Fish still dying even with UV sterilizer in place

[gabriel21946]

I have a UV sterilizer installed, but still noticed my new fishes will get what seems to be ich shortly after being introduced. This happened about a month ago and I placed a more powerful pump on my UV. Within a day I noticed the ich started disappearing on my fish, but now I introduced some mew fishes (one tang and 2 Clown fish) about a week ago. Just yesterday I noticed the tang to have white spots most likely ich and this morning I lost the tang and one clown fish. My other fishes are fine and my two other tangs have no visible spots on them although they are pretty hardy fishes. They have survived ich breakouts twice now. Not sure what else I can do to add more fish without causing an ich breakout and losing my new fishes. Thank you in advance for any feedback

 

[HuduVudu]

I have a UV sterilizer installed, but still noticed my new fishes will get what seems to be ich shortly after being introduced. This happened about a month ago and I placed a more powerful pump on my UV. Within a day I noticed the ich started disappearing on my fish, but now I introduced some mew fishes (one tang and 2 Clown fish) about a week ago. Just yesterday I noticed the tang to have white spots most likely ich and this morning I lost the tang and one clown fish. My other fishes are fine and my two other tangs have no visible spots on them although they are pretty hardy fishes. They have survived ich breakouts twice now. Not sure what else I can do to add more fish without causing an ich breakout and losing my new fishes. Thank you in advance for any feedback

How big is your tank?
How long have you had it set up?

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

UV sterilizer will decrease the parasitic load if an properly but it will not kill all the parasites. Most likely, whenever you introduced the new fish, you introduced more ich parasites into the system as well. The answer is to go a medicated quarantine in a separate tank and run your display tank fallow until all the parasites are dead. UV sterilizer is just one took to minimize the effect of parasites.

 

[albano]

While the UV will not guarantee an Ick free tank, putting a ‘more powerful pump’ on it will move water thru it faster, making it less effective (IMO)

 

[davidcalgary29]

I think it's likely that OP is mistaking the ich life cycle for proof of efficacy (or lack thereof) of UV as a control mechanism. Tomonts will fall off of fish and it will often appear that fish are "recovering" early on in the disease cycle. Tomont-free periods will disappear as the parasites multiply in your tank.

@gabriel21946, you're going to have to invest in a quarantine system -- it doesn't have to be expensive! -- and start treating your fish, safely and in a controlled fashion, with copper (using a Hanna HR copper tester) and let your display go fallow for at least 45 days. You need to break this cycle, and UV alone isn't going to do it for you.

 

[Aspect]

Is the UV properly sized for your total volume and are you hitting the right flow rate to sterilize Protozoans/Parasites?

 

[gabriel21946]

How big is your tank?
How long have you had it set up?

It's 95 gallomd and had it now for a year

 

[mfinn]

UV sterilizer will decrease the parasitic load if an properly but it will not kill all the parasites. Most likely, whenever you introduced the new fish, you introduced more ich parasites into the system as well. The answer is to go a medicated quarantine in a separate tank and run your display tank fallow until all the parasites are dead. UV sterilizer is just one took to minimize the effect of parasites.

This is exactly what needs to be done.

 

[gabriel21946]

This is exactly what needs to be done.

And the same is true even for clown fish? I thought they were hardy fish? Also is it to late for the surviving clown fish or should I quarantine him after I already introduced him to the DT. My other fish have no signs of ich

 

[davidcalgary29]

And the same is true even for clown fish? I thought they were hardy fish? Also is it to late for the surviving clown fish or should I quarantine him after I already introduced him to the DT. My other fish have no signs of ich

Yes.

 

[Bfragale]

Do you have any photos of the infected fish?

based on how quick new fish died, leads me to believe it may not be Ick, but maybe velvet or brook. But I could be wrong.

only way to for sure rid tank is go fallow on dt and do a proper qt on all fish. And any new additions going forward should also go through qt.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Your entire tank is infected. Some of the fish may not be symptomatic but they are now carriers. Clown fish are hardy but not completely immune.

As someone who has been in your shoes (I had a very similar experience when I was in the hobby 20 years ago) I’ll tell you a secret about this hobby. If you want to succeed you must master the art of medicated quarantine. Some will disagree with me, but this has been my experience. It is also the same reason public aquariums quarantine all their new arrivals. As you gain more experience with it you will realize that it really is not that hard to quarantine. And when you see the fish healthy and thriving in the display tank, it will all be worth it.

 

[gabriel21946]

Your entire tank is infected. Some of the fish may not be symptomatic but they are now carriers. Clown fish are hardy but not completely immune.

As someone who has been in your shoes (I had a very similar experience when I was in the hobby 20 years ago) I’ll tell you a secret about this hobby. If you want to succeed you must master the art of medicated quarantine. Some will disagree with me, but this has been my experience. It is also the same reason public aquariums quarantine all their new arrivals. As you gain more experience with it you will realize that it really is not that hard to quarantine. And when you see the fish healthy and thriving in the display tank, it will all be worth it.

I will have to give this a try. This is probably the third batch of fishes I have lost and it's very frustrating given I try to take all the precautions stated online to even getting the UV, but I still keep losing fish. I will have to try a QT. Do I need to pull all my other fish out and place them in QT. They have all survived ich from what I can tell several times already and I say ich because they were covered in white spots so I am assuming ich.

 

[Sharkbait19]

All current fish need to be quarantined and treated, and the tank must remain fishless for 45 days.
There is no true immunity to ich, certain fish can just be more resistant to it.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Diffuse white spots can be ich or velvet. If you want to eradicate it you must treat all fish and run your tank fallow. There is a lot of info on this site as how to do both.

 

[albano]

Where are you getting your fish from?

 

[gabriel21946]

Where are you getting your fish from?

I buy from a store in Clifton NJ called absolutely fish, but I also bought fish from WWC about 2 months ago and those fishes from WWC all perished. Only my existing fishes have been able to survive

 

[albano]

Was wondering if you went to LFS in New Canaan or Greenwich

 

[gabriel21946]

Was wondering if you went to LFS in New Canaan or Greenwich

Never heard of LFS in New Canaan. I live in New Canaan and occasionally go to life Aquatics, but haven't had luck with some of their fishes either. Last year my fish stock was wiped out from a fish I purchased there

 

[albano]

Never heard of LFS in New Canaan. I live in New Canaan and occasionally go to life Aquatics, but haven't had luck with some of their fishes either. Last year my fish stock was wiped out from a fish I purchased there

By LFS, I meant Local Fish Store… such as Life Aquatic, Greenwich aquaria or House of Fins.