Ich in my saltwater - my first tank - please help me (1 Viewer)

[xaflatoonx]

So the worst has happened... atleast worst for me.

My tank is 4 months old.

i now have ich on my fish - pretty visible.
My tank is saltwater - 90 gallon with a 40 gallon sump.
I am running GFO and Carbon as well.
I have a NWB Skimmer with two filter socks.

I have a reef tank - so to speak with about 5-6 corals in there.

I dont have a QT.

Please guide me - the best way to treat in this situation.

I havent added any livestock for a month or so -
so i know none of the new additions brought it.

What did happen - was my anemone got shredded in the tank - and that made everyone stressed out. Even though i was able to pull the remains of the nem and clean the gyre within a 12 hour period - i think the damage had already been done.

I also did a 50-60% water change -

Currently - i have raised the temperature to 82 degrees.
I have increased my feeding to the tank to 3 times a day with a constant replenishment of Nori.

What additional steps can i take to prevent any loss?

 

[webster1234]

Another member had a similar problem recently. Good info here.

http://www.marsh-reef.org/marine-and-reef-general-discussion/46029-ich-please-help.html

 

[Reefahholic]

Step 1- Remove all fish
Step 2- Put them in a QT with copper to alleviate symptoms.
Step 3- After symptoms are under control, start TTM.
Step 4- DT will need to sit fallow for 72 days.
Step 5- Always QT your fish for minimal of 4-6 weeks. Most symptoms present within a month.
Step 6- Go to RC and read the ICH stick and TTM method by Snorvich.

 

[reeftopia]

I keep a cleaner wrasse in my tanks they seem to do a good job of eliminating ick.

 

[Reefahholic]

I keep a cleaner wrasse in my tanks they seem to do a good job of eliminating ick.

A cleaner wrasse does absolutely nothing for ICH.

 

[marvin.tolden.7]

Easy way......go get some garlic extreme and about 6 cleaner shrimp...work for me

 

[marvin.tolden.7]

Soak the fish food in the garlic

 

[marvin.tolden.7]

Garlic extreme and 6 cleaner shrimp saved all but akeliese tang

 

[reefling]

Ich is inside the fish. The easiest and cheapest way to do this is with a qt tank and hypo salinity.
For your info marine velvet is the worst that can happen. If you need anything and are south side I have the stuff you will need cheap, unless you have huge fish.

 

[Reefahholic]

Ich is inside the fish. The easiest and cheapest way to do this is with a qt tank and hypo salinity.
For your info marine velvet is the worst that can happen. If you need anything and are south side I have the stuff you will need cheap, unless you have huge fish.

Hypo is not the easiest way. It's very difficult to keep the salinity stable. If it goes one point above the limit, all ur efforts have failed and time starts over. Plus, some strands of ICH are resistant to hypo. Don't play Russian roulette. Do TTM and eliminate/ STOP the life cycle.

Not trying to be mean, but there's so much false information out there. People are being misinformed.

 

[reefling]

Hypo is not the easiest way. It's very difficult to keep the salinity stable. If it goes one point above the limit, all ur efforts have failed and time starts over. Plus, some strands of ICH are resistant to hypo. Don't play Russian roulette. Do TTM and eliminate/ STOP the life cycle.

Not trying to be mean, but there's so much false information out there. People are being misinformed.

I was going to tell him/her to use a float valve and topoff res. you make a good point. I did dose 1 dose of copper initially to help jump start the cure. I don't know if I read that article or method. I just did not want to time changing aquariums. Get test kits for copper. Buy that much. I already had the stuff laying around to set up a lite qt with a topoff so for me it was the cheapest and easiest solution. I just used the advice from the ich myths thread.

I did not know if there were strains resistant to hypo. I read some people confused velvet and ich. Hypo does not work on velvet. That is good to know. I will look into the other method incase I need it.

 

[Reefahholic]

Roger that.

Just trust me bro, TTM is solid. I've been doing it for a long time now. It stops the life cycle. It's very easy.




Day 1 - fish in QT.

Match temp and SG. Try not to transfer any water. Drain tank, catch fish with plastic container with holes. Feed as much as you want on transfer day.


Day 4 - transfer

Day 7 - repeat.

Day 10 - repeat.

Day 13 - repeat and done.


Post transfer, Sterilize "all"equipment with a mild bleach solution. Rinse everything really well. Let it dry before the next transfer.


Read this link:

Anything Snorvich says is good information.

Cryptocaryon Irritans - tank transfer method - Reef Central Online Community

I was going to tell him/her to use a float valve and topoff res. you make a good point. I did dose 1 dose of copper initially to help jump start the cure. I don't know if I read that article or method. I just did not want to time changing aquariums. Get test kits for copper. Buy that much. I already had the stuff laying around to set up a lite qt with a topoff so for me it was the cheapest and easiest solution. I just used the advice from the ich myths thread.

I did not know if there were strains resistant to hypo. I read some people confused velvet and ich. Hypo does not work on velvet. That is good to know. I will look into the other method incase I need it.

