(Crosspost) Ich Outbreak!

[andiesreef]

Hello. I'm having an ich outbreak in my 20g DT. I have no quarantine tank, but I could throw together a Home Depot bucket with a heater and filter if I need to. A month ago, my royal gramma came down with ich. it was my first ever SW fish and I was devastated. I removed it and placed it in a 5g bucket after nearly decimating my entire scape, and then used SeaChem ParaGuard for 5 days. After almost all of the spots were gone, I put it back in the DT. It had one tiny spot on its tail. it seemed to recover shortly after, only to be struck with ich again a week later and dying soon after. It was covered in whitish sores and was scratching constantly during the few hours of it’s life. I was devastated, and feel responsible. I'm a believer that ich exists everywhere, even in freshwater setups, and not much short of an incredibly extensive quarantine that I don't have the time or tank for would stop ich from getting into the system. I have treated countless FW tanks for ich with great results, but SW is a new beast entirely. After a week, I added a YWG and it's still doing great. Eating like a pig, no ich whatsoever. A few days ago, a black snowflake clown was added into the setup. It had done great for the first 3 days (eating happily, swimming around, no scratching against rocks or labored breathing), but seemingly overnight it became coated in the telltale white specks. My YWG is still unaffected. The clown is still eating with vigor and acting normal. What do I do? Should I try to take down my whole tank again to treat it? Should I feed and hope for the best? I just want the clownfish and goby to be ok.

(Crosspost from the fish disease ID and treatment forum)

 

[Idoc]

after almost all of the spots were gone, I put it back in the DT. It had one tiny spot on its tail. it seemed to recover shortly after, only to be struck with ich again a week later and dying soon after.

If there were still spots, then the disease wasn't gone...you just put it back into your tank only partially treated and therefore kept the disease in that tank for any new or existing fish to contend with down the road.

What do I do? Should I try to take down my whole tank again to treat it? Should I feed and hope for the best? I just want the clownfish and goby to be ok.

If you don't plan on prophylactically treating extensively for fish diseases, such as ich, prior to putting the fish into your main tank, then you need to learn how to manage ich vs eradicating ich in the tank. There is actually a thread titled this somewhere on R2R which you may like to read so you can determine which course of action you wish to pursue.

I personally treat and extensively quarantine fish before they enter my main tank...typically around 46-90 days quarantine in separate tanks. So far, no diseases popping up in my main tank for the past few years. It takes a little more upfront, but there's no stress so far with worrying if I'm going to lose a fish I've had for a few years!

Here's the link to the thread...
(2) Ich eradication vs. Ich management | REEF2REEF Saltwater and Reef Aquarium Forum