I HATE ICH- medicine question HELP

[oceandelight]

ok so my fish have developed ich. it is such a pain so we are currently pulling out the 250 lbs of live rock in my 150gallon tank to catch my 9 fish and put them in 2 QT tanks that have been up and running for 5 days to treat them. i have organi-cure which have used in the past and worked great and i also bought cupermine the last time this happened which do i use? i don't have a copper test kit at the moment but one could be bought tomorrow afternoon. 2 of my fish are a mated pair of clown fish my boyfriend said that he doesn't think u are suppose to treat clown fish is this true? the clowns actually don't have any spots on them that i can see but i know i need to pull everyone out for 2 months so i am sure the ich is gone so i don't ever have to do this again. please help

 

[steve-s]

All fish need to be removed and treated if you want this to be a permanent solution.

Either use the cupramine (after you get the test kit) or hyposalinity if you have a refractometer.

Curious, if the organi cure worked so well, why the ick? Any new additions?

Cheers
Steve

 

[oceandelight]

yeah we added some new additions without QT which i know better. Can the clowns be treated with the cupramine ?

 

[steve-s]

Can the clowns be treated with the cupramine ?

With Cupramine, yes quite well. Just be sure to follow the directions properly and test (2x/day) with Seachems multitest copper kit.

Cheers
Steve

 

[oceandelight]

Which would be better hyposalinty or cupermine? it isn't a bad case of ich u can really only see it on the tangs. i wish tangs weren't so susceptible to ich. anyone have any thoughts on easy ways to get these fish out. the goby's are such a pain!

 

[steve-s]

Hyposalinity hands down. The only time I would suggest otherwise is if you are unsure on the diagnisis and it might be velvet.

As for the fish capture, try after lights out and the tank room is dimly lit. Fish are very easy to catch without much ambient light.

Cheers
Steve

 

[oceandelight]

I am worried about my gobys in a bare bottom tank and should i seperate them? i have a pink and blue spotted who is about 5-6 in big and a orange spotted that is only like 2-3 inch big i have pvc in the QT for them to hide in and i was thinking of putting 2 gobys 2 clowns and the strawberry baslet all in one tank and splitting up the 4 bigger fish into the 2 other tanks since tangs need room to swim. we have 2 set up ready to go and aged saltwater ready to go in the other one with a fliter and heater. i have a 20gal long 29gal and a 15 gal. i was thinking of putting the 4 small ones in the 15 gal do u think that is ok? If we do hypo salinity can i put sand in the botton for the goby's ?or is that a bad idea?

 

[steve-s]

I would split them up differently. Seperate the large fish to help minimize bioload. Two largest fish in the 20 long, the next two largest and the basslet in the 29 and the mated pair/gobies in the 15.

Even though your doing hypo, don't add the sand. Use plenty of large/small pieces of PVC to accomodate each for size. Plenty of hiding places will do wonders for stress. I am assuming the gobies eat prepared foods?

Cheers
Steve

 

[oceandelight]

ok so we have been doing hypo for 2 days now and haven't droped the salinity down all the way yet but all the ich is gone. i know we have to drop it down and then keep it down for how long? everyone looks happy and healthy and are eating well. yeah the gobys eat prepared food we feed them blender mush, mysis, brine,krill, or bloodworms depending on the day and they eat everything sometimes they even eat the pieces of nori that the tangs rip off. the main has to be fish free for 2 months even if we are running a uv sterilizer?thank for your help

 

[steve-s]

Yes, leave the main fallow for 6-8 weeks at least. The UV will make no difference really. Be sure you keep the main tank fed every few days or so to maintain the biofilter.

The fish not having spots anymore is just a phase of the parasites lifecycle. The trophonts have simpley detached to the tomont stage where they can multiply and start the process over again. Only once the salinity has been dropped to 16 ppt or lower (I recommend 14 ppt) will you see possitive long term results. Hyposalinity attacks the tomont stage of the parasite, not much esle so be sure you keep the fish at the hypo level of treatment for a full 4 weeks after the last trophont is seen on the fish.

Make sure pH and salinity are checked twice daily and the nitrogens are checked at least daily. Do water changes as needed to control higher numbers and if available, use polyfilters to help "scrub" the water of harmful ammonia. It's not uncommon to have to buffer the pH throughout the process but especially during the drop in salinity. Using pH buffered RO water for the initial salinity drop will minimize that.

Cheers
Steve