First time dealing with ich, need some advice

[reefrocker82]

Hello reefers,

Of the many years that I have kept fish I have never had to deal with any illnesses so this is a first for me. I noticed yesterday that my purple tang is very suddenly covered in white spots. He looked great in the morning but by the time I got home he was covered. I’m not seeing any signs of distress so far. He eats well and frequently visits the cleaner goby. I currently offer nori every other day as well as live ulva and gracilaria, brs pellets, mysis, and rods. Plus he is a very busy grazer. I also have a clown goby that seems to be affected as well. All others appear okay atm.
I have many questions on treatment. First off is the size of the QT tank. I have many available from 10, 20, 30, and 75g. I know a 20g should suffice for maybe a couple of fish but I have 14 that I need to catch and treat. Would it be best to put them all in a 75 for a couple of months or maybe split them up into a 20 and 30? I am planning on treating with copper followed by a fallow period for the DT. I have ordered a Hanna checker, copper power, some garlic, and selcon. Does anyone have any tips they’d like to share?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello reefers,

Of the many years that I have kept fish I have never had to deal with any illnesses so this is a first for me. I noticed yesterday that my purple tang is very suddenly covered in white spots. He looked great in the morning but by the time I got home he was covered. I’m not seeing any signs of distress so far. He eats well and frequently visits the cleaner goby. I currently offer nori every other day as well as live ulva and gracilaria, brs pellets, mysis, and rods. Plus he is a very busy grazer. I also have a clown goby that seems to be affected as well. All others appear okay atm.
I have many questions on treatment. First off is the size of the QT tank. I have many available from 10, 20, 30, and 75g. I know a 20g should suffice for maybe a couple of fish but I have 14 that I need to catch and treat. Would it be best to put them all in a 75 for a couple of months or maybe split them up into a 20 and 30? I am planning on treating with copper followed by a fallow period for the DT. I have ordered a Hanna checker, copper power, some garlic, and selcon. Does anyone have any tips they’d like to share?

This is mucus plugs mixed in with ich and fish will have to placed in a separate treatment tank using coppersafe or copper power at 2.25ppm for a full 30 days. With this, likely other fish do not show signs but too should be treated.
Monitor copper level with Hanna Brand copper test kit- No API brand. Also monitor Ammonia levels while in quarantine with a reliable test kit and add aeration during treatment using an air stone.
The display tank will have to be kept fishless (FALLOW) for 6-8 weeks to assure the existing parasites go through their life cycle without a host fish and die off and with occupants exposed, they too should go into quarantine
A quarantine tank can be as simple as a tank from a second hand store or a starter kit from Walmart which most of the needed essentials.

 

[exnisstech]

I picked up a 100g stock tank when I followed my 180g and was able to to treat all fish together in one tank. Just thinking it might be easier treating and keeping up on a single tank vs multiples.

 

[reefrocker82]

I picked up a 100g stock tank when I followed my 180g and was able to to treat all fish together in one tank. Just thinking it might be easier treating and keeping up on a single tank vs multiples.

That’s what I’m leaning towards. I have an 75 Any suggestions on filtration? From what I understand it’s no carbon, no skimmer, just a hob with filter floss and a sponge along with water changes to keep ammonia in check? That’ll be fun for two months lol

 

[get-salty]

That is a lot of fish to catch bud.. i feel the pain.
good luck and hope all of your fish will bounce back quickly.

QT:
I've set one up two yrs ago and it is still running 24/7.
Simple setup - a HOB filter, heater, air stone, and seachem ammonia alert >

Amazon product

 

[reefrocker82]

That is a lot of fish to catch bud.. i feel the pain.
good luck and hope all of your fish will bounce back quickly.

QT:
I've set one up two yrs ago and it is still running 24/7.
Simple setup - a HOB filter, heater, air stone, and seachem ammonia alert >

Amazon product

Yeah, the only one I’m really concerned about is a purple dart fish that I recently added. I have a lot of rock work and I’ve only seen him a few times. Should be fun lol. Thanks

 

[chase240sx]

I treated marine ich in the display with corals using polyp labs medic I used and had no fatalities and I still have all of those fish no ich incidents since however I would advise using the heavier dosage in the instructions that’s what I did and I had great results

 

[exnisstech]

That’s what I’m leaning towards. I have an 75 Any suggestions on filtration? From what I understand it’s no carbon, no skimmer, just a hob with filter floss and a sponge along with water changes to keep ammonia in check? That’ll be fun for two months lol

I ran an aquaclear 110 hob because I always kept sponges seeded in the sump ready to go. I've also used a canister filter but the hob is easier to maintain. Heat and a power head or two and that's about it I think. I also added an ATO because I had a spare.
As to ammonia control I did things differently than what is recommended and ran live rock that I had in wet storage. I had some large tangs that had been with me for years along with some other fish and I just couldn't see them being comfortable with pvc pipes for almost 3 months. The rock did absorb copper so it took a while to get it stable but once it stabilized I just added the correct amount of copper to any new water and it worked fine. It's been several years so I don't remember the timeline. When it was all done I was able to remove the copper from the rocks with cuprisorb and later used them in a reef tank.
This is just how I did it and not a recommendation.

