

Tanggirl12 · Nov 29, 2015

There are a lot of threads in the fish disease forum you might want to read.

Mark75 · Nov 29, 2015

I have done a lot of reading and it seems like there is nothing that will eliminate it in a reef tank,...did I miss something?

joshkirkland83 · Nov 29, 2015

Mark75 said:
I have done a lot of reading and it seems like there is nothing that will eliminate it in a reef tank,...did I miss something?

Put fish in QT and treat with copper for 30 days. Leave your tank fallow for 72 days. Thats the only 99.9% way to get rid of it.

Mark75 · Nov 29, 2015

It would be faster and cheaper to just replace rock/sand recycle and start over.

Tanggirl12 · Nov 29, 2015

Mark75 said:
It would be faster and cheaper to just replace rock/sand recycle and start over.

How will you know the rock is not contaminated? And you have to quarantine your fish anyway. There are no shortcuts.

Mark75 · Nov 29, 2015

I have a box of dry Marco rocks and a bag of sand already. I can be back in business in 4 weeks going with new rock/sand verses 8 weeks with the fallow approach.

fishdoc11 · Nov 29, 2015

FWIW I have treated fish for ich in my reef tanks several times successfully. The medication to use is flagyl (metronidazole). It is effective against protozoan organisms which ich is. What will get it out of the tank is time. If the fish survive you are good. If you want to give it a shot LMK and I can give you the recipe. The only sure way is with copper etc...like people have said and your tank is fairly new so that might be the best option.

Jmcdaniel0 · Nov 30, 2015

i hate to agree with this but hes right. QT and copper. there are many treatments i have wholesale access to that may work, and i dont mind getting them for you. However, he is correct.

Mark75 · Nov 30, 2015

@fishdoc11,...what is involved with your treatment? I have 9 SPS frags that are doing great and do not want to upset them. If I remove all fish for 76 days I am sure this will have a negative effect on my SPS.

seased · Nov 30, 2015

Your sps frags should be fine without the fish in the tank for the treatment period. Like everyone suggested, probably best to setup a qt.

cee · Nov 30, 2015

I had ich on a tang many years ago. I just let it go, added garlic to the food, and the problem went away on its own. My theory is that ich is often present in an aquarium and that stress in fish causes the disease to manifest itself. I also believe that fishes with minimal stress are capable of fighting it on their own. Sounds like your tang is relatively new so you may just want to let it run the course and see what happens.

tvu · Nov 30, 2015

You can try ick shield. It has CP. I've treated my PB in a QT tank with it and other reviews are favorable as well.

Ryan15236 · Nov 30, 2015

I also had ich show up in my reef a few years ago. I had a kole, yellow tang, RG, and two clowns. The two clowns and RG showed the worse of the ich. The yellow had a few spots. I just kept them well fed, kept my hands out of the tank for awhile, and made sure water was well oxygenated and it went away for me as well for the rest of the time I had the tank running.

Ryan15236 · Nov 30, 2015

Double post, apologies.

Mark75 · Nov 30, 2015

For the guys saying " it ran its course",...what kind of time frame are we looking at?

cee · Nov 30, 2015

A couple of weeks if I recall correctly. Elevated temperatures will speed it up.

Way I see it you really don't have much to lose. If you QT you also run the risk of losing the fish from stress, etc.

Bo N Rachel · Nov 30, 2015

Iev heard from a buddy that a fresh water dip of the fish works great and treat the tank with the ich medicine

Reefrookie220 · Nov 30, 2015

Fish can be infected without showing symptoms for awhile. If I were you I'd set up a cheap qt and treat them your coral should be fine! If it worries you that much your club is home to several sps legends lol I'm sure somebody will hold your frags!

Ryan15236 · Nov 30, 2015

It probably took about two weeks for symptoms to completely disappear with tank temps around 79F. You can QT them if you would like to be sure but with two clowns and a kole as your only fish you will be fine most likely. Keep the tang well fed with nori and maybe use some selcon. The is the most important fish to focus on. You get it's infection down then the ich population decreases. Less concentrated ich population should mean less exposure to ich and the fishes should be able to fend off the smaller population to where you can manage ich. You will have to keep ich management in the back of your mind through as you will have to take steps to keep it at bay. If you don't like the sounds of that, then go ahead and take care of it for good