Marine Ich HELPPPPPPPP

[Hugh Mann]

I really can't tell, based on pictures.
Take some time, read up on the two diseases, and see what fits with the symptoms.

Velvet causes a fish to be light sensitive, and will avoid strong lights. Fish with it also seek out current, and can often be found swimming into the current of a power filter or powerhead.

 

[Zionas]

Sorry for your losses.

 

[Marc2952]

Ive also gone as high as 2.25 ppm for copper power with no ill effects, gives me a better window to not fall below 2.0.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Sorry for losses as it can be very discouraging. In the future - Post pictures.
I wonder as I read the thread. . . was it Ich or was it Velvet, each often confused as the other.

 

[Noob_Sam]

Sorry for losses as it can be very discouraging. In the future - Post pictures.
I wonder as I read the thread. . . was it Ich or was it Velvet, each often confused as the other.

yeah i added some pics but they where dead. Also my blue tang had a lot of purple marks on his body. Right before I buried him i looked at it and saw that he had a lot purple marks all over his body.

 

[Noob_Sam]

Ive also gone as high as 2.25 ppm for copper power with no ill effects, gives me a better window to not fall below 2.0.

Yeah thats what i read 2.25 is better than 2.0. Will do thanks.

 

[Noob_Sam]

I will stick to what I know, eels and the dwarf lionfish; neither can be exposed to copper. How you handle the other fish and your dt going fallow will be up to you. These are some of the options you can consider.

The dwarf lion needs to be kept in pristine water conditions and I would highly suggest a live diet; live ghost shrimp, guppies, and appropriate sized mollies. The reason for this is if you give the lion optimum conditions and health, he may shed the ick and recover on his own. Copper is a death sentence.

The eel will likely not be effected or carry the ick, his health will dictate this as well. I have had eels live through protozoan diseases like ick and velvet, never be effected, and not transferring the disease to other tanks. Copper is also a death to eels. If eels or lions do make it through copper treatment, they will likely die shortly afterwards, and I've never seen any live much more than a year afterwards.

You could keep the eel and lion in the dt, try and nurse the lion with pristine water and live foods. Once the lion sheds, start your count for your fallow period. The ick has likely not attacked to the eel, and likely never will, providing of course he is in optimum health. The best thing would be to remove the eel and lion to their own qt tank, unmedicated of course.

Hey so i had a question,
My lion fish eye is white and cloudy and this morning one of his eyes has a white whole. I will try to post a pic later, i am not home right now. What is that? and how do i treat it.
Thanks!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey so i had a question,
My lion fish eye is white and cloudy and this morning one of his eyes has a white whole. I will try to post a pic later, i am not home right now. What is that? and how do i treat it.
Thanks!

First test your ammonia and nitrate level and also salinity.
Give it a freshwater bath, then an epsom salt bath which works great on eye issues, then using melafix will help it clear up

 

[lion king]

Hey so i had a question,
My lion fish eye is white and cloudy and this morning one of his eyes has a white whole. I will try to post a pic later, i am not home right now. What is that? and how do i treat it.
Thanks!

The white hole you are describing I'm not sure, but cloudy eyes can be indicative of a couple of things. One is of course succumbing to the disease you are dealing with, the other is the immune response lions have by shedding their cuticle layer. The reason healthy lions can sometimes defeat protozoan type diseases is because they have a thicker slime coating which they can shed to discard any attacks. I recommended live foods because just like in humans, health/immunity starts in the gut. If your lion has been eating from the water column or eating a dead diet consisting of mostly krill and maybe silversides, he is likely not healthy enough to fight off this attack.

Are you treating him with copper?

 

[Noob_Sam]

The white hole you are describing I'm not sure, but cloudy eyes can be indicative of a couple of things. One is of course succumbing to the disease you are dealing with, the other is the immune response lions have by shedding their cuticle layer. The reason healthy lions can sometimes defeat protozoan type diseases is because they have a thicker slime coating which they can shed to discard any attacks. I recommended live foods because just like in humans, health/immunity starts in the gut. If your lion has been eating from the water column or eating a dead diet consisting of mostly krill and maybe silversides, he is likely not healthy enough to fight off this attack.

