Flame Hawkfish Has Ick (Need QT & Medication Advice!)

[higher99]

Hey R2R,
Hope everyone’s tanks are doing well! My 25-gallon Lagoon has been running smoothly, all my fish are eating well and acting normal. I’ve got:

• Flame hawkfish (recently added)
• Firefish
• 2 clownfish
• Watchman goby
• A mix of inverts (pistol shrimp, blood red shrimp)
• Some snails
• Soft corals

Everything’s been great, but today I noticed some white spots on one of my hawkfish. I’m thinking it could be marine ich. The hawkfish eats normally, but I've noticed it breathing a little heavier than usual these past few days. I went ahead and took precaution and setup a QT tank and wanted some advice.

I’ve set up a 10-gallon quarantine tank with:

• Heater
• Air pump + air stone
• PVC for hiding
• Light

I don’t have a hang-on-back filter yet, and I want to make sure I do this right. I’m looking for advice on:

• Recommended medications and dosing
• How to safely monitor treatment
• What the timeline looks like for treatment and recovery
• Any other tips you think I should know

Do you recommend me adding live rock from the main display or rock rubble to seed my QT tank? The QT tank water is very cold and has no beneficial bacteria whatsoever at the moment.

Looking forward to any advice, thanks!

 

[higher99]

#fishmedics

I sent you a PM @Jay Hemdal , I seen you're very knowledgeable and always help reefers here, so I'd love for you to check this out.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hey R2R,
Hope everyone’s tanks are doing well! My 25-gallon Lagoon has been running smoothly, all my fish are eating well and acting normal. I’ve got:

• Flame hawkfish (recently added)
• Firefish
• 2 clownfish
• Watchman goby
• A mix of inverts (pistol shrimp, blood red shrimp)
• Some snails
• Soft corals

Everything’s been great, but today I noticed some white spots on one of my hawkfish. I’m thinking it could be marine ich. The hawkfish eats normally, but I've noticed it breathing a little heavier than usual these past few days. I went ahead and took precaution and setup a QT tank and wanted some advice.

I’ve set up a 10-gallon quarantine tank with:

• Heater
• Air pump + air stone
• PVC for hiding
• Light

I don’t have a hang-on-back filter yet, and I want to make sure I do this right. I’m looking for advice on:

• Recommended medications and dosing
• How to safely monitor treatment
• What the timeline looks like for treatment and recovery
• Any other tips you think I should know

Do you recommend me adding live rock from the main display or rock rubble to seed my QT tank? The QT tank water is very cold and has no beneficial bacteria whatsoever at the moment.

Looking forward to any advice, thanks!

I see a couple of spots that might be ich - too early to tell really, but given that it’s a new fish, you are prudent to begin setting up a treatment tank.

You’ll want to adjust the QT salinity and water temperature to be the same as your DT. There a couple of ways to set up a biofilter in the QT - moving some rocks over or using bottled bacteria like Dr Tim’s

The fish will need to stay out of your DT for 60 days so they won’t get reinfected when you put them back.

Your two treatment choices would be coppersafe using the Hanna checker or hyposalinity.

F I would wait a day or two to confirm ich - watch for spots that change location and generally increase in numbers day to day. Also watch for scratching because flame hawks are also prone to flukes.

 

[higher99]

I see a couple of spots that might be ich - too early to tell really, but given that it’s a new fish, you are prudent to begin setting up a treatment tank.

You’ll want to adjust the QT salinity and water temperature to be the same as your DT. There a couple of ways to set up a biofilter in the QT - moving some rocks over or using bottled bacteria like Dr Tim’s

The fish will need to stay out of your DT for 60 days so they won’t get reinfected when you put them back.

Your two treatment choices would be coppersafe using the Hanna checker or hyposalinity.

F I would wait a day or two to confirm ich - watch for spots that change location and generally increase in numbers day to day. Also watch for scratching because flame hawks are also prone to flukes.

Thanks for the reply, I've ordered everything on my end. Just need to get a inkbird controller for the led heater.

 

[higher99]

Updates:

So the hawkfish was moved the the QT last night and surprisingly, the ick spots were gone from him. I heard that ick can fall off and reattach itself but I'm not too sure where it's at exactly. I have not seen any symptoms on my clownfish / goby / firefish that's still in the tank nor any inverts.

Do you reccomend me pull all the fish out from the main display into the QT to be safe? Or do you think the ick was defeated?

All of the medication and supplies are scheduled to arrive either tomorrow or the next day so I'll start dosing the copper power.

The hawkfish lost a little color but still swims fine and also eat mysis fine.

Would I also need to add a filter to the tank? I only have a pump at the moment and debating getting a HOB / Sponge filter.

 

[W31Olds]

Ich is never defeated and doesn't go away. It can be suppressed using Ich management techniques, but they only work as a proactive defense mechanism. An inexpensive Sponge filter is fine.

 

[higher99]

Ich is never defeated and doesn't go away. It can be suppressed using Ich management techniques, but they only work as a proactive defense mechanism. An inexpensive Sponge filter is fine.

That's a bummer, should I evactuate my main display to qt? I feel like it might stress the fish out, especially catching them with nets.

