Ick on my blue hippo.

[Fish Pirate]

I do 15% water changes on my 120 w/ 40 gallon sump every three weeks. Nitrates, nitrites, ammonia are all at 0PPM. Ph is at 8.2. My blue hippo has Ich. Could be a tank mate is stressing him out? I recently placed a garibaldi damsel in the tank. About three inches. My hippo I s about five. Input please.

 

[TheTodd]

Did you QT? If not, that probably brought Ich into your tank. As far as stress, Garibaldi are one of the most aggressive damsels, so that could be added stress. They also get huge, so hopefully you've got plans to get a really large tank.

 

[Fish Pirate]

It's been in there for about three or more weeks. And no I did not quarantine.
I do not have the space to set up a quarantine tank. I be never really had a problem with that before. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[TheTodd]

It's probably one, or a combination of stress and/or the new fish introducing it into the tank. I'm assuming the new fish looks okay?

I know that Garibaldi juveniles are beautiful, but I'd consider something less aggressive. Damsels are already known for their aggressive behaviors. I've heard that Garibaldi are much worse.

 

[Fish Pirate]

I will probably get rid of it in another month or two.

 

[daney90]

How bad is the ich? Keep an eye on the fish. Make sure he is eating well and swims.

 

[tonedogz]

The ich had to be introduced into the tank with the new fish the stress didn't cause it.You better get yourself a qt tank or this will keep happening over and over again with the addition of any new fish. You shouldn't treat a dt with any meds especially if you have corals or inverts and if not treated the fish will more then likely not survive and the other fish will also become infected. You'll probably have to move all the fish to a qt tank and keep your tank fishless for 6 to 8 weeks to make sure the ich are dead, they can't survive without a host fish the inverts and corals can remain since they are not effected.Treat qwith either copper or hypo if your not that experienced I would go with the copper cupramine works excellent. Good luck

 

[begginersluck]

Jumping in here...

You don't necesarily have to QT EVERYTHING. Remove the source of the problem and the chances are it will clear up.

I had a Powder Brown Tang and within 2 weeks of adding it to my tank it developed ick and spread to all my other 4 tangs. I removed the powder brown into a QT tank and it soon after died. My other fish including a hippo tang all survived the ick and shook it off. Tangs buld up a natural immunity to ick and if treated correctly can overcome it.

I would remove the damsel ASAP and see how that works out for you.

 

[tonedogz]

I don't know where you heard or read that tangs have an immunity to ich but tangs are one of the most susceptible fish to ich there are. And if he doesn't remove the fish from the tank to kill the ich it will aways be there and the next fish he adds will become infected and so will the other fish in the tank more then likely.

 

[begginersluck]

I didnt say they have an immunity to ick but that they can build an immunity meaning they grow stronger at fighting it off. The minute i remove the ick magnet from my old aquarium my other fish recovered within days.

here's some good links on ich/ick.

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

The articles do suggest quarantining but you must do this before adding the fish. I believe the way tonedogz is referring to is to remove every fish in your display tank and quarantine all of them which is a lenghtly process due to the fact you may have to remove rocks and coral to catch certain fish. Not ideal. You must then treat with a ick/ich treatment. This is effective but not everyone has access to a large empty aquarium that is cycled and ready for treatment.

 

[tonedogz]

I didnt say they have an immunity to ick but that they can build an immunity meaning they grow stronger at fighting it off. The minute i remove the ick magnet from my old aquarium my other fish recovered within days.

here's some good links on ich/ick.

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

The articles do suggest quarantining but you must do this before adding the fish. I believe the way tonedogz is referring to is to remove every fish in your display tank and quarantine all of them which is a lenghtly process due to the fact you may have to remove rocks and coral to catch certain fish. Not ideal. You must then treat with a ick/ich treatment. This is effective but not everyone has access to a large empty aquarium that is cycled and ready for treatment.

