Saltwater ich

[SFAquariums1]

Hi all this is my first run with saltwater ich. I have 2 clowns, 1 sailfin tang, a decent sized colony of green star polyps, and a orange mushroom. I quarantined all fish for 1 week and none showed signs of ich until they were in the tank..... Is it handled the same way as freshwater ich? And are my corals going to be effected by it?


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[Sniperhank]

No, it is not like freshwater ich. In salt, it can only be solved by either copper medication or hypo. Both of which need a hospital tank. You need to treat for 6-8 weeks as this is the length of the life cycle of ich and will prevent any further issues in the display when it becomes fallow.
Keep in mind that ich comes about from stressed out fish. I would look at the parameters of the tank as well as the size of the tank in regards to space for the fish, specifically the tang, and territories.
In regards to the coral, they can not get ich.

 

[SFAquariums1]

It is a juvenile tang, I know it will need a large tank as it grows but for now he's about 1.5 inches in a 55 gallon tank. They all seem extremely healthy otherwise and are very active


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[SFAquariums1]

Also, can a fresh water dip get the ich off the fish before putting into a hospital tank?


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[Sniperhank]

Size doesn't have much to do with the fact that they are open water swimmers. Besides a very small amount of tangs, like a kole, they need at least 6 ft of swimming room to keep healthy. They are always on the go and it has even been theorized that this constant swimming even helps with keeping parasites off of them...though no backing towards this.
And in terms of the fish being healthy, there is ich in your tank they are not healthy. A freshwater dip will probably take the cyst stage of ich off of your fish, but it really won't do anything besides this. Just get your fish into your hospital tank so you can treat and keep your display fallow for 6-8 weeks.

 

[bribo12]

Fw dips are extremely stressful and should be done as a last ditch effort if the infestation has gotten out of hand.


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[SFAquariums1]

Size doesn't have much to do with the fact that they are open water swimmers. Besides a very small amount of tangs, like a kole, they need at least 6 ft of swimming room to keep healthy. They are always on the go and it has even been theorized that this constant swimming even helps with keeping parasites off of them...though no backing towards this.
And in terms of the fish being healthy, there is ich in your tank they are not healthy. A freshwater dip will probably take the cyst stage of ich off of your fish, but it really won't do anything besides this. Just get your fish into your hospital tank so you can treat and keep your display fallow for 6-8 weeks.

I understand they are open water Swimmers, the tank he is in has a large amount of swimming space. Within the next couple of months he will be housed in a much larger tank.

As far as healthy goes, I'm well aware they are not healthy because they have ich. What I am saying is they were healthy up until this point and are still acting like nothing is wrong. They're not rubbing up on the rocks or anything like that they are also all eating great.

This is my first go around with saltwater ich, I've never had it before. The ich won't attach to corals or the rock correct?


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[Rutrag]

I understand they are open water Swimmers, the tank he is in has a large amount of swimming space. Within the next couple of months he will be housed in a much larger tank.

As far as healthy goes, I'm well aware they are not healthy because they have ich. What I am saying is they were healthy up until this point and are still acting like nothing is wrong. They're not rubbing up on the rocks or anything like that they are also all eating great.

This is my first go around with saltwater ich, I've never had it before. The ich won't attach to corals or the rock correct?


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The parasite goes through three different phases in its life cycle. It encysts on the fish, which is the form that you see. Then, it drops off the fish onto the substrate where it reproduces. Then the "babies" become free-swimming and look for a host to infect to repeat the cycle. So, in a manner of speaking it can get on your rocks and corals. This is why once your tank is infected, the recommendation is to let the tank go fallow (no fish) for 60 days. Essentially you starve the parasite and it dies out. Incidentally, the parasite is only considered treatable in that free-swimming stage. Otherwise, medications don't affect it unless used at a strength that is kills the patient also.

Moral of the story? All new fish need to go through a quarantine period outside of the display to avoid introducing the parasite. If the fish shows signs in quarantine, you treat there where the treatment doesn't affect your inverts or other healthy fish. Unfortunately, a lot of people (myself included) learn this lesson the hard way.

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

Bottom line is a tank to small for a fish (even juveniles) stresses the fish and a stressed fish leads to disease/parasites. Especially with tangs


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[SFAquariums1]

I understand fish, and how they work. I'm just confused as to how this tang is to big for a 55 gallon? It will only be in the tank for 6 months or so, and the rock is low, gives about 8 foot of swimming room....... That seems reasonable to me?


