Battling ich in reef tank.. need advice!

[Colbyblake_]

Hey guys, this is my first time ever creating a thread but here it goes..
So, I’ve been in the hobby for awhile now and have never come across ich (I know, crazy.) Anyways, I DO quarantine every piece of coral and fish that I buy but I guess something went wrong and now I’m dealing with ich.. yay!!
Anyways, with all of this being said, there is absolutely no way that I can take every fish out of my 210 gallon tank. It’s just not possible, I have so many rocks that are molded together and corals growing on the glass… it’s just too much for me to do. The only fish showing signs of ich are my Achilles, yellow, and hippo tangs. They are still eating and I’m feeding 3-4 times a day. I’ve mainly been feeding brine and mysis shrimp soaked in selcon and fish oil with metroplex and focus to bind the additives to the food. The white spots on the tangs are bad.. I can count them and they aren’t covering the eyes of fins of the fish.
Lastly, I’m wanting to know what else I need to do.. I’m worried about all my fish but my Achilles especially. Is there a chance he could live with this? I mean don’t get me wrong, i would love to pull them all out and quarantine but I don’t have a tank big enough for that. If I could pull them out, what size quarantine tank do I need to get? I have a 4 inch hippo, 3-4 inch yellow, 4-5 inch Achilles, two clowns, 4 wrasses, and a cleaner shrimp!

 

[Lavey29]

There are methods for ich management if you do a search inquiry on here. I would increase vitamin nutrients to the fish, add beneficial bacteria to the tank, treat the tank with reef safe meds, etc... some recommend a UV to target the parasites. I say get a blue streak cleaner wrasse and let him clean your big tangs.

 

[Miami Reef]

Welcome!

I would look into the hydrogen peroxide + UV method. Reef safe and quite a few people eradicated ich, velvet, and uronema with it from their display tanks housing corals.

 

[LeftyReefer]

I got a fish trap, and over the course of a couple days, was able to trap all my fish and relocate them to a QT tank. Did not have to tear the tank apart at all.

 

[HuduVudu]

@Colbyblake_ I use a natural approach to my aquariums. I have for years. I used to follow the quarantine medicate thinking for years (years ago). I found that it caused more damage than it was worth, so I looked for other ways.

The biggest and first thing that I found with fish is this, gas exchange, gas exchange, gas exchange. This fixes more problems than I can tell you. Recently I found out an extension on this. CO2 ... you need to have low CO2 around your tank even it is a fish only system. The other thing that I got from @Paul B was that live foods are really important.

I just recently got a Pearlscale. I love butterflies needless to say. She has cloudy fins and some visible spots. This is a similiar pattern that I experience with all new fish that I get. I have found that my high gas exchange low CO2 tanks means that fish will immediately want to eat. And yup true to form she started eating white worms and then ocean plankton (krill) immediately. IME it will take about 30 days for her to completely come up to speed, but she is over the hump. I also got a ransfordii and two signals. They don't have spots but immediately started feeding (sifting).

I swear by what I have said, I have been using it for a very long time and it works. My fish are happy and healthy and live long lives.

If you truly want to travel the "manage" approach I believe the things I listed above must be met for disease free fish.

My 2 cents.

 

[HuduVudu]

I say get a blue streak cleaner wrasse

Without being combative doing this is cruel and it doesn't work.

Here's why if the cleaner cleans your fish then that is where it will want to derive it's nutrition. Your fish will not have enough parasites to keep it full. If the wrasse switches over to prepared food it rarely if ever goes back to cleaning. You would have to starve it out to get to to do that again, and even then it might not work, so why bother. Now you have a fish that you didn't really want to do something it won't do.

I am very against using creatures as a control. If you like the creature and would have bought it regadless of the control then by all means get what you like but if you are just using it for control then you are probably going to be frustrated, and ultimately the creature will suffer.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Can you post a pic or two of the fish in question to assure its ich and not Lympho, velvet or other condition?