If you read the article you posted the author tells you to qt all infected fish, thats is the only way to kill off all the ich. Your entitled to your opinion but I don't think many would agree with you

 

[TheTodd]

The idea of just QTing the infected fish works as a "treatment", but it is not a "cure". It still leaves the Ich present in the tank so that it can reappear down the road. I'd think that QT for both would be a better long term solution. It is not like the Ich will magically disappear while it still has potential hosts. The cost of a cheap glass tank and a filter will probably be less than the cost of losing an expensive fish and still leaving the possibility for losing more down the road due to not properly eliminating the initial problem. That's just my opinion though.

 

[tonedogz]

The idea of just QTing the infected fish works as a "treatment", but it is not a "cure". It still leaves the Ich present in the tank so that it can reappear down the road. I'd think that QT for both would be a better long term solution. It is not like the Ich will magically disappear while it still has potential hosts. The cost of a cheap glass tank and a filter will probably be less than the cost of losing an expensive fish and still leaving the possibility for losing more down the road due to not properly eliminating the initial problem. That's just my opinion though.

Thats what I've been trying to tell them

 

[begginersluck]

So what you need to do is get a 'cheap' filter and set that up. Cycle your new quarantine tank, if you have space and extra cash and then after 6 weeks you can put the sick fish in there! By which time your fish will be dead!

It's all well and good harping on about quarantine but the truth is probably 5-10 % of us are actually able to do so.

 

[TheTodd]

It does not need to be cycled, but you need something to keep water moving (I use a little power head that I keep in my DT that is for a nano tank (think it was $25).

For me...Take tank out of storage in the garage....add water, my little powerhead and a sponge that I keep in my filter (that will have BB)...add sick fish...treat with hypo or copper...wait a month to allow DT to be Ich-free.

A 20g tank is $20 with Petco's dollar a gallon deals. Even if you got a cheap filter (maybe $25-$35 for a tank that small) or do the sponge and powerhead idea, you are up to maybe $50. If I have a $40-$50 fish, or two, that need QT, I'm saving money in the long run.

Better yet, QT fish prior to adding and treat if they get anything while in QT. That should keep most of the nasty stuff out of your DT in the first place.

Then there's always the "Don't QT, eventually get something that kills your fish, don't CURE the original problem and buy more fish and then cross your fingers that it doesn't resurface" method. $50 is good insurance in my opinion.

 

[begginersluck]

I'm glad this has come this far because when I posted on this site about my powder brown that had ich I hardly got any information on correct quarantining. I set up a small filter and put he fish in a QT then the filter cycled which killed it.

It just goes to show how much people can get confused with so many different 'opinions' against real experience and advice.

Thanks Todd

 

[TheTodd]

There's a lot of threads on here (and on the Internet) about QT. Different people may have different methods, but I think that it is a good idea. If I'm going to have hundreds of dollars of fish in my tank, spending a few bucks to increase their odds of survival just makes sense to me.

I had a FOWLR tank many years ago with probably $450+ worth of fish in it. I bought my last fish, a spotted Hawk, and he must have had something. Three weeks later, I lost every fish within a few days. Never figured out what it was, as they had no outward signs of anything , but I've always believed it was that Hawk, due to the timing. Back then, I did not QT my fish. Just three them in straight from the LFS. Probably was lucky it did not happen sooner. I'm not making that mistake again.

 

[tonedogz]

So what you need to do is get a 'cheap' filter and set that up. Cycle your new quarantine tank, if you have space and extra cash and then after 6 weeks you can put the sick fish in there! By which time your fish will be dead!

It's all well and good harping on about quarantine but the truth is probably 5-10 % of us are actually able to do so.

I would say that thats a misstatement on your part cause I would say 75 to 80% of the people here have a qt anyone who has dealt with ich before or has kept an fish for any length of time would have one.

 

[begginersluck]

Doubtful intact everyone I know NEVER quarantine. But hey you know best!

 

[tonedogz]

I'd love for people here to weigh in on this if they have a qt tank or not and if they feel the need for one