Help with ich

[Lil Puff]

I have a 125 gallon tank with the stock list as follows:
Miniatus Grouper
Zebra Moray Eel
Clown Trigger
Dog Face Puffer
3 x Sargent Major damsels
Huma Huma Trigger
Banded Sand Catshark

I believe my Clown trigger and dog face puffer have become infected with ich. I don’t have a quarantine tank.

The main fish I want to keep is the banded sand cat shark. I read that sharks can’t become infected with ich but are carriers (I don’t know how true that is). I also read that sharks can’t be treated with hyposalinity or copper based treatments. I am also aware there can be no fish in the tank for 70+ days or the fish will catch ich again. I am unsure of how to treat all the fish with the shark. I am planning on upgrading my tank in the near future if that helps with anything. If the shark cannot catch ich if I took the fish to my lfs will the shark be fine with out treatment? I can’t do two sets of treatments as I don’t have enough tanks. Is there a treatment that will treat all the fish at once that won’t kill the shark? If I do take my fish back to my lfs except for the shark is there a way to stop him from being a carrier without quarantining? Could I treat the new tank when I get it and use it as a quarantine for the shark or will I have to leave it for 70+ days after the treatment? Could I possibly use the tank they are currently in as a quarantine and then move them to the new tank?

That’s all the ideas I have that doesn’t involve getting a new tank for a quarantine. I am not sure if any of those ideas will work which is why I am here asking for new ideas or feedback on the current ones. The main goal here is to keep the shark without a quarantine. I don’t know if it is possible though. Apologies for the poor layout of the ideas. The ideas sound good in my head but I can’t transfer them into words and I am only 16 lol.

Parameters
Ph: 8.3
Nitrate: 0.1
Phosphate: 0.01

Thanks in advance
Seth

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have a 125 gallon tank with the stock list as follows:
Miniatus Grouper
Zebra Moray Eel
Clown Trigger
Dog Face Puffer
3 x Sargent Major damsels
Huma Huma Trigger
Banded Sand Catshark

I believe my Clown trigger and dog face puffer have become infected with ich. I don’t have a quarantine tank.

The main fish I want to keep is the banded sand cat shark. I read that sharks can’t become infected with ich but are carriers (I don’t know how true that is). I also read that sharks can’t be treated with hyposalinity or copper based treatments. I am also aware there can be no fish in the tank for 70+ days or the fish will catch ich again. I am unsure of how to treat all the fish with the shark. I am planning on upgrading my tank in the near future if that helps with anything. If the shark cannot catch ich if I took the fish to my lfs will the shark be fine with out treatment? I can’t do two sets of treatments as I don’t have enough tanks. Is there a treatment that will treat all the fish at once that won’t kill the shark? If I do take my fish back to my lfs except for the shark is there a way to stop him from being a carrier without quarantining? Could I treat the new tank when I get it and use it as a quarantine for the shark or will I have to leave it for 70+ days after the treatment? Could I possibly use the tank they are currently in as a quarantine and then move them to the new tank?

That’s all the ideas I have that doesn’t involve getting a new tank for a quarantine. I am not sure if any of those ideas will work which is why I am here asking for new ideas or feedback on the current ones. The main goal here is to keep the shark without a quarantine. I don’t know if it is possible though. Apologies for the poor layout of the ideas. The ideas sound good in my head but I can’t transfer them into words and I am only 16 lol.

Parameters
Ph: 8.3
Nitrate: 0.1
Phosphate: 0.01

Thanks in advance
Seth

To confirm ich, please post pics of the infected fish under white lighting. You will off course need to and can start on a quarantine setiing for treatment. A walmart starter kit generally has the essentials needed to get started. If these fish Do have ich, there is a good chance the others are infected. If your tank is a FISH ONLY tank - No coral, treatment will be easier but shark which is scaless will pose a treatment issue.
For the shark, while I do not favor reef safe type treatment, Ployp Lab MEDIC along with Ruby Rally pro will go easy on it.
The others. . . Copper Power or Coppersafe at therapuetic level 2.25-2.5 for a full 30 days will be the treatment. Monitor copper with a reliable test kit such as Hanna copper test - No API
Monitor ammonia levels during treatment also with a reliable test kit and imcrease aeration via air stone during treatment

 

[Lil Puff]

This is the best I could get. Upon further inspection it seems the dog face puffer has something up with his eye.

The ich is only on the fins and I can’t really get a good photo of it.

 

[Lil Puff]

If your tank is a FISH ONLY tank - No coral, treatment will be easier but shark which is scaless will pose a treatment issue.

If I got rid of all the fish except for the shark and treated him by himself would he become a carrier again or would I need to leave the tank fishless for 70+ days still

Could I possibly get rid of all the fish except the shark and treat the shark then move him to my new tank? Or does the tank that is going to be treated be a new tank that has not yet been infected by ich?

thanks for the reply

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I have a 125 gallon tank with the stock list as follows:
Miniatus Grouper
Zebra Moray Eel
Clown Trigger
Dog Face Puffer
3 x Sargent Major damsels
Huma Huma Trigger
Banded Sand Catshark

I believe my Clown trigger and dog face puffer have become infected with ich. I don’t have a quarantine tank.