 

[Billldg]

Hey guys, this is my first time ever creating a thread but here it goes..
So, I’ve been in the hobby for awhile now and have never come across ich (I know, crazy.) Anyways, I DO quarantine every piece of coral and fish that I buy but I guess something went wrong and now I’m dealing with ich.. yay!!
Anyways, with all of this being said, there is absolutely no way that I can take every fish out of my 210 gallon tank. It’s just not possible, I have so many rocks that are molded together and corals growing on the glass… it’s just too much for me to do. The only fish showing signs of ich are my Achilles, yellow, and hippo tangs. They are still eating and I’m feeding 3-4 times a day. I’ve mainly been feeding brine and mysis shrimp soaked in selcon and fish oil with metroplex and focus to bind the additives to the food. The white spots on the tangs are bad.. I can count them and they aren’t covering the eyes of fins of the fish.
Lastly, I’m wanting to know what else I need to do.. I’m worried about all my fish but my Achilles especially. Is there a chance he could live with this? I mean don’t get me wrong, i would love to pull them all out and quarantine but I don’t have a tank big enough for that. If I could pull them out, what size quarantine tank do I need to get? I have a 4 inch hippo, 3-4 inch yellow, 4-5 inch Achilles, two clowns, 4 wrasses, and a cleaner shrimp!

I am also starting to go thru this as well. My Achilles tang was also the first to show it and was the worst. 3 days later you wouldn't know my tank has Ick now because it is going away. In truth it is not going away, it is just going thru cycles. I QT'd everything except frags, and, that was my mistake, It got into my tank thru a frag. You may be able to manage it, but, if you do not remove the fish and go fallow for 76 days, then it can always show up again. I just setup a a permanent QT station and will QT the fish and allow my DT to go fallow for 76 days. I knew once that my tank was Ick free, and it felt great. I want that back, thus, me QT'ing everything. An Achilles tang is the first to show signs of Ick.

 

[Jeffcb]

Hey guys, this is my first time ever creating a thread but here it goes..
So, I’ve been in the hobby for awhile now and have never come across ich (I know, crazy.) Anyways, I DO quarantine every piece of coral and fish that I buy but I guess something went wrong and now I’m dealing with ich.. yay!!
Anyways, with all of this being said, there is absolutely no way that I can take every fish out of my 210 gallon tank. It’s just not possible, I have so many rocks that are molded together and corals growing on the glass… it’s just too much for me to do. The only fish showing signs of ich are my Achilles, yellow, and hippo tangs. They are still eating and I’m feeding 3-4 times a day. I’ve mainly been feeding brine and mysis shrimp soaked in selcon and fish oil with metroplex and focus to bind the additives to the food. The white spots on the tangs are bad.. I can count them and they aren’t covering the eyes of fins of the fish.
Lastly, I’m wanting to know what else I need to do.. I’m worried about all my fish but my Achilles especially. Is there a chance he could live with this? I mean don’t get me wrong, i would love to pull them all out and quarantine but I don’t have a tank big enough for that. If I could pull them out, what size quarantine tank do I need to get? I have a 4 inch hippo, 3-4 inch yellow, 4-5 inch Achilles, two clowns, 4 wrasses, and a cleaner shrimp!

I have had 2 Ich out breaks in my 225 FOWLR tank in the last year. The first time they all shook it and it went dormant for about 9 months. The second outbreak happened when I added a large angel that had been QT for over a month. It killed 6 including the Emperor. A bunch of them had it but the remaining 15 are all clear for a month now.

I be leave in Garlic. Most will tell you that's crazy but whatever. I soak the Nori in Brightwell Garlic Power, soak food in Brightwell Vitamin-M and dosed Polyp Labs Medic. It is reef safe. I think ICH is always present and healthy fish fight it off. I am going to wait another week or to and the add some more fish. That's what I did, Good Luck

 

[Ben Pedersen]

Welcome!

I would look into the hydrogen peroxide + UV method. Reef safe and quite a few people eradicated ich, velvet, and uronema with it from their display tanks housing corals.

Do you have a link for the Hydrogen Peroxide treatment?

 

[Miami Reef]

This is the recipe:

• 1mL per 5 gallons every 8 hours, just before lights on, midday, and just after lights off.
• 2mL every 15 minutes for 6 hours overnight (for a total of 48mL, or 2x a normal daytime dose)

Use 3% H2O2 from drug store with a dosing pump for at least 6 weeks.