 

[MnFish1]

I would consider a sponge filter (a large one) - which will help with filtration as well as oxygenation - which is important.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

That’s what I’m leaning towards. I have an 75 Any suggestions on filtration? From what I understand it’s no carbon, no skimmer, just a hob with filter floss and a sponge along with water changes to keep ammonia in check? That’ll be fun for two months lol

Yep, that’s ich. Maintaining water quality in the QT is going to be a challenge. Do you have any seeded biomedia in your DT that you can move over? Anything that is non calcium based that has bacteria growing on it? If not, you may need to resort to bottled bacteria….otherwise, it will take massive water changes to keep the ammonia down.

Be sure to get the copper level up to 2.25 ppm ASAP.

Just checking - if your DT doesn’t have a lot of invertebrates in it, it might be easier to move them to a holding tank and run your DT in hyposalinity.

 

[reefrocker82]

Yep, that’s ich. Maintaining water quality in the QT is going to be a challenge. Do you have any seeded biomedia in your DT that you can move over? Anything that is non calcium based that has bacteria growing on it? If not, you may need to resort to bottled bacteria….otherwise, it will take massive water changes to keep the ammonia down.

Be sure to get the copper level up to 2.25 ppm ASAP.

Just checking - if your DT doesn’t have a lot of invertebrates in it, it might be easier to move them to a holding tank and run your DT in hyposalinity.

I have a sponge that I plan on sticking in a HOB, some ceramic blocks, and a ton of rock rubble. I know rock isn’t ideal but what about the ceramic? I also have a bio-reactor that isn’t being used. I wonder how long it would take to establish?
I have quite a few inverts and a handful of corals so I’m pretty much stuck with having to move the fish to a QT.

 

[Tamberav]

That’s what I’m leaning towards. I have an 75 Any suggestions on filtration? From what I understand it’s no carbon, no skimmer, just a hob with filter floss and a sponge along with water changes to keep ammonia in check? That’ll be fun for two months lol

Fritz works quickly to establish media. Sponge filters, bio balls, media, etc.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I have a sponge that I plan on sticking in a HOB, some ceramic blocks, and a ton of rock rubble. I know rock isn’t ideal but what about the ceramic? I also have a bio-reactor that isn’t being used. I wonder how long it would take to establish?
I have quite a few inverts and a handful of corals so I’m pretty much stuck with having to move the fish to a QT.

These materials will all work, but they need to be colonized with bacteria from an existing tank for weeks/months prior to use. Without a coating of beneficial bacteria, these materials won’t help at all, by themselves, they are inert.

 

[reefrocker82]

These materials will all work, but they need to be colonized with bacteria from an existing tank for weeks/months prior to use. Without a coating of beneficial bacteria, these materials won’t help at all, by themselves, they are inert.

They’ve all been in my sump for a couple of months and prior to that cycling with live rock for months so I’m sure they’re established. I’ll probably try to stick with the sponges though and avoid the LR and ceramic since they apparently can absorb the copper.

 

[reefrocker82]

Hello reefers,

Of the many years that I have kept fish I have never had to deal with any illnesses so this is a first for me. I noticed yesterday that my purple tang is very suddenly covered in white spots. He looked great in the morning but by the time I got home he was covered. I’m not seeing any signs of distress so far. He eats well and frequently visits the cleaner goby. I currently offer nori every other day as well as live ulva and gracilaria, brs pellets, mysis, and rods. Plus he is a very busy grazer. I also have a clown goby that seems to be affected as well. All others appear okay atm.
I have many questions on treatment. First off is the size of the QT tank. I have many available from 10, 20, 30, and 75g. I know a 20g should suffice for maybe a couple of fish but I have 14 that I need to catch and treat. Would it be best to put them all in a 75 for a couple of months or maybe split them up into a 20 and 30? I am planning on treating with copper followed by a fallow period for the DT. I have ordered a Hanna checker, copper power, some garlic, and selcon. Does anyone have any tips they’d like to share?

Anyone have any thoughts on using a bashsea pellet bioreactor for the QT?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

They’ve all been in my sump for a couple of months and prior to that cycling with live rock for months so I’m sure they’re established. I’ll probably try to stick with the sponges though and avoid the LR and ceramic since they apparently can absorb the copper.

Great - that will work then. Ceramics are fine to use, just avoid LR or coral sand.