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[SFAquariums1]

The parasite goes through three different phases in its life cycle. It encysts on the fish, which is the form that you see. Then, it drops off the fish onto the substrate where it reproduces. Then the "babies" become free-swimming and look for a host to infect to repeat the cycle. So, in a manner of speaking it can get on your rocks and corals. This is why once your tank is infected, the recommendation is to let the tank go fallow (no fish) for 60 days. Essentially you starve the parasite and it dies out. Incidentally, the parasite is only considered treatable in that free-swimming stage. Otherwise, medications don't affect it unless used at a strength that is kills the patient also.

Moral of the story? All new fish need to go through a quarantine period outside of the display to avoid introducing the parasite. If the fish shows signs in quarantine, you treat there where the treatment doesn't affect your inverts or other healthy fish. Unfortunately, a lot of people (myself included) learn this lesson the hard way.

I appreciate the response. I guess I worded my question wrong, I knew it would be on the rock but I was verifying that with the 6-9 week fish less period, the ich has nothing to latch onto so it dies. This is my first go around at a saltwater tank and I want to make sure I am doing things right when it comes to the diseases (obviously I didn't expect this). The quarantine tanks I have are all 20 longs. Will the tang be okay in a 20 long for 6 weeks? One small piece of live rock is in there


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[Rutrag]

I appreciate the response. I guess I worded my question wrong, I knew it would be on the rock but I was verifying that with the 6-9 week fish less period, the ich has nothing to latch onto so it dies. This is my first go around at a saltwater tank and I want to make sure I am doing things right when it comes to the diseases (obviously I didn't expect this). The quarantine tanks I have are all 20 longs. Will the tang be okay in a 20 long for 6 weeks? One small piece of live rock is in there


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He should be able to manage. The keys to keeping the fish happy while in quarantine are 1) Make sure ammonia and nitrite are controlled. Seeding with a piece of live rock will help. I use foam black in an Aqua Clear filter. I keep the blocks in my sump until I need to set up a QT. Regardless of how you seed the tank with bacteria, it should be a one-way trip since you don't want to put any meds back into your display. and 2) Make sure no one is bullied. you should probably separate the tang from the other fish in order to give him some room if you can. Be sure that everyone keeps eating as well.

 

[carey]

I'll just chime in I guess. lol I can pretty much just confirm that you have been given the proper advice.. A separate tank to treat all the fish and leave fallow for minimum 6-8 weeks. It's horrible, I know, seems like forever but it's really the only way to be sure it is out of the tank. You jump the gun and you risk going through this all over again. Some say there is ich in every tank, me, I don't think so. I have never had it and have gone through like 20 tanks at least in the last five years. I have quarantined here and there, mostly when introducing the older tangs I have from a few years ago.
This is only my opinion, and I am sure some will disagree, but I think a 1.5 inch fish, even a tang, will be ok for MAX 6 months in your size tank. I have noticed that after the first 6 months they grow like weeds, but for the first few they dont seem to grow as quick. just my experience. lol BUT now, that tang is going into an even smaller tank for about 2 months, so you are quickly running out of time to upgrade or rehome.
I would never suggest that anyone get a tang like you have and have no intention on upgrading, but on the other hand, I would also urge anyone who wants tangs to have the proper size tank before they buy the fish. Life happens, money runs out and that upgrade just doesnt seem to ever happen. Just my two cents.

But good luck, you have the advice you need to beat this so you should do fine.

 

[SFAquariums1]

I'll just chime in I guess. lol I can pretty much just confirm that you have been given the proper advice.. A separate tank to treat all the fish and leave fallow for minimum 6-8 weeks. It's horrible, I know, seems like forever but it's really the only way to be sure it is out of the tank. You jump the gun and you risk going through this all over again. Some say there is ich in every tank, me, I don't think so. I have never had it and have gone through like 20 tanks at least in the last five years. I have quarantined here and there, mostly when introducing the older tangs I have from a few years ago.
This is only my opinion, and I am sure some will disagree, but I think a 1.5 inch fish, even a tang, will be ok for MAX 6 months in your size tank. I have noticed that after the first 6 months they grow like weeds, but for the first few they dont seem to grow as quick. just my experience. lol BUT now, that tang is going into an even smaller tank for about 2 months, so you are quickly running out of time to upgrade or rehome.
I would never suggest that anyone get a tang like you have and have no intention on upgrading, but on the other hand, I would also urge anyone who wants tangs to have the proper size tank before they buy the fish. Life happens, money runs out and that upgrade just doesnt seem to ever happen. Just my two cents.

But good luck, you have the advice you need to beat this so you should do fine.

I appreciate the confirmation. I get the "money runs out comment" but I already have the tank. I thoroughly think through all upgrades and such first. I have the whole new setup, just doing some re arranging first before setting it up



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