I purchased some new fish and my whole tank broke out in Ick.

[Jam0Cat0]

Hi I need so major help, I purchased some new fish and my whole tank broke out in Ick. I have lots of soft corals so I am going to set up a quarantine tank. Should I take my corals out and put them in a 10 gallon tank and treat my show tank with all my fish in it or the out the fish into the 10 gallon and treat the smaller tank. If I don't treat my show tank wont the fish get it again when I re introduce them back into the show tank? Please help Fast fish are not looking good, I have been treating with Ich attack with no luck!!

 

[cmor1701d]

How many fish do you have?
Name the species, quantity and size of each.

You probably need a 30 gallon tank which you can get a Petco, or WalMart, etc.

You need to treat the fish in QT using Hyposalinity and leave the display tank fishless for 6 - 8 weeks. Ich has a lifecycle of about 30 days. Without any fish to attach to in the DT the parasite will die.
With the lowered salinity of a Hypo treatment the cysts will burst, killing the parasite.


Here's some additional reading on the subject of marine Ich.
ICH articles
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2003/mini1.htm
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/dec2003/mini2.htm
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/jan2004/mini3.htm
Aquarium Fish
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar2004/mini5.htm

 

[Jam0Cat0]

1 Yellow Tang, Large; 2 Fox Face, Large; 1 Angel, small; 1 Damsel, Small.

 

[cmor1701d]

A 30 gallon at a minimum. I'm assuming large means 6" or larger? What type of angel, and damsel?
Can you give a size in inches?

I placed all the fish from my 125 in a 30 for a hypo treatment. That was 2 True percula clownfish (2.5" & 1.5") a Sailfin tang (5"), a Foxface Lo (5"), bicolor blenny (2.5"), coral beauty angel (3.5"), etc.

Be sure to add some PVC pieces (T, 45 elbow, 90's) of varying sizes that can be used as hiding/resting places.
Ich Attack is probably not worth the money. Hyposalinity or a copper based medication are the only sure cures I know of.

 

[melosu58]

Moved to the sick fish forum.

 

[melosu58]

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

Some more good reading

 

[Jam0Cat0]

The angel is a coral beauty, and the tang is about 4in and the fox faces are about 5in, my damsel is a black and white striped.

 

[mr_X]

a 5" foxface and a 4" tang in a 55? which are the new fish? those? those guys are meant for a much larger aquarium. if it's not ich, it's going to be something else eventually i'm afraid.

 

[Jam0Cat0]

well all I am left with now is a black and white damsel and a fox face. I lost all my other fish. :-( I am going to keep a quarantine tank set up from now on, I learned my lesson with new fish. I have been lucky so far this is my second time with salt water. Had one set up about 10 years ago and now this one has been set up for about a year and a half. This is the first time I have had Ich so I guess I am lucky. Really bummed that I lost almost every thing. Well on a brighter not all my corals are doing great.

 

[cmor1701d]

You should put the remaining fish in a QT tank and treat them with hyposalinity, leaving the main tank without fish for 6 weeks.

That will eliminate the parasite from the DT and hopefully from the fish so they don't reinfect the DT.