Few questions on setting up a QT

[jackt1986]

hey, sorry in advance for the long post!

I've had a 75g reef set up for about 2 months now, everything going great except i bought a longnose butterfly about a week ago and i THINK he's brought ick into the system. he had few very small white dots the day after i got him, and they went away, but today there seems to be a lot lot more on him. they could be just debris, but i was thinking of setting up a quarantine and treating the longnose and the rest of my fish anyway (valentini puffer and pair of perc clowns) and leaving my main fishless for 8 weeks so i know i'll never get ick from these guys again and also i'll be able to quarantine future fish (which i should have done from the start!). sound like a good idea, or should i wait a bit longer to confirm he has ick?

Why i haven't set up a Quarantine tank is due to a few things i haven't quite understood about these tanks. I've read up a lot on them and i'm still unsure of a few things... My understanding is it's basically just a tank with no sand or liverock and people us PVC pipes as hiding places? Is no filtration used? Water changes must have to be performed a lot more than normal?

Also, what size would you all recommend i set up for the small longnose butterfly, small valentini puffer, and pair of percs? Lastly should i treat with copper, or hypo?

thanks!

 

[roka64]

WELCOME TO AA!!!

sound like a good idea, or should i wait a bit longer to confirm he has ick?

It sounds like you have done your homework. If you can set up a QT, I would do it ASAP. Ick, will host a fish then drop off and reproduce, and reinfect them, then reproduce and so on.

A QT is very simple. You will need lights, heater, filter, PVC and a refractometer, to easily and accurately measure the SG of the water.
Since the fish are stressed, and water quality is very important, you will, most likely do more water changes, especially if you are doing hypo treatment. If you have a filter with bio balls/wheel or carbon and have decided to use medication, it is best to remove the ball/wheels and carbon. You don't want and sand or LR in the tank.

I'm not sure about the size of tank, I would imagine it depends on how big your fish are. I believe I have read a 30G is a decent size.
I haven't had ick, so I am not too sure which method you would use. If it were me, I would go with the hypo, but that is just my opinion. I have read other have had success with both.

I would wait for more opinions and experience, before making your final decision.

+++EDIT+++

Also, I soak my food in selcon, zoe and garlic. The garlic is said to boost the immune system and get finicky eaters to feed. The other two are vitamins and such.

 

[jackt1986]

Thanks roka

He died this morning, its so weird because it came on so quickly and stressed him out so much. poor guy

now i'm worried about the valentini puffer and the clowns, i'll have to get one set up right away.

i had been soaking the mysis in garlic and he was completely healthy until yesterday, but thanks again

 

[tmkx3]

So sorry to hear about your lose. I just finished treating ick with coppersafe. The treatment left my 3 green chromis blind. If you can get your hands on a refractormeter and do hypo that would be a better treatment. I wish now that I had decided to use that method. I know from reading about hypo the only real thing you have to be careful about is the ph levels. When reducing the sg it can cause the ph to crash. Good luck

 

[roka64]

Sorry for your loss. I'm not sure ick will kill a fish that fast, but I'm not sure about a longnose butterfly. How do you acclimate? What are your water parameters?

 

[jackt1986]

It definitely was ick... Heaps of salt like spots all over him. He just got stressed real quickly when they appeared and i think they got to his gills because he was breathing heavily. i know it does sound strange how it killed him that fast, but yeah he was covered in the stuff.

i always drip acclimate my fish for about 1-2, and they're bought from an LFS not online. Water params as of yesterday were

ammonia 0
nitrite 0
ph 8.2
nitrate 5-10
sg 1.025

I went to my LFS to talk to them about setting a QT and he completely talked me out of it, saying it will never get rid of ick. that's total crap isn't it? if you leave your main fishless for 8 weeks to break the cycle of ick, and treat the fish in a QT with hypo or copper, then they should never get ick again right? he said that all fish can get ick through stress, even if they have been quarantined. From my understanding thats crap. Oh and he told me if i did set up a QT then i would cycle it with damsels! So i knew then that he wasn't giving me very good advice.

But my basic question is can a fish be 'cured' from ick by properly quarantining it?

 

[tmkx3]

I finished my treatment 3 weeks ago. ( coppersafe) I also left the main fallow 8 weeks and so far I have no signs of ich.All my fish are clear. My lfs has told me the same thing, that it isn't neccasary to qt fish and the ich is always present. I have read alot of post that say this isn't true. I am new to saltwater too. I guess I will have to wait and see. I will qt everything from now on even my lr. I have read that if the rock has been in a tank with fish that the ich can be transported into your tank from the rock. Good luck

 

[roka64]

Ich would have to be introduced into the tank. Fish just aren't born with the ich parasite.

saying it will never get rid of ick. that's total crap isn't it?

yeah, basically. If you treat in the QT w/copper or hypo, that kills the parasite, so that means, it's dead...plain and simple.

if you leave your main fishless for 8 weeks to break the cycle of ick, and treat the fish in a QT with hypo or copper, then they should never get ick again right?

As long as you don't re-introduce a fish with ich into the main, correct.

he said that all fish can get ick through stress, even if they have been quarantined. From my understanding thats crap.

Um, if they are stressed and there is ich present, yes, they become more susceptible. Ich doesn't just appear out of nowhere.