Need some depressing support

[paxton.rock]

I swear no matter what I do, I can’t overcome ich. It happens to me like EVERY month. I don’t have a way to go fallow. So obviously the parasite will remain in my tank. But no matter how *** I keep my fish, someone always gets it and screws up every fish in my tank. I don’t understand how people can keep so many fish without quarantine and rarely ever run into this problem. I’m so tired of it and want to just give up. I’m tired of having to buy more fish over and over. I’m just flushing my money down a toilet literally.

 

[sc50964]

Maybe it’s time to go FOWLR?

 

[peterhos]

Hi There Fingers crossed, but I only once saw ich in the tank once. I concentrated on siphoning sand and improving the water quality with water changes and it disappeared.

 

[paxton.rock]

Hi There Fingers crossed, but I only once saw ich in the tank once. I concentrated on siphoning sand and improving the water quality with water changes and it disappeared.

Nitrates-3
Phosphate-0.1

I don’t think water parameters are an issue.

You think siphoning sand helps that much?

 

[Debramb]

Oh I’m sorry, we’ve all had disappointments! You’ve found a place that understands and will help you through this. You became a marine fan and will just have to learn Patience! Good Luck
Debra

 

[Toob]

People that have success with fish either quarantine them or buy them quarantined. This is your issue.

I don’t understand how people can keep so many fish without quarantine and rarely ever run into this problem.

This is a majorly incorrect perception. Very few people keep “so many fish without quarantine” successfully in saltwater.

 

[ErikVR]

People that have success with fish either quarantine them or buy them quarantined. This is your issue.



This is a majorly incorrect perception. Very few people keep “so many fish without quarantine” successfully in saltwater.

I have to agree. From my own experience… I’ve struggled with ich as well. Since I’ve started strict quarantine with copper treatment, I haven’t seen a single spec of ich.

 

[Xanthurum]

Set up a QT tank for cheap! 1 gallon bio balls from BRS $13, Aqua Clear 20 $35, 20 gallon tank $20, Ehiem 25 watt heater $23, a few 3” or 4”PVC fittings for hiding $20. For about $120 you can go fallow and I’m sure you can find some of it used for half the price. Put the bio balls in your display tank sump for a week and then set up the QT. Put the bio balls in a mesh bag in the QT then catch your fish and put them in.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

how big is your tank, and how many fish, and what kind of fish?

Avoiding ich means keeping the fish super happy, no stress. if the tank is overstocked you get ich, you stock the tank too fast without letting the system adjust you get ich, add incompatible fish you get ich, not enough hiding spots in your tank you get ich..... Keep the tank understocked, well fed, and maintain good husbandry practices.

I am sorry, but if you get ich every month, something is very wrong, and it starts with you, its not the fishes fault.

 

[Kmst80]

I don't quarantine and none of my fish is quarantined. I have had 2 fish with ICH before and the overcome it.
I believe in these key aspects:

Healthy diet
Plenty of hiding spaces
Biodiversity

I feed my fish live food and frozen food enriched with vitamins, the herbivores get macroalgae as well. I don't feed pellets or flakes, healthy food gives your fish the best chance to stay healthy.
I have plenty of live rock with tonnes of hiding spaces. A fish that is feeling safe and can escape is a fish that is not stressed. Stressed fish get sick easier.
I believe that with biodiversity you keep the Ich population under control.
Thats my opinion but in nearly two years of keeping a reef tank i have had not one fish dying in my tank.

As well i use ocean water for waterchanges so quarantine would be pointless for me unless i quarantine the water too.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

There's a misconception here, that forces hobbyist to believe that ich is the end of a healthy tank.

I'm not saying that for a group of hobbyist this isn't an issue.

But if you understand the life cycle of ich, you will become aware that you notice its presence when it attaches to the fish and shows signs of the parasites. That doesn't mean ich is only present in your tank at those particular times.

Although people either aren't willing to admit it, or are too naive to know that their fish are living with ich in the tank.

It's not a death sentence if you're feeding your fish a healthy diet. I like to lace my food with selcon and vitachem. I have a lot of fish in my tank along with 8 tangs and every now and then I'll see some signs of ich on them, but I don't concern myself because they're healthy enough to not have it bother them.

I'm not saying this to downplay the need to quarantine. I've QTd all my fish and despite the success of a well planned QT regimen, ich found its way into my ecosystem. And because I'm certain that what I'm witnessing is ich in my tank, I don't think of my QT as a failure, because there are far worse things that QT took care of.

The take away from all my rambling is that if you keep the stress down, their immune response up, and a healthy diet (tangs eat meaty foods too) then ich isn't the end of the world.

*Edited to correct typos