about to give up cause of ich...should I go FO..easier?

[courtneyclv]

I am having some issues with my main tank and ich. I am so freaked out that the ich will come back in my tank (going fallow for another 2 months) that I dont want to put fish in my tank!

I am currently treating a foxface in a QT with copper. Had a puffer in there, he died.

I do not want to go through all of this again, get ich again (yes it is possible even after quarantining new fish) and have to go fallow again for the third time...

SOOOO...since you cannot do hyposalinity or use copper with inverts or LR or substrate..what if I just remove all of my LR, inverts, sand etc, start over and just do a fish only tank. Then if a fish gets ich, I can treat the whole tank.

My tanks temp does fluctuate due to the fact that is in a large living room with a lot of windows, sometimes doggie door open etc. Maybe this would be easier because I am thinking that 2-3 degrees may cause the ich to 'come back'

This may be a dumb question for me to ask, but I am desperate.

 

[weekf]

You are not alone. I, am thinking of doing FO tank as well. I love yellow tang, blue tang so much it is like a dream for me to own both. But they are hard to keep due to ich problem. The yellow tang has got black ich and blue tang white ich.

I am also still thinking of doing a FO tank where I can cure the fish copper whenever they get sick. I am not into corals anyway, but liverocks? Well I can survive without it.

The problem is I am not sure if I will want to do reef again in future. So still kind of bothers me.

 

[roka64]

If I remember correctly, you never let your main go fallow for 8 weeks, so the ich was probably still in your main. I remember a post, you said you left it fallow for 4 or 6 weeks, soory I can't remember the exact post or number. If you are going FO, you will need new filtration, since you will not have the LR or sand, (if you are planning on treating the main, not really a good idea). I also remember you were adding too many incompatible fish too fast. I am not trying to be harsh or mean, I just wanted to recap, to get a perspective on the whole situation.
At this point, I would keep the foxface in the QT for 8 weeks. Let the ich cycle starve and die. Sit back and decide on a new stocking list. You can add inverts into the main tank, for some entertainment. How about a pistol shrimp, you can watch him dig around, while you wait. Please don't feel that I am condemning you, just take it nice and slow and I believe you will enjoy it more, once things settle down. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Hara]

You both also need to look at your husbandry practices. Ich is one of the many problems that is stress related. If the temperature is fluctuating, use a heater that will KEEP the tank at the max temp that it ever achieves, instead of allowing it to drop then heat, then drop etc.

You have not followed the proper procedure for getting rid of ich, the tank has not been fallow the required amount of time. You are rushing things and the problems WILL return. Nothing that is good in this hobby happens fast. Anyone that does not have patience, should really rethink the whole idea of saltwater IMO

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

If I remember correctly, you never let your main go fallow for 8 weeks, so the ich was probably still in your main. I remember a post, you said you left it fallow for 4 or 6 weeks, soory I can't remember the exact post or number.

Going fallow for 4 weeks was the most I remember from those posts. And then you were going to try one of those miracle cures.

As roka commented on, I'm not trying to be harsh - I'd say the same thing if I was talking to you in person...

You've tried everything except the least expensive, most effective thing. Time. You haven't really let that tank go fallow and kick the life cycle of that parasite. You WILL get ich again, because you most likely still have it - regardless of if you go fish only or reef. You know what you need to do already... you've commented on it in several of your posts: go fallow (for real), think out your stock list (timing and compatibility) and don't add fish on impulse, and maintain a consistent environment. I think those are some pretty good goals. We can't help you carry them out though - only you can do that.

If you don't stick to what you know is right, then you're going to have issues regardless of if you go fish only or fish/live rock or full blown reef. Going fish only - just because you can throw whatever chemicals you want in there without effecting your inverts/good bacteria/etc - isn't really a good reason. But that's just this newbie's opinion.

 

[Hara]

Pretty good advice from a newbie, nice post Kurt.

 

[melosu58]

[If you don't stick to what you know is right, then you're going to have issues regardless of if you go fish only or fish/live rock or full blown reef.

Sounds like good advice to me regardless where you are in the SW experience

 

[Sadielynn]

I have nothing really to add other than it is easy to get fustrated. I think back to all the mistakes I made when I started (and still do) it is easy to want to quit. But why would you considering all the time and money invested ? I have a fish that I currently had to pull , now while my others seem fine I have mine in QT , was he QTed yes but he was out compeated for food . So I moved him to another tank , I took a clove of garlic mushed it up added some mysis shrimp ,cyclop-eeze and oyster eggs let it sit for 5 minutes and dumped it in to the bucket he is in , while he does not have ich that I can tell it is the steps that I am taking to help this little guy should he develop it by getting him to eat .... I have had ich in the past and hubby would not let me go to the LFS till I had gone fallow for 4 months he made me take the tank down and rethink where I was going to end up so we took down the tank put the LR in a bin turned the heater up to 85* and placed it in the basement with a power head . I took the sand chucked it and the corals went to a 2 gallon with proper lighting (there were only a few) So I had no tank no fish no nothing , He had me mix fresh salt water and after the 4 months (a few days before) he allowed me to slowly progress and put the tank up the LS and LR in he made me wait another 4 weeks for it to cycle . When that was done he made me test the water and then the LFS cross test it . He then allowed me to get 1 cheap fish (yellow tail damsel ) After I had him for 2 months sucessfully he allowed me to get a saddle back clown fish to which I still have to this day (3 + years) the damsel is since gone to the fishy gods another story for another time. After all that I still loved the hobby but had a new found respect for it and the creatures. While I know that you could take the easy road and throw copper in why when there is more potential damage that could be done , mostly irrepairable .Some fish that are scaleless such as puffers , and clowns dont take well to the copper . If you are set on keeping these fish build them up naturally with a garlic suppliment 2Xs a week . It is easy and cheap it also allows them to build their immune system so that they can fight it off. No matter what we do I believe that all systems have ich it is just the fish have a better chance of fighting it off when healthy from the get -go. I just take one clove of garlic mush it up well add the food soak for 5 minutes but not more than30 as the ingreadent allicin is short acting but that is what stimulates the eating response to keep em healthy . If you go with the combo of hypOsalinity and garlic you may very well win the battle. With out the toxic chemicals that may very well stress them even more.. Just my .02 worth

 

[roka64]

That's awesome Sadielynn. Thanks for the experience!