The main fish I want to keep is the banded sand cat shark. I read that sharks can’t become infected with ich but are carriers (I don’t know how true that is). I also read that sharks can’t be treated with hyposalinity or copper based treatments. I am also aware there can be no fish in the tank for 70+ days or the fish will catch ich again. I am unsure of how to treat all the fish with the shark. I am planning on upgrading my tank in the near future if that helps with anything. If the shark cannot catch ich if I took the fish to my lfs will the shark be fine with out treatment? I can’t do two sets of treatments as I don’t have enough tanks. Is there a treatment that will treat all the fish at once that won’t kill the shark? If I do take my fish back to my lfs except for the shark is there a way to stop him from being a carrier without quarantining? Could I treat the new tank when I get it and use it as a quarantine for the shark or will I have to leave it for 70+ days after the treatment? Could I possibly use the tank they are currently in as a quarantine and then move them to the new tank?

That’s all the ideas I have that doesn’t involve getting a new tank for a quarantine. I am not sure if any of those ideas will work which is why I am here asking for new ideas or feedback on the current ones. The main goal here is to keep the shark without a quarantine. I don’t know if it is possible though. Apologies for the poor layout of the ideas. The ideas sound good in my head but I can’t transfer them into words and I am only 16 lol.

Parameters
Ph: 8.3
Nitrate: 0.1
Phosphate: 0.01

Thanks in advance
Seth

Correct in that you can’t run hyposalinity with the shark. Copper will be an issue with the eel and the shark. I’ve dosed both species with Coppersafe in the past in a couple of cases and the sharks were fine but the eels stopped feeding.
I don’t know how the shark might affect the fallow period.

Jay

 

[Lil Puff]

Correct in that you can’t run hyposalinity with the shark. Copper will be an issue with the eel and the shark. I’ve dosed both species with Coppersafe in the past in a couple of cases and the sharks were fine but the eels stopped feeding.
I don’t know how the shark might affect the fallow period.

Jay

Thanks for the reply

Do you know if I can use my current dt as a quarantine then move them into a new dt after the treatment to save me from buying a quarantine tank and to skip the fallow period?

If I was to go through with this option would I be able to move the bioballs in my current tank to the new tank to help cycle or would they carry ich?

thanks again for the help

 

[Lil Puff]

Upon more research it may not be ich as the spots on the dogface puffers fins have not changed locations and I read ich disappears after 48hrs and appears in a different location. Does it look like ich to you guys? I have recently treated with praziquantel as I recently had a fluke outbreak and I thought it had some how came back. My dog face puffers eyes are cloudy. Could he possibly have a bacterial infection as both his eyes are cloudy? Another note I forgot to add is only the dog face puffer and clown trigger have had these symptoms for about 3-4 weeks and none of the other fish have caught it which is weird as ich is extremely contagious. The praziquantel also did not have an affect on the problem.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Upon more research it may not be ich as the spots on the dogface puffers fins have not changed locations and I read ich disappears after 48hrs and appears in a different location. Does it look like ich to you guys? I have recently treated with praziquantel as I recently had a fluke outbreak and I thought it had some how came back. My dog face puffers eyes are cloudy. Could he possibly have a bacterial infection as both his eyes are cloudy? Another note I forgot to add is only the dog face puffer and clown trigger have had these symptoms for about 3-4 weeks and none of the other fish have caught it which is weird as ich is extremely contagious. The praziquantel also did not have an affect on the problem.

3 to 4 weeks is unusual for ich - more typically it explodes in numbers over the first two weeks.
Yes, the ich trophonts that create the white spots drop off and reproduce about 36 hours after you see one in a specific location on the fish. If the same spot is in the same location on the fish longer than that, it isn’t ich.
Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

Upon more research it may not be ich as the spots on the dogface puffers fins have not changed locations and I read ich disappears after 48hrs and appears in a different location. Does it look like ich to you guys? I have recently treated with praziquantel as I recently had a fluke outbreak and I thought it had some how came back. My dog face puffers eyes are cloudy. Could he possibly have a bacterial infection as both his eyes are cloudy? Another note I forgot to add is only the dog face puffer and clown trigger have had these symptoms for about 3-4 weeks and none of the other fish have caught it which is weird as ich is extremely contagious. The praziquantel also did not have an affect on the problem.

I am suspecting after seeing pics flukes and a 5 min freshwater dip with water the same as display tank will offer temporary relief and allow some of the flukes to drop off but no guarantee. This would then change the treatment to Prazi pro with two 8 day doses and a water change in between.
Lets confirm first

 

[Lil Puff]

I am suspecting after seeing pics flukes and a 5 min freshwater dip with water the same as display tank will offer temporary relief and allow some of the flukes to drop off but no guarantee. This would then change the treatment to Prazi pro with two 8 day doses and a water change in between.
Lets confirm first

3 to 4 weeks is unusual for ich - more typically it explodes in numbers over the first two weeks.
Yes, the ich trophonts that create the white spots drop off and reproduce about 36 hours after you see one in a specific location on the fish. If the same spot is in the same location on the fish longer than that, it isn’t ich.
Jay

Are all reef-safe medications safe for sharks? I have some Pimafix which I am looking to use and it is reef safe but I'm not sure if it's safe for sharks.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Are all reef-safe medications safe for sharks? I have some Pimafix which I am looking to use and it is reef safe but I'm not sure if it's safe for sharks.

Pimafix is not a mdication but rather a tonic and proven somewhat effective with freshwater but rendered useless in saltwater as is is merely Teak tree oil.
Polyp Lab Medic and Ruby Rally pro work together and I have had success with it, but do not fully depend on results as MEDIC is peroxide salts but has worked for me. . . or was it the rally pro is the question.
No Chelated copper, or cupramine, nor paraguard whichis milder though