ICH>>!!! I NEED HELP

[AK47]

HI IM NEW TO THE FORUMS.. I HAVE A PROB. INMY 55 GAL I HAVE TWO CLOWN , YELLOW TAIL DAMSEL, VELVET DAMSEL( I THINK) TWO TURBO SNAILS, 4 BLU LEGED CRABS (SMALL SIZED), AND A PURPLE TANG. AND A CONDY. MY TEMP IS 80 F. AND SALT IS AT 1.022
MY PURPLE TANG HAS ICK NOW FOR 2 WEEKS. I DONT HAVE A QT . AND DONT HAVE FUNDS TO GET ONE SOON. I HAVE A SMALL TANK I CAN USE BUT I THINK IT WILL BE OVERCROWDED. DO I HAVETO QT ALL THE FISH OR JUST THE TANG.. IF I DO HAVE A TANK TO QUARINTINE. DO I HAVE TO LET THE WATER CYCLE FIRST? WHAT ABOUT MY LIVE ROCK WILL IT BE FULL OF THE PARISITE .? I HAVE 60 # OF ROCK.

[melosu58]

The parasite has to host a fish to survive so no they wont survive in your LR. The best way is to QT your fish and do hyposalinity with them while leaving your main fishless for 8 weeks to break the cycle of the parasites. Also the reason the purple tang has ick is that your tank is too small for it. They need to be in a 100 + gallon tank. Stress caused by crowded living conditions is allowing the parasite to attack this fish. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

[ccCapt]

While I agree with most of what melosu58 said, one part is simply not true.

Also the reason the purple tang has ick is that your tank is too small for it.

Ich MUST be present somewhere in the system for it to infect a fish. If you have a fish that is free of ich, you can keep it in a gold fish bowl (please don't try this at home) and it will not develop ich on it's own. Ich simply does not appear out of nowhere.

[AK47]

DO I KEEP ALL THE FISH INCLUDING THE ICK FREE FISH IN THE QT?
THE TREAT THEM ALL TOGETHER? CAN I LEAVE THE INVERTS IN THE MAIN TANK WHILE THE LIFE CYLE OF THE PARASITE DIES OFF?
DOES THE WATER HAVE TO CYCLE OR CAN I JUST PUT THEM IN THE TANK ONCE THE WATER HAS THE RIGHT SALTINITY ANDE TEMP?
THE TANG MUST HAVE HAD ICK BEFORE BECAUSE IT WAS THE LAST FISH PUT IN THE TANK AND MY OTHER FISH WERE IN THE TANK FOR A MONTH WITH NO SIGNS OF ICK. I BOUGHT THE TANG 3 WEEKS AGO FROM A GUY AND THE FISH LOOKED FINE. IM WONDERING IF I SHOULD GET RID OF IT. WOULD A STORE BUY IT FROM ME ?

[ccCapt]

I suggest you take water from your main tank and use that to fill the qt. (assuming the qt is a small 10g or so tank). You will be doing a partial water change in the main and putting less stress on the fish by putting them in the same water they are used to. 2 good things.
You don't mention filtration, but if you have a sponge or floss media in your main tank filtration, use that in the filter for your qt. It has the bacteria growing in it that will help keep the qt tank stable and go thru less of a cycle.

Good Luck

Edit: forgot to mention, leave all inverts in the main and qt all fish. I personally wouldn't take a fish back to a store covered with ich 3 weeks after I bought it.

[seaham358]

Take things slow and can you type normal?? caps is yelling in the computer world.. thanks.
Your getting good advice on ich. What are your tank parameters? Nitrate, amm ect...
how long has the tank been running.
I don'g agree 100% with the part of the tank being too small for a PT. My friend has had a PT in his 55 years now and has not had issues. I have had a PT in a 55 for about 1.5 years and have had no issues. So its possible to keep these fish but you need to keep the tank stable. No big swings in temp, nitrates need to stay low.
Read up on ich and keep us posted..
Do the fish need larger tanks, yes... I am in the process of upgrading and so is my friend. I would not keep the PT in the tank if it was 5-6" long.. He is still a small fish.

[melosu58]

Originally Posted by cccapt

While I agree with most of what melosu58 said, one part is simply not true.

Ich MUST be present somewhere in the system for it to infect a fish. If you have a fish that is free of ich, you can keep it in a gold fish bowl (please don't try this at home) and it will not develop ich on it's own. Ich simply does not appear out of nowhere.

If you read the article CCCapt then you would see that he did not have a QT so how do we know that ick was not in the tank. W do not know and probably was due to no QT. Yes you are right about ick dont just come from nowhere but you did not read why I was saying it had ick because of the practice of no QT which I understood his plight about not having enough funds. Please in the future in use IMO on your statements because that is all it is is an opinion. As they say, "opinions are like armpits we have two of them and they both stink.

[AK47]

ok i have a 5.5 qt . is it too small? too late, i moved them already.
if it is too small i will look for a tank on craigslist tonight.
i moved some water from my main into the qt and checked my levels. its all good.i bought some coppersafe and added it to the tank. how often do i add it again? after i do a water change? i also moved my filter to the qt and removed the carbon filter from it. i put a small l.r. in there. before i read that the label said it might harm l.r. should i throw it away after the 4 weeks is done? do i have to filter my main tank since my condy is in there? i can move the filter from tank to tank throughout the day if i have to.
big thanks to everyones input i appreciate your help.

[ccCapt]

If you read the article CCCapt then you would see that he did not have a QT so how do we know that ick was not in the tank. W do not know and probably was due to no QT. Yes you are right about ick dont just come from nowhere but you did not read why I was saying it had ick because of the practice of no QT which I understood his plight about not having enough funds. Please in the future in use IMO on your statements because that is all it is is an opinion. As they say, "opinions are like armpits we have two of them and they both stink.

Easy there melosu Everyone is trying to help him out and I did agree with most of what you said. I read his post and I know he has no qt, but what does not having a qt tank have to do with you saying the fish got ich because the tank is too small. That is false. It's not my opinion, it's a fact.

[AK47]

MY TANK HAS BEEN RUNNING FOR 4.5 MONTHS NOW. I JUST LOST THE YELLOW TAIL. HE WAS STRESSED OUT BEFORE I MOVED HIM. I THINK THE ICK GOT TO HIM. THE PT LOOKS GOOD AND ALSO THE CLOWNS. HOPE THEY MAKE IT. I JUST ADDED A AMMONIA FILTER TO MY FILTER BECAUS THE TANK IS SO SMALL. SHOULD THAT HELP OUT ALOT?