I fear my tank may have Ich. . .

[ozorowsky]

Is it possible if I have a bad Ich outbreak that I will see lots of little white floaty things in my tank or will you only see them on the fish?

If I do 50% water changes every 3 days will that help bring down/get rid of the Ich?

I ask because I am about to turn my fish over from my 125 gallon tank to my 230 gallon tank. I lost 3 Naso Tangs, and this morning I saw my blue hippo wasn't looking great, worried may be dead by time I get home.

I'll try to get some video of my tank up, but there are thousands of little white things floating; I was thinking it was just detritus.

I use reef crystals salt mix, tank temp is almost always 80%, I change 5-10 gallons of water every week. My salinity is 1.025, 0 ammonia/nitrite/nitrates solid and stable every time I test.

Any questions please ask; I'm trying to get my tank nice and healthy.

 

[carey]

Not sure about the ich but I do know that 5-10g of water changed in a 125g is not enough. I usually change out about 20g a week at least in my 125g.

Here's hoping the blue tang makes it and you DON'T have ich.

 

[ozorowsky]

Not sure about the ich but I do know that 5-10g of water changed in a 125g is not enough. I usually change out about 20g a week at least in my 125g.

Here's hoping the blue tang makes it and you DON'T have ich.

If I DO have Ich, would a 30% water change every 3 days, and feeding the fish garlic soaked food cause the ich to die off?

 

[carey]

If it is ich that probably isn't gonna do it. The only way to fully get rid of ich for sure is to take the fish out and let the tank sit for about 6-8 weeks. You can treat the affected fish in a qt tank until then.

Not the news you wanna hear, I know, but thats the only tried and true way to rid yourself of ich. :-(

 

[ozorowsky]

If it is ich that probably isn't gonna do it. The only way to fully get rid of ich for sure is to take the fish out and let the tank sit for about 6-8 weeks. You can treat the affected fish in a qt tank until then.

Not the news you wanna hear, I know, but thats the only tried and true way to rid yourself of ich. :-(

BAH! Well might be good timing as any I guess; I am going to be moving my rocks/sand to the 230 gallon tank.

What all is needed for a QT tank? Maybe I can use my 125 as a QT tank. Do you need power heads, sump, refugium?

 

[melosu58]

What all is needed for a QT tank? Maybe I can use my 125 as a QT tank. Do you need power heads, sump, refugium?

Good reading for QT and ich

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: A Quarantine Tank for Everything by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com


Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part II by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

 

[carey]

Usually a qt is only the bare minimum, no sand or rock either. But leaving the filter going and powerheads would be ok in my opinion. Depending on which method you choose to treat them will determine the refugium..if youre going with copper then I wouldnt use your refugium. If going with hyposalinity treatment it might kill off whatever is in the fuge.

 

[ozorowsky]

Usually a qt is only the bare minimum, no sand or rock either. But leaving the filter going and powerheads would be ok in my opinion. Depending on which method you choose to treat them will determine the refugium..if youre going with copper then I wouldnt use your refugium. If going with hyposalinity treatment it might kill off whatever is in the fuge.

Can I just use a bare tank no fuge and a power head and fish?

 

[carey]

Yep. Bare tank is best. You can add some pvc pieces of piping for them to hide in as well. You may be doing alot of water changes but it will work.

 

[ozorowsky]

Yep. Bare tank is best. You can add some pvc pieces of piping for them to hide in as well. You may be doing alot of water changes but it will work.

Carey thanks for the quick replies as always; just to be 100%

If I buy a power head, have NO filter/sump/rock/sand and do 30% plus water changes a week, my fish' ick will cure?

And I will want a heater in there of course. Anything else I would want in the tank?

 

[carey]

Nope, you want it as bare as you can get it. A heater would be good lol.

You will have to still wait several weeks to be sure the ich is gone though. I would load up the new tank with your live rock and sand and keep the fish out of it for at least 6-8 weeks. :-( You do that and you should have no ich left.

 

[ozorowsky]

Nope, you want it as bare as you can get it. A heater would be good lol.

You will have to still wait several weeks to be sure the ich is gone though. I would load up the new tank with your live rock and sand and keep the fish out of it for at least 6-8 weeks. :-( You do that and you should have no ich left.

Would I be ok to take my current display water during the move and put half in my 125 and half in my 230 and the remaining half be all heated/mixed/clean reef crystals?

 

[carey]

Using the water won't really matter either way I don't think. Specially if youre gonna be doing so many water changes for the next few weeks. But I don't see why you couldn't. Just keep in mind the ich can be in the water as well. But it shouldnt matter since you are going to treat the "qt" anyway.

 

[ozorowsky]

Using the water won't really matter either way I don't think. Specially if youre gonna be doing so many water changes for the next few weeks. But I don't see why you couldn't. Just keep in mind the ich can be in the water as well. But it shouldnt matter since you are going to treat the "qt" anyway.

Now what do you recommed I do to treat the QT?

My plan is:

Split the two tanks, leave corals in main tank and put my tangs in 125 gallon for 8 weeks until I don't see any ich. I think my clown fish/chromis/gobies are ok to put in main display tank right?

 

[carey]

If they are in the tank they very well may have it as well. If it were me, I would qt all the fish to be certain. The time out for 8 weeks is to let the ich die off in all of it's life stages. if you leave fish in it kinda defeats the purpose since the ich can re attach at anytime. Just because you can't see the ich doesnt mean its gone. Did you check out the links above? It will tell you exactly what the life stages of ich are.

As far as treatment for the qt, that's up to you. You can use a copper based med like cupramine or you can use the hyposalinity method where you lower the salinity every day til it's really low, like 1.009 or something like that. Check the links out I'm sure it will tell you the steps for hypo.

 

[ozorowsky]

If they are in the tank they very well may have it as well. If it were me, I would qt all the fish to be certain. The time out for 8 weeks is to let the ich die off in all of it's life stages. if you leave fish in it kinda defeats the purpose since the ich can re attach at anytime. Just because you can't see the ich doesnt mean its gone. Did you check out the links above? It will tell you exactly what the life stages of ich are.

As far as treatment for the qt, that's up to you. You can use a copper based med like cupramine or you can use the hyposalinity method where you lower the salinity every day til it's really low, like 1.009 or something like that. Check the links out I'm sure it will tell you the steps for hypo.

Which method would you recommend? Hypo Salinity or Copper?

And my sand sifting gobies/star fish will need sand so I would need to add at least some sand and some rock to the QT tank right?

 

[carey]

Thats a tough call to make. I'm not liking the idea of adding chemicals to a tank BUT hypo can be a pain I can imagine. It's entirely up to you.

Anyone else have any opinion on copper vs. hypo?

 

[melosu58]

Any inverts like the starfish need to remain in the main tank. Ich will only infest the fish. I would do hypo. If you read those links I posted they will answer alot of your questions.

 

[ozorowsky]

Any inverts like the starfish need to remain in the main tank. Ich will only infest the fish. I would do hypo. If you read those links I posted they will answer alot of your questions.

will do thanks

 

[Ant_and_vik]

Try NT labs parasite medication, reef safe, it's pretty new. 1 treatment then another 10 weeks later. I let the temp drop to 24' for the duration of the treatment Also I cleaned all pumps in vinegar solution and replaced mec filters and carbon. Worked for me, all corals, anemoneies and all filter bac is fine. Not even a single fish loss!