Are you treating him with copper?

well it does not matter now because he died....... well my other fish are fine in the QT i bought some pvc pipes from home depot this morning and everything seems fine. My question was should i leave my eel in my DT. He is eating and i dont see any marks or white spots on his body. Also i have snails, hermit crabs, and a coral shrimp. Should i move any of them to the QT? thanks.

@Hugh Mann @Crabs McJones

 

[Crabs McJones]

well it does not matter now because he died....... well my other fish are fine in the QT i bought some pvc pipes from home depot this morning and everything seems fine. My question was should i leave my eel in my DT. He is eating and i dont see any marks or white spots on his body. Also i have snails, hermit crabs, and a coral shrimp. Should i move any of them to the QT? thanks.

@Hugh Mann @Crabs McJones

The issue is that the eel can be a carrier, so when you introduce your fish back to the tank, the ich/velvet can bounce right back.

 

[Noob_Sam]

also btw my test kit sas t

The issue is that the eel can be a carrier, so when you introduce your fish back to the tank, the ich/velvet can bounce right back.

oh ok i see, well if i move him to a QT what do i treat it with. Someone previously said that eels cant be treated with copper because they will die.

 

[lion king]

also btw my test kit sas t

oh ok i see, well if i move him to a QT what do i treat it with. Someone previously said that eels cant be treated with copper because they will die.

You really have 2 choices, set up a qt tank for the eel to remain for the length of fallow time, for you to deem him safe. Or, if you put him in a tank with copper, watch him die or have his life shortened to about a year. I have seen eels go through ick and velvet tanks enough, to not consider them carriers, but that's not my call. If I'm not mistaken, @Hugh Mann set up an inexpensive qt for his eel, going through the same thing as you.

 

[Noob_Sam]

You really have 2 choices, set up a qt tank for the eel to remain for the length of fallow time, for you to deem him safe. Or, if you put him in a tank with copper, watch him die or have his life shortened to about a year. I have seen eels go through ick and velvet tanks enough, to not consider them carriers, but that's not my call. If I'm not mistaken, @Hugh Mann set up an inexpensive qt for his eel, going through the same thing as you.

ok well i guess then i will just set up another qt just for the eel. So now i am treating the fish with copper for 30 days and leave the tank fish less for 76 days right? So should i leave my hermit crabs, snails and coral shrimp in my DT or move them with the eel? Thanks again everyone Also how about my corals? I have soft and lps

 

[Noob_Sam]

for my corals i meant should i move them or they are fine in the DT

 

[Hugh Mann]

All non fish can stay in the display tank. Corals, anenomes, inverts. Ich won't effect them. Leave them in there for the duration of the fallow period, 76 days. Be sure to feed them now and again.

As for an eel QT, I went the this very same thing with Velvet. I was forced to use copper in my display, as I was at a lack of tanks at the time, so I set up a cheap tank just for the eel.

Materials:
Powerhead
Heater
Light, doesn't have to be fancy
Large, heavy duty Rubbermaid tote

Take some live rock from your display and put it in the bin for biological filtration, run a powerhead pointed towards the surface for gas exchange. Add 1 or 2 pvc pipes big /long enough to use as a hide for the eel. Cut holes in the lid so the light can come through, but leave the edges intact to prevent the sides bulging out. Use screen and weights to stop the eel escaping. Daily 1 gallon water changes and then it's just a waiting game.

Once the 76 day period is done, acclimate a couple black freshwater mollies to salt, QT and treat them for internal parasites, then put them in with the eel for two weeks. If ich is still present, it will show on the mollies and you can treat via Tank Transfer Method.

This has worked so well for me, not only is my eel happy, healthy, and eating regularly, I have coralline algae growing like crazy. Been a week for me and the mollies are showing zero signs of infection.

