Only 1 fish survives ich. What to do to keep fallow

Socalreefer4816 · Apr 17, 2017

So I had ich kill all my fish but 1. My melanaurs wrasse. Left tank fallow for 3 weeks with only him in there. I put in a scopas tang the other day thinking I was good because the Melanarus never got sick within the 3 weeks. But ends up my tang got ich. So long story short. I know to keep fallow for 8 weeks. But how do I do so if my Melanarus is staying immune to it? I suppose i need to catch him and QT him for the 8 weeks in a diff tank correct? Or can I leave just him in there alone for the 8 week "fallow" period.

BMW540 · Apr 17, 2017

A tank cannot be considered fallow if there is a fish in there. If you were to actually let it run fallow, the melanurus would need to be housed elsewhere.

Smo · Apr 17, 2017

Your melanarus wrasse is an ICH carrier. Just because he doesn't display any obvious symptoms doesn't mean he is ICH free. It needs to be moved to a QT and treated with copper or CP for 30 days. Alternatively, you could perform TTM. See the thread on ICH treatment. I provided mine with a small baking dish of sand to sleep in.
Your DT needs to remain fallow 76 days following removal of the last fish. That's the only way to break the ICH life cycle.

Areseebee · Apr 17, 2017

You need to remove all fish if you want to starve the ich out of the DT. Remember that just because you aren't seeing white spots all over their body doesn't mean they "don't have it" it just means it's being kept in check. The parasite is still actively undergoing its life cycle with the fish as host.

Humblefish · Apr 17, 2017

Smo said:
Your melanarus wrasse is an ICH carrier. Just because he doesn't display any obvious symptoms doesn't mean he is ICH free. It needs to be moved to a QT and treated with copper or CP for 30 days. Alternatively, you could perform TTM. See the thread on ICH treatment. I provided mine with a small baking dish of sand to sleep in.
Your DT needs to remain fallow 76 days following removal of the last fish. That's the only way to break the ICH life cycle.

Areseebee said:
You need to remove all fish if you want to starve the ich out of the DT. Remember that just because you aren't seeing white spots all over their body doesn't mean they "don't have it" it just means it's being kept in check. The parasite is still actively undergoing its life cycle with the fish as host.

+1 I would treat the wrasse for 30 days with copper: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/copper-treatment.193343/

Copper will address the possibility that he is a ich or velvet carrier. DT itself should be left fallow for 76 days.

After this nightmare is over, I strongly recommend QT for all future additions: https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/how-to-quarantine.232/

melypr1985 · Apr 17, 2017

All great advice above! The tank isn't fallow unless all fish are removed from the tank and treated in a QT.

Socalreefer4816 · Apr 17, 2017

Awesome guys. I thought so. Just wanted some confirmation. Thanks a lot guys!! Consider this thread answered. Mods may delete if they want

4FordFamily · Apr 17, 2017

Yup, remove the melanarus. I've had a melanarus survive velvet unscathed, before. Unfortunately, I had to remove and treat it as you'll need to. Some wrasse are immensely hardy, but thats how/why so many of them harbor parasites and spread them around.

Chitown tom · Apr 17, 2017

4FordFamily said:
Yup, remove the melanarus. I've had a melanarus survive velvet unscathed, before. Unfortunately, I had to remove and treat it as you'll need to. Some wrasse are immensely hardy, but thats how/why so many of them harbor parasites and spread them around.

My melanurus survived velvet too!!
They are tough buggers. Mine went thru 4 weeks copper 2 weeks of observation and finally in the dt.

I was lucky because he was in qt with 2 other fish when velvet brokw.

B-ridge · Apr 22, 2017

I understand you need to remove all fish and fallow period starts the day the last fish is taken out. But what if a person decided to run there tank in hypo while the wrasse was in tank? To my understanding fish can adjust and survive in lower salinity. I know a guy who had his tank at 1.005 for over a month and the fish were living/surviving. With the salinity so low would the ich still be able to live or would they mutate and adjust like the fish did?

Areseebee · Apr 22, 2017

The problem is he probably has inverts.

Humblefish · Apr 22, 2017

B-ridge said:
I understand you need to remove all fish and fallow period starts the day the last fish is taken out. But what if a person decided to run there tank in hypo while the wrasse was in tank? To my understanding fish can adjust and survive in lower salinity. I know a guy who had his tank at 1.005 for over a month and the fish were living/surviving. With the salinity so low would the ich still be able to live or would they mutate and adjust like the fish did?

Some strains of ich can be eradicated by going hypo, some are hypo resistant. For this reason it is the least reliable method.