Adding fish to an ich managed tank.

[MRB]

When running a tank that manages ich, how does one add fish to a tank? When a tank is free of ich, normal procedure would be to qt and add when ready. But those who manage ich in DT, what's a good rule of thumb? I would think qt new fish and observe fish in DT and make sure everything is happy, then add new fish and see how they do. Any insight? Thanks!

 

[rkpetersen]

I would think qt new fish and observe fish in DT and make sure everything is happy, then add new fish and see how they do.

That's what I'd do. Make sure there are no signs of active disease in the DT, and haven't been any for several weeks at least, before adding the new fish.

 

[ngoodermuth]

I'd suggest "reverse" quarantining new fish, at the very least as observational only. I know you are managing ich, but the chances you'll be able to do the same with brook, uronema, or velvet are very slim. So, you'd want to make sure the fish you bring in aren't carrying something WORSE than ich.

Once the new fish have had a week or two to settle into QT and start eating, and if no signs of disease have cropped up... spike the tank. Move a piece or two of sacrificial LR or a container of sand from your tank to the QT. Observe some more. This will hopefully give you an idea of how well the new fish will be able to "manage" ich without the stress of possible bullying and food competition from your established fish. Hopefully, the new fish will be able to tolerate and establish some immunity to your resident parasite, and it will cause less of a parasitic population-boom when he hits the display tank and the stress levels rise while he is integrated into the pecking order.

This is just a theoretical approach, I've never tried it personally. But, I thought a lot about what I would do if I had to give up and go ich-management when my QT failed the first time and I was still trying to catch all of my fish for round two. But, I'm happy I didn't settle for management in the end.

 

[rkpetersen]

I'd suggest "reverse" quarantining new fish, at the very least as observational only. I know you are managing ich, but the chances you'll be able to do the same with brook, uronema, or velvet are very slim. So, you'd want to make sure the fish you bring in aren't carrying something WORSE than ich.

Once the new fish have had a week or two to settle into QT and start eating, and if no signs of disease have cropped up... spike the tank. Move a piece or two of sacrificial LR or a container of sand from your tank to the QT. Observe some more. This will hopefully give you an idea of how well the new fish will be able to "manage" ich without the stress of possible bullying and food competition from your established fish. Hopefully, the new fish will be able to tolerate and establish some immunity to your resident parasite, and it will cause less of a parasitic population-boom when he hits the display tank and the stress levels rise while he is integrated into the pecking order.

This is just a theoretical approach, I've never tried it personally. But, I thought a lot about what I would do if I had to give up and go ich-management when my QT failed the first time and I was still trying to catch all of my fish for round two. But, I'm happy I didn't settle for management in the end.

This is pretty cool idea, but I'm not sure I'd have the nerve to actually introduce parasites into a QT.

 

[MRB]

Love the input, not a lot of information on ich management and introducing new fish. It does make sense to add ich into a qt to reduce initial stress of adding the fish without an immunity to survive. Baby steps may be key to success. It stinks to lose livestock but in the end having hardy fish seems to be a great way to have long term success with fish. You can't control everything though.

 

[Mark]

I use my refugium, so that they get exposure to the water and all associated microbes. I can fatten them up there before adding to main display. I also have an acclimation box that attaches inside tank that I can use, which still isolates the fish but allows the same exposure. The other benefit of the box is that the existing fish get used to the new fish's presence and get somewhat tired of it before getting access to bully it.

This is the acclimation box I use:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sea-Side-A...SPSPriorityFlatRateBox!30041!US!-1:rk:11:pf:0

 

[MRB]

I use my refugium, so that they get exposure to the water and all associated microbes. I can fatten them up there before adding to main display. I also have an acclimation box that attaches inside tank that I can use, which still isolates the fish but allows the same exposure. The other benefit of the box is that the existing fish get used to the new fish's presence and get somewhat tired of it before getting access to bully it.

This is the acclimation box I use:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sea-Side-A...SPSPriorityFlatRateBox!30041!US!-1:rk:11:pf:0

Awesome idea, unfortunately don't have a refug but all of these ideas are great. Hopefully others can benefit from this post because I have found no info on adding fish!