Things to note.
Beware of cats, now and again I have to swat mine off as it likes to watch.
Plastic and Saltwater don't always mix, and can cause the plastic to become brittle over time. I had my setup crack on me once, so be sure to put it somewhere a leak will be easily noticed.

 

[DaddyFish]

My experiences with and without UV have made me a believer in UV.

My recommendation...

Add an appropriately sized UV sterilizer to your DT and it will help tremendously in reducing the spread and proliferation of parasites. Personally I recommend 18-watts / 125 gph flow rate with a targeted tank turnover rate of 2-3x/hour.
Using a 100 gallon tank as example; that means targeting a flow rate of 200-300 gph through a 36-watt UV sterilizer. You can accomplish that with a separate closed loop pumping system or as part of your return.

Using UV, you may not prevent a single fish from succumbing to parasites, but you can/will slow the propagation of the truly aggressive ones like Velvet, enough to give you time to segregate, diagnose and treat accordingly before it spreads around your tank.

 

[Noob_Sam]

All non fish can stay in the display tank. Corals, anenomes, inverts. Ich won't effect them. Leave them in there for the duration of the fallow period, 76 days. Be sure to feed them now and again.

As for an eel QT, I went the this very same thing with Velvet. I was forced to use copper in my display, as I was at a lack of tanks at the time, so I set up a cheap tank just for the eel.

Materials:
Powerhead
Heater
Light, doesn't have to be fancy
Large, heavy duty Rubbermaid tote

Take some live rock from your display and put it in the bin for biological filtration, run a powerhead pointed towards the surface for gas exchange. Add 1 or 2 pvc pipes big /long enough to use as a hide for the eel. Cut holes in the lid so the light can come through, but leave the edges intact to prevent the sides bulging out. Use screen and weights to stop the eel escaping. Daily 1 gallon water changes and then it's just a waiting game.

Once the 76 day period is done, acclimate a couple black freshwater mollies to salt, QT and treat them for internal parasites, then put them in with the eel for two weeks. If ich is still present, it will show on the mollies and you can treat via Tank Transfer Method.

This has worked so well for me, not only is my eel happy, healthy, and eating regularly, I have coralline algae growing like crazy. Been a week for me and the mollies are showing zero signs of infection.

Things to note.
Beware of cats, now and again I have to swat mine off as it likes to watch.
Plastic and Saltwater don't always mix, and can cause the plastic to become brittle over time. I had my setup crack on me once, so be sure to put it somewhere a leak will be easily noticed.

wow yeah thanks for all of that and the pics. I have a 30 gallon tank sitting in my garage. I will use that to quarantine the eel. I will put a Power head, Heater ,Light, and some live rock and sand. I just feed him and he seems happy. Again thanks for all the advice I feed him frozen brine shrimp. 75 more days to go..............

 

[Hugh Mann]

You're welcome. I wish you the best of luck getting this sorted out.

Side note on eels, I don't know how big yours is, but I believe it is better for their digestion to be fed a large meal every 2-3 days of chunky foods. I feed mine bite sized chunks of shrimp, clam, squid and scallop I get from the grocery store. Krill too, but you don't want to make that a primary part of the diet as it can cause vitamin deficiency long term. If you start early they can take to tong feeding quite readily.

 

[Noob_Sam]

You're welcome. I wish you the best of luck getting this sorted out.

Side note on eels, I don't know how big yours is, but I believe it is better for their digestion to be fed a large meal every 2-3 days of chunky foods. I feed mine bite sized chunks of shrimp, clam, squid and scallop I get from the grocery store. Krill too, but you don't want to make that a primary part of the diet as it can cause vitamin deficiency long term. If you start early they can take to tong feeding quite readily.

ok then. Yeah i only feed mine frozen shrimp that i get from my grocery store. He is like 8-10 inches. So now that makes sense why he has not been growing fast. I will go and get clams squids and scallops. Thanks