 

[Colbyblake_]

I am also starting to go thru this as well. My Achilles tang was also the first to show it and was the worst. 3 days later you wouldn't know my tank has Ick now because it is going away. In truth it is not going away, it is just going thru cycles. I QT'd everything except frags, and, that was my mistake, It got into my tank thru a frag. You may be able to manage it, but, if you do not remove the fish and go fallow for 76 days, then it can always show up again. I just setup a a permanent QT station and will QT the fish and allow my DT to go fallow for 76 days. I knew once that my tank was Ick free, and it felt great. I want that back, thus, me QT'ing everything. An Achilles tang is the first to show signs of Ick.

I’m wanting to put my fish back in quarantine but the quarantine tank is just not big enough for 3 tangs, 2 clowns, and 4 wrasses. It’s a 40 breeder. I don’t want to stress the fish out when they’ve been in such a massive environment and then being moved into such a small tank. I don’t have room nor the money to set up a 70+ gallon tank just for quarantine. Any thoughts?

 

[Colbyblake_]

Can you post a pic or two of the fish in question to assure its ich and not Lympho, velvet or other condition?

Yes, when I get home I will!

 

[Billldg]

I’m wanting to put my fish back in quarantine but the quarantine tank is just not big enough for 3 tangs, 2 clowns, and 4 wrasses. It’s a 40 breeder. I don’t want to stress the fish out when they’ve been in such a massive environment and then being moved into such a small tank. I don’t have room nor the money to set up a 70+ gallon tank just for quarantine. Any thoughts?

I actually think you will be fine with a 40b. I just setup 2 40b tanks. I will put 6 tangs, 4 wrasses, and 4 Chromis in both. You will just have to monitor the ammonia level of the tank and likely do weekly 5 gal water changes to maintain healthy ammonia levels. Just make sure you have enough PVC fittings and such for them to hide and sleep in. I actually had some left over rock from my build, so, I added it to both as well for the wrasses.

Trust me, as I am quickly learning, it is never easy. You are not alone in this, so, ask all the questions you need to.

 

[Tamberav]

According to this... ich management with multiple Acanthurus tangs may be a futile battle.

Ich and Acanthurus tangs - Years of experience and ich management

Alright folks I wanted to share some pretty shameful realities about my past and dealing with Acanthurus tangs. To anyone that doesn't know, common Acanthurus tangs include Powder Blue, Powder Brown, Goldrim/white cheek, Achilles, Sohal, Clown...

www.reef2reef.com

You can buy a large stock tank pretty cheap at a tractor supply. I have a 6 foot 70g one I use.

If you have a large UV you can try dosing peroxide as outlined above.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I’m wanting to put my fish back in quarantine but the quarantine tank is just not big enough for 3 tangs, 2 clowns, and 4 wrasses. It’s a 40 breeder. I don’t want to stress the fish out when they’ve been in such a massive environment and then being moved into such a small tank. I don’t have room nor the money to set up a 70+ gallon tank just for quarantine. Any thoughts?

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Id like to wait to see photos/videos before weighing in, as the level of infection has a huge bearing on the treatment possibilities and their outcomes.

Being Easter, you may have issues getting a jump on this though…..

Jay

 

[Billldg]

Yes, when I get home I will!

Does your Achilles look like the picture I posted?

 

[Colbyblake_]

Does your Achilles look like the picture I posted?

Yes, not as many white spots though. To be completely honest, my hippo and yellow tang look worse than my Achilles… he has about 5 or 6 white spots

 

[Billldg]

Yes, not as many white spots though. To be completely honest, my hippo and yellow tang look worse than my Achilles… he has about 5 or 6 white spots

Hmm, then we will need to see photos to verify. The photo of my Achilles was in the space of a few days. One minute it was blemish free, and roughly 2 days later, it looked like the photo. Post a photo and let @Jay Hemdal verify.

 

[Colbyblake_]

I actually think you will be fine with a 40b. I just setup 2 40b tanks. I will put 6 tangs, 4 wrasses, and 4 Chromis in both. You will just have to monitor the ammonia level of the tank and likely do weekly 5 gal water changes to maintain healthy ammonia levels. Just make sure you have enough PVC fittings and such for them to hide and sleep in. I actually had some left over rock from my build, so, I added it to both as well for the wrasses.

Trust me, as I am quickly learning, it is never easy. You are not alone in this, so, ask all the questions you need to

Hmm, then we will need to see photos to verify. The photo of my Achilles was in the space of a few days. One minute it was blemish free, and roughly 2 days later, it looked like the photo.

I will upload photos of the Achilles here shortly. Just got back from dinner. One moment