 

[Tangs]

I have not had ick for many years> At least 10 if not longer. Run your tank warm over 80 f for a month. That should kill off all the ick. Be careful with your water changes and top offs. The water you put in should be around the same temperature. That makes sure it goes in very slowly to reduce the chance of ick developing. Jim

 

[Reefahholic]

I have not had ick for many years> At least 10 if not longer. Run your tank warm over 80 f for a month. That should kill off all the ick. Be careful with your water changes and top offs. The water you put in should be around the same temperature. That makes sure it goes in very slowly to reduce the chance of ick developing. Jim

Jim, running your tank water a little warmer does not kill ICH. It may stop the reproduction, but you would need run ur tank too hot for coral to survive to kill it. Plus it would stress ur fish and probably kill them too.

 

[Reefahholic]

One thing I forgot to mention, is that Raising the tank temp to high levels with fish that have cryptocaryon irritans in their gills will reduce the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water and will result in your fish having major problems. I wouldn't try it even with a FLOWER tank.

 

[reeftopia]

My tanks run at 80 to 82 pretty much all summer long my corals are growing out of the water and I never have ick. Just don't run over 82 for long periods of time

 

[Reefahholic]

My tanks run at 80 to 82 pretty much all summer long my corals are growing out of the water and I never have ick. Just don't run over 82 for long periods of time

I also run my tank at 82°. My friend in Corpus does too. He hasn't had ICH in years, but I did this past year. I think it came in on a snail shell. Either way, the 82° Temp didn't have much effect.

 

[Tangs]

True When I said over 80 I meant like 80.2. I should of said definately not over 82. in the summer as soon as my tank hits 80 I start to cool it down with fans. But I don't have to be as concerned since I do not use t5's any more lol. My new led lighting produces very little heat unlike the 4 ..4 foot t5 bulbs I used to have.

 

[Reefahholic]

True When I said over 80 I meant like 80.2. I should of said definately not over 82. in the summer as soon as my tank hits 80 I start to cool it down with fans. But I don't have to be as concerned since I do not use t5's any more lol. My new led lighting produces very little heat unlike the 4 ..4 foot t5 bulbs I used to have.

I started running my tank at 82 because a guy who was able to keep a Gigantea anemone in captivity longer than anybody had his temp at 82. The guy I mentioned from Corpus Christi, who is a good friend of mine and a physician, has his tank at 82 and hasn't had a problem with ICH in years. However, he has one of the best live sand beds I've seen. My theory is that when the cysts fall off the fish to the sandbed, most are consumed by the extreme life he has in the sand. So when he does have a breakout, he is unable to see it or notice it because the numbers are so small. Plus the fish are able to fight it off because it's very mild. He has a 350/G too. If you've seen an ICH outbreak in a 5/G with one fish vs a 350/G with 20 fish...you will understand why this makes a difference. I had 1 fish in a 5/G breakout and the tank was so small that the number of parasites overwhelmed him in less than 24 hours. He was so covered, it would be comparable to finding a large ant bed and poking it with a stick and throwing a tang in there.


Back to the temp kills ICH discussion. This is why I personally believe that the temp would need to be extremely high. Too high for both fish and coral to survive. I'm sure that if you were to cook the tank at 110 degrees or so it would kill it, but will probably kill everything else too. This is why you should go with the tried and true methods like Tank Transfer. Be sure it's gone. Look, I'll post what Snorvich said about increasing your temp to kill ICH.

Here's a quote from him addressing random reefer's questions:

I read many papers that say 1 hour at at least 40 degrees C will kill even tomont stage. So when you move the fish in the morning turn on a large heater in the tank and cook it all day. Then later in the evening set the heater back to normal temperature and through in a bag of ice to cool the water. Should be ich free and good to go in the morning to move the fish back. Sorry, that will not work by snorvich "Not relevant to the tank transfer method." snorvich, How is another possible sterilization method to be used when transferring fish from one tank to another to break the life cycle of ich not relevant to the tank transfer method? Here is the scoop: if you want my help, do not ask me to tell you why something you read will not work. That ends up being an argument, which I simply have no interest in pursuing. But it will not. Raising tank temperature to that level with fish that have cryptocaryon irritans in their gills will reduce the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water making the fish have major problems. Beyond that, the temperature will NOT kill ich. fppf, can you cite some of those papers?

Try Google Scholar.




This is Snorvich's Credentials incase ur wondering.

Multiple undergraduate degrees, biology, math, physics. Graduate degree as well with two specialties: quantitative methods and strategy. College level instructor adjunct professor. Aquariums for slightly more than a half century. Salt water for 3 decades. About 3000+ dives, mostly in Southeast Asia. Professional level underwater photography (formerly, no longer)

 

[b.thompson516]

Raising temp doesn't help marine ick. Studies have shown it to live as high as 95 degrees. Hypo does work and isn't any harder to maintain than keeping it at 1.025, not sure what logic anyone would use to say it isn't. Get a QT. Basically, if you ain't gonna set-up a 10-15 gallon QT, don't bother having saltwater. If you can't spend another $50-70 on a QT, you can't afford salt.