Treating Ich while upgrading tanks.

[TreyC2010]

Need some quick advice. ICH

My hippo tang started to develop ich about 3 days ago. I do not have a quarantine tank and I couldn't get to a store to buy medication. Now my blonde naso tang has developed ich seriously. He is at the bottom of the tank and not eating. The hippo tang has gotten worse also. My orange back fairy wrasse has also gotten it. Now that I've said the sad part, what do I do? Should I treat this tank with the medication? Should I do it in a natural way? 3 days ago I raised my temp to 82 when I saw signs on the hippo tang. Salinity is 1.024. Nitrite, nitrate, ammonia, and PH are all perfect. I did a 10% water change 3 days ago also.

 

[mr_X]

How large is this tank? A stress free environment is the best way to get rid of this. I would not treat the display. I don't care how "safe" the product says it is. Just as a stress free environment can rid you of visible ich, so can a stressful environment bring it on.

 

[melosu58]

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

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

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

 

[TreyC2010]

I'm upgrading from a 55 gallon to a 150 gallon. My tangs currently have Ich. I know it's probably due to the size of the current tank. Anyway, how can I safely treat the fish, live rock, and coral in the 55 while switching to the 150?


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[Sniperhank]

You don't want to treat the rock or coral. The copper in the medication will kill all inverts, to include coral, and leach into the rock ensuring you can never keep them again. You need to have a bare QT tank to treat effectively with copper.

 

[TreyC2010]

So can I safely move the coral and rock to the new tank? Then treat the old tank as the qt?



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[Sniperhank]

Sure. I'd suggest ditching the sand as it will absorb the copper as well.

 

[TreyC2010]

Awesome. This makes my night. Thank you.


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[MICEY]

move everything except the fish into new tank
keep fish in bare old tank and treat the for minimum 2 weeks which will kill all the ick on the fish and all the ick on the rocks and everything else will die without the fish in the tank

 

[carey]

You are looking at 6-8 weeks to be sure the ich is gone. Last thing you wanna do is end qt early and introduce the fish into the new tank and bring the ich with them. The main tank should stay without any fish in my opinion for the 6-8 weeks as well. If you move the corals and rock over there is a chance some ich could have made its way to the new tank. probable? maybe. possible? I think yes.
Grats on the new tank btw! Glad to see someone with tangs in a smaller tank actually went ahead and upgraded so they could keep em. Good job.

What kind of tangs and other fish are you going to be qt'ing and treating?

 

[TreyC2010]

There will be an orange back fairy wrasse, two clowns, a starry blenny, and a wheelers watchman goby. I have a few corals too but I don't want them to die or put Ich in the new tank. How can I keep the live rock and coral without treating them with meds?


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[TreyC2010]

The naso was on the sand bed dead this morning.. It's a sad day. The hippo may get less stressed since it will have more territory I assume/hope.


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[Sniperhank]

You won't see much improvement as the stress on the fish that will most likely bullied might not be reversible due to damage, though pristine water and no further bullying will lead to healing but isn't likely in the current environment, and the fish not suitable for such a small tank will continue to be stressed until a larger tank comes into their life.
That said, to treat the ich going on you will need to do a hypo salinity or copper based medication. This will require a hospital tank as both will kill your coral. There isn't another option here. Saltwater ich isn't freshwater ich, some salt and higher temp doesn't do anything but be more stressful on fish.


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[mr_X]

If you remove all the rock from the 55, you are also removing a lot of surface area for bacteria. Check ammonia levels and have a w/c ready! Feed them very little if any at all.