haleyf1024
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Ick has a lifespan of 8-10 weeks. During part of the lifecycle, it needs a fish host, or the cysts die. Since you won't have fish in there, it will kill the ick.
Keeping Achilles tang ick free in reef tank
- Thread starter Armon_p
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Yes, according to most anecdotal experiences I've read about and friends who have done it. Still, I would monitor ammonia closely and have some Prime/Amquel on hand just in case. And also a backup plan just in case. :wink:
Keepswiming
Well-Known Member
That doesn't mean he shouldn't worry if they stop eating.lol
Your case could be completely different.
If his fish were to stop eating and he didn't worry and check possible issues, he might and lose fish.
JSeward
Community Member
I don't feel you're going about this the right way. If you have a healthy tank, with healthy fish and have never seen ich before, leave them alone. Marine Ich is not present in every tank and there is a very real chance you simply don't have it. However, there is a possibility that you'll stress out, injure, or kill all of your healthy fish while trying to prophylactically treat them. Why needlessly expose your fish to being handled and to copper? That poison can't be good for their insides. Plus a deadly ammonia spike can happen very quickly if bacteria is killed off (or never established) in a QT setup. You also said you want to try "another Achilles tang". I'm curious as to what happened the first time.
My recommendation is that you get your QT tank setup with no rock or sand. Get some PVC large enough for the Achillies to hide in, but not completely disappear from sight so you can get a visual on him when need be. (A fish I can't find gets my heart in my throat every time. I don't enjoy that.) Purchase the following: PraziPro, Cupramine, Metro-Pro, Prime, a bacteria in a bottle like Special Blend or Bio-Spira, ammonia test strips, a copper test kit, garlic and a variety of foods. That will have you covered for treating Ich, Flukes, and internal parasites as well as an ammonia detoxifier and bacteria to jump start the cycle in an emergency. The brand of the copper test kit doesn't matter much, they all suck, but it's better than nothing. I personally use a photospectrometer to test copper. You should also have a number of antibiotics on hand, but identifying and properly treating infections can be difficult and sometimes not necessary. There are lots of other diseases and illnesses to look out for that require different medications and treatments.
Now make sure your QT tank has zero ammonia. Don't worry about nitrites and nitrates as they aren't toxic, just make sure you detect some nitrates so you know that you have an established cycle. Water temp should be between 76-80 deg F. I keep my QT and conditioning tanks closer to 80 degrees to promote bacteria and parasite growth. Now make sure the salinity is lower than the water that the Achillies tang is currently in at the LFS. Once you have all of that squared away, go pick up your fish. I acclimate new fish to the QT tank quickly. I always float them for about 15 minutes to temperature acclimate them, then just dump them in. LFS water and all. A marine fish can handle a sudden salinity change with little difficulty as long as it's to a lower salinity. However, you can acclimate anyway you want.
Now it's time to observe the fish. If I don't see any signs of Ich, I'll treat with PraziPro first. I treat at 3 to 4 times the recommended dosage to make sure I kill any skin, eye, and gill flukes. This is the only medication that I will treat prophylacticlly. It's incredibly safe and nearly impossible to over dose. If and only if I see ich, I'll discontinue other medications and start dosing Cupramine 3 times slower than the instructions recommend. With the horrible test kits out there, it's very easy to over dose copper. You'll also want to be observing the fishes stomach and poo during this time. If it's eating and not getting full or has stringy or white bowel movements, you're going to need to treat it for internal parasites. Like mentioned previously, the fish might lose it's appetite while medicating. You can usually tell the difference between a fish not interested in eating and a fish not interested in the food you're feeding. Feeding can be tricky. Also make sure you do water changes according to the directions on the medication. I do 50% water changes a week when not medicating and test ammonia twice a day for the first week or two and then once every other day when I feel it's stable. If all goes well, I usually keep a fish in QT for 3 months to make sure it's parasite free, eating well, and healthy before putting it in the display.
Anyway, that's what I would do in your situation. If you see Ich on anything once the Achilles goes into the display, then treat all of the fish as you can be certain that it wasn't the Achilles that introduced it. If it comes to this, you'll have the equipment and experience to handle more fish in QT at the same time.
My conditioning rack consists of three 20 gallon tanks, four 10 gallon tanks, and a 30 gallon all filtered and heated individually. This makes treating fish much easier (and cheaper) and I'm able to shut down or re-purpose a tank without taking all of them offline. It works out nicely.
My recommendation is that you get your QT tank setup with no rock or sand. Get some PVC large enough for the Achillies to hide in, but not completely disappear from sight so you can get a visual on him when need be. (A fish I can't find gets my heart in my throat every time. I don't enjoy that.) Purchase the following: PraziPro, Cupramine, Metro-Pro, Prime, a bacteria in a bottle like Special Blend or Bio-Spira, ammonia test strips, a copper test kit, garlic and a variety of foods. That will have you covered for treating Ich, Flukes, and internal parasites as well as an ammonia detoxifier and bacteria to jump start the cycle in an emergency. The brand of the copper test kit doesn't matter much, they all suck, but it's better than nothing. I personally use a photospectrometer to test copper. You should also have a number of antibiotics on hand, but identifying and properly treating infections can be difficult and sometimes not necessary. There are lots of other diseases and illnesses to look out for that require different medications and treatments.
Now make sure your QT tank has zero ammonia. Don't worry about nitrites and nitrates as they aren't toxic, just make sure you detect some nitrates so you know that you have an established cycle. Water temp should be between 76-80 deg F. I keep my QT and conditioning tanks closer to 80 degrees to promote bacteria and parasite growth. Now make sure the salinity is lower than the water that the Achillies tang is currently in at the LFS. Once you have all of that squared away, go pick up your fish. I acclimate new fish to the QT tank quickly. I always float them for about 15 minutes to temperature acclimate them, then just dump them in. LFS water and all. A marine fish can handle a sudden salinity change with little difficulty as long as it's to a lower salinity. However, you can acclimate anyway you want.
