Royal gramma had ICK

McCarrick · Jan 23, 2021

Hello,
I noticed some white spots on my royal gramma today. It is the first day that these have been here since I spend way too much time staring at and analyzing my fish, I can be sure of that. I did notice my caramel clown scratching on the sand the other day but I thought he was trying to host some GHA or something strange like that. they have been in the tank for about 3 weeks and no... I did not quarantine since all my inhabitants were added together. Plus I am not really set up for quarantine Shame on me still. I didn't snag a picture when I saw it and now that lights are off gramma is hiding. I set up hospital tank #1 and hope to catch gramma and put her in tomorrow. It's all dependent on if my new refractometer gets here. It was supposed to get here today but didnt. Enough backstory. Questions are

1. I plan on doing tank transfer method, should I also fo hyposalinity? If I do, what would be the best salinity for that?

2. Should I treat all my fish? (I only have 5 very small fish)

3. Is a 76 day fallow the only way to eradicate it from my tank? I have some corals that I dont have a way of moving.
Thank you for any help!

hds4216 · Jan 23, 2021

You should treat all of your fish. They are all likely infected or will be in the near future. At the very least, they've been exposed.

If you're doing TTM, read this article carefully: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-transfer-method.192655/

A 76 day fallow is the only way to eradicate ich from your display tank, however, you do not need to remove corals from the tank in order to do fallow. You do need to remove every single fish, however.

It would also be ideal if you could post pictures so we can confirm that it's ich.

On a side note, I used to live in Wyoming! I went to UW for my undergrad. My brother currently goes there too.

McCarrick · Jan 23, 2021

hds4216 said:
You should treat all of your fish. They are all likely infected or will be in the near future. At the very least, they've been exposed.

If you're doing TTM, read this article carefully: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-transfer-method.192655/

A 76 day fallow is the only way to eradicate ich from your display tank, however, you do not need to remove corals from the tank in order to do fallow. You do need to remove every single fish, however.

It would also be ideal if you could post pictures so we can confirm that it's ich.

Yeah I will try to catch a picture tomorrow. Looks just like freshwater ick. Little white granules.
I actually just read that article but will likely read it 4 more times in preparation. Do you think that the 3 days between tank changes is best or that 2 days would be better? I got a new RODI system today do can make plenty of water. Thanks for the reply!

code4 · Feb 19, 2021

Hey how is it going? Are your fish looking better?

McCarrick · Feb 19, 2021

code4 said:
Hey how is it going? Are your fish looking better?

They're all doing well! Nobody has spots anymore or is trying to itch against anything. I keep finding myself wanting to put them back in the display early but I'm still holding out til my 76 day fallow is over. But everyone is healthy

thanks for asking!

code4 · Feb 20, 2021

Glad to hear. Do not give into temptation. You have come this far. Great job!

hds4216 · Feb 20, 2021

For what it's worth 76 days is almost certainly longer than necessary. Jay says that "At 81 degrees F., 45 days is an appropriate fallow periods for Cryptocaryon, Amyloodinium and Neobenedenia....this coincides well with a 30 day copper treatment followed by two weeks of copper-free observation."

McCarrick · Feb 20, 2021

hds4216 said:
For what it's worth 76 days is almost certainly longer than necessary. Jay says that "At 81 degrees F., 45 days is an appropriate fallow periods for Cryptocaryon, Amyloodinium and Neobenedenia....this coincides well with a 30 day copper treatment followed by two weeks of copper-free observation."

Interesting. My temperature was never that high though. I always kept it right around 78. But my heater broke in the display tank and I just ordered a new one, so my tank had been on the coller side the last few days.