 

[resortez]

Exactly how recent was the flame hawk added???? Asking to get a good idea of how many life/reproductive cycles the ich has gone through. That might tell you if the ich has seeded your DT. Hopefully it hasn’t

 

[higher99]

Exactly how recent was the flame hawk added???? Asking to get a good idea of how many life/reproductive cycles the ich has gone through. That might tell you if the ich has seeded your DT. Hopefully it hasn’t

So I made an amatur mistake of buying a unqted fish from petco but it's been in the display for around 2 weeks now. I did not see any visible spots on the hawkfish at the store and my local petco is pretty sanitary when it comes to the marine fish.
Regarding my other fish, it's been a month plus and I have not spot any ick on them at the given moment.

 

[higher99]

I'm open to move all my fish to the qt to be double sure but I'm not sure if I should remove them today or wait for tommorow until the copper power arrives.

 

[resortez]

2 weeks in, personal, I would assume your other fish are on the safe side. There’s still a chance, that’s how bad ich can be, it can linger.
Personally, I would only QT the flame hawk on its own, build up the hawks immunity & transfer it back to DT after 60 days like mentioned by Jay.
A key in this hobby, patience & tons of it. Good luck.

 

[higher99]

Update:

The Hanna checker & copper power arrived. I went ahead and dosed a little under 6ML to start. The total dosage for a 10 gallon tank is around 14-15Ml of copper power and I was advised to dose it slowly. I’ll keep everyone updated on any weird behavior from the flame hawkish in the next few days.

Also did a water change today since I don’t have a HOB filter at the moment. I plan to order one shortly.

I also have a huge lingering question regarding my main display. Should I monitor it and wait on moving all the fish? I have gobies & firefish and they’re a pain to catch and small too, I don’t want the stress to kill them.

Should I ONLY move the fish as soon as I see ick spot on them? The hawkfish I was 100% sure I saw ick spots but they disappeared the next day oddly enough.

I’m taking precautions but I just want to make sure all my other inhabitants will make it too.

 

[higher99]

2 weeks in, personal, I would assume your other fish are on the safe side. There’s still a chance, that’s how bad ich can be, it can linger.
Personally, I would only QT the flame hawk on its own, build up the hawks immunity & transfer it back to DT after 60 days like mentioned by Jay.
A key in this hobby, patience & tons of it. Good luck.

Is it true that ick can drop and multiply? I feel like my tank is already infested and it’s a matter of time before my other fish gets hit with it.

Is the right thing to move all the fish into QT?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Update:

The Hanna checker & copper power arrived. I went ahead and dosed a little under 6ML to start. The total dosage for a 10 gallon tank is around 14-15Ml of copper power and I was advised to dose it slowly. I’ll keep everyone updated on any weird behavior from the flame hawkish in the next few days.

Also did a water change today since I don’t have a HOB filter at the moment. I plan to order one shortly.

I also have a huge lingering question regarding my main display. Should I monitor it and wait on moving all the fish? I have gobies & firefish and they’re a pain to catch and small too, I don’t want the stress to kill them.

Should I ONLY move the fish as soon as I see ick spot on them? The hawkfish I was 100% sure I saw ick spots but they disappeared the next day oddly enough.

I’m taking precautions but I just want to make sure all my other inhabitants will make it too.

I wasn’t bc 100% on the ich diagnosis. Since the tank is set up, you can wait to see if any new fish develop symptoms and then see how the hawkfish’s spots react to the copper.

Moving a fish with ich will often show a drop in the ich infection for some time, due to the life cycle of ich, where the reproductive stage is located off the fish. When you move the fish, those can’t get back to the fish.

 

[HandsInTheTank]

I’m currently having an ick out break. I put all my fish in the QT tank. Starting to drop salinity today by 1pt a day until it hits 1.009. Then leave for a day or so. Then slowly will increase back to 1.025.
I chose to do it this way due to it really being the only way to starve and kill the ick. The fish have to be QT for 6 weeks. The ick in my DT will need to starve and die. I’m curious if I’m going to be successful. I’m really nervous to drop the salinity that low

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I’m currently having an ick out break. I put all my fish in the QT tank. Starting to drop salinity today by 1pt a day until it hits 1.009. Then leave for a day or so. Then slowly will increase back to 1.025.
I chose to do it this way due to it really being the only way to starve and kill the ick. The fish have to be QT for 6 weeks. The ick in my DT will need to starve and die. I’m curious if I’m going to be successful. I’m really nervous to drop the salinity that low

You need to get to full hyposalinity in 6 partial drops over 72 hours. Hyposalinity doesn't control ich until you reach 1.010. If you take too long to get to that value, the fish have time to become very sick. Also, you need to hold the infected fish in hypo for 25 to 30 days. Bringing fish out of hypo must be done more slowly, I have full instructions here:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2024 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[HandsInTheTank]

I’m currently having an ick out break. I put all my fish in the QT tank. Starting to drop salinity today by 1pt a day until it hits 1.009. Then leave for a day or so. Then slowly will increase back to 1.025.
I chose to do it this way due to it really being the only way to starve and kill the ick. The fish have to be QT for 6 weeks. The ick in my DT will need to starve and die. I’m curious if I’m going to be successful. I’m really nervous to drop the salinity that low

You need to get to full hyposalinity in 6 partial drops over 72 hours. Hyposalinity doesn't control ich until you reach 1.010. If you take too long to get to that value, the fish have time to become very sick. Also, you need to hold the infected fish in hypo for 25 to 30 days. Bringing fish out of hypo must be done more slowly, I have full instructions here:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2024 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...

www.reef2reef.com

Wonderful! Thanks!