Now it's time to observe the fish. If I don't see any signs of Ich, I'll treat with PraziPro first. I treat at 3 to 4 times the recommended dosage to make sure I kill any skin, eye, and gill flukes. This is the only medication that I will treat prophylacticlly. It's incredibly safe and nearly impossible to over dose. If and only if I see ich, I'll discontinue other medications and start dosing Cupramine 3 times slower than the instructions recommend. With the horrible test kits out there, it's very easy to over dose copper. You'll also want to be observing the fishes stomach and poo during this time. If it's eating and not getting full or has stringy or white bowel movements, you're going to need to treat it for internal parasites. Like mentioned previously, the fish might lose it's appetite while medicating. You can usually tell the difference between a fish not interested in eating and a fish not interested in the food you're feeding. Feeding can be tricky. Also make sure you do water changes according to the directions on the medication. I do 50% water changes a week when not medicating and test ammonia twice a day for the first week or two and then once every other day when I feel it's stable. If all goes well, I usually keep a fish in QT for 3 months to make sure it's parasite free, eating well, and healthy before putting it in the display.
Anyway, that's what I would do in your situation. If you see Ich on anything once the Achilles goes into the display, then treat all of the fish as you can be certain that it wasn't the Achilles that introduced it. If it comes to this, you'll have the equipment and experience to handle more fish in QT at the same time.
My conditioning rack consists of three 20 gallon tanks, four 10 gallon tanks, and a 30 gallon all filtered and heated individually. This makes treating fish much easier (and cheaper) and I'm able to shut down or re-purpose a tank without taking all of them offline. It works out nicely.
Stress doesn't kill a fish. A disease can kill a fish, or refusal to eat. An Achilles requires very turbulent water conditions in both QT and DT. They are usually collected from crest zones and need highly oxygenated water.
That leaves disease. Velvet is a fast killer that does not always exhibit physical symptoms (can suffocate a fish inside the gills.) Or even ich & flukes can reside only in the gills, and would cause fluid build up which can suffocate an Achilles.
On Wednesday, my Achilles is comming to the lfs and I'll pick it up. Then I'll put it in a 55 gallon hospital tang with copper and keep it there for 30 days while giving it nutrition and selcon. I hope I will make it through this time
Raise your copper level slowly, over 4-5 days instead of the 24-48hrs recommended on the label. I also suggest prophylactically treating for gill flukes.
4FordFamily
Tang, Angel, and Wrasse Nerd!
Ok guys, I've kept Achilles in tanks with ich but any stress or forgone husbandry will make it break out and eventually weaken the fish, it's hard for them to keep weight with the parasite sucking all of their nutrients...
I am tearing down my 180 with an Achilles to put them all in a 55 hospital with cupramine for 72 days just to help keep ich out and treat all new additions in cupramine as well. I was he least likely person to do this but I plan to add a Red Sea regal angel to this tank and know the stress and addition may take its toll. It's easier to keep it out and tangs from this genus will be happy; my powder blue is doing well but has the same issues as Achilles.
In my experience, many other tangs can handle ich and fight it off just fine with proper water parameters and good husbandry and diet... But this genus struggles very much. I would treat all inhabitants and the Achilles at the same time. It's worth the effort Achilles are gorgeous.
I've kept other tangs and angels with ich without issue (naso, blonde naso, yellow, purple, sailfin, desjardini sailfin, hippo) but really my Achilles and powder blues have struggled. Just my .02. Not what you want to hear but I believe in ich management but not with this genus.
Also, when you accidentally bring velvet in, it will murder everything and show no symptoms (new strain I just had didn't have classic velvet symptoms until a new chevron tang took one for the team and I identified it). Very frustrating, very deadly, very sad. Kills in 2-5 days.
I won't qt or treat anything going in to my wrasse tank because my wrasses (even gentle leopards and I have 8 of them) are not particularly susceptible to most parasites that prazipro can't handle and its reef safe. My blonde naso in there is seriously morbidly obese and thriving despite showing ich for a week when I got him. Other than that, the other inhabitants are wrasse, a mandarin, and two clowns.
I am tearing down my 180 with an Achilles to put them all in a 55 hospital with cupramine for 72 days just to help keep ich out and treat all new additions in cupramine as well. I was he least likely person to do this but I plan to add a Red Sea regal angel to this tank and know the stress and addition may take its toll. It's easier to keep it out and tangs from this genus will be happy; my powder blue is doing well but has the same issues as Achilles.
In my experience, many other tangs can handle ich and fight it off just fine with proper water parameters and good husbandry and diet... But this genus struggles very much. I would treat all inhabitants and the Achilles at the same time. It's worth the effort Achilles are gorgeous.
I've kept other tangs and angels with ich without issue (naso, blonde naso, yellow, purple, sailfin, desjardini sailfin, hippo) but really my Achilles and powder blues have struggled. Just my .02. Not what you want to hear but I believe in ich management but not with this genus.
Also, when you accidentally bring velvet in, it will murder everything and show no symptoms (new strain I just had didn't have classic velvet symptoms until a new chevron tang took one for the team and I identified it). Very frustrating, very deadly, very sad. Kills in 2-5 days.
I won't qt or treat anything going in to my wrasse tank because my wrasses (even gentle leopards and I have 8 of them) are not particularly susceptible to most parasites that prazipro can't handle and its reef safe. My blonde naso in there is seriously morbidly obese and thriving despite showing ich for a week when I got him. Other than that, the other inhabitants are wrasse, a mandarin, and two clowns.
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