Ich breakout in 400g

[TheReefer2005]

Hello all a few weeks back I noticed my tank had an ich breakout in my farm tank. An achilles is among them… i started feeding nori super super heavy and it all went away. Today i was feeding and noticed the tank had another breakout and i wanted ti ask for more opinions on what should be done. I have added a video of how my achilles looks today right before posting this thread. Pls let me know if I should continue to feed heavy or is there no chance they will survive in the tank. Everyones still eating and all fish were properly qt before added. I will say once I went back to normal feeding of frozen and nori once or twice a day the breakout happened again.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello all a few weeks back I noticed my tank had an ich breakout in my farm tank. An achilles is among them… i started feeding nori super super heavy and it all went away. Today i was feeding and noticed the tank had another breakout and i wanted ti ask for more opinions on what should be done. I have added a video of how my achilles looks today right before posting this thread. Pls let me know if I should continue to feed heavy or is there no chance they will survive in the tank. Everyones still eating and all fish were properly qt before added. I will say once I went back to normal feeding of frozen and nori once or twice a day the breakout happened again.

Fish shows visual signs of ich and is still present. I believe the trophants dropped off to reproduce and are returning . Nori and feeding is not a cure and of 4 + decades of reefing, there are alternative methods for which feeding has never been one but often buys time

 

[TheReefer2005]

Hello all a few weeks back I noticed my tank had an ich breakout in my farm tank. An achilles is among them… i started feeding nori super super heavy and it all went away. Today i was feeding and noticed the tank had another breakout and i wanted ti ask for more opinions on what should be done. I have added a video of how my achilles looks today right before posting this thread. Pls let me know if I should continue to feed heavy or is there no chance they will survive in the tank. Everyones still eating and all fish were properly qt before added. I will say once I went back to normal feeding of frozen and nori once or twice a day the breakout happened again.

Fish shows visual signs of ich and is still present. I believe the trophants dropped off to reproduce and are returning . Nori and feeding is not a cure and of 4 + decades of reefing, there are alternative methods for which feeding has never been one but often buys time

What should I do then? I have about 12 tangs and 17 little fish like chromis, Mandarins, and a gramma

 

[vetteguy53081]

What should I do then? I have about 12 tangs and 17 little fish like chromis, Mandarins, and a gramma

Having a large tank myself, you want a quarantine tank always. You will need to setup a large rubbermaid tub and enter the tangs for sure into this container and treat with coppersafe or Copper Power at therapeutic level 2.25 for a FULL 30 days (do not interrupt this 30 day period) monitored with a 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. All other fish in with it should also be removed as they have also been exposed to the parasites and placed in quarantine tank.
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. Inverts and coral can remain in the display (not treatment) tank during fallow period. Mandarin will have to be placed yet in a separate tank and observed and if ich present, can be treated with Chloroquine phosphate

 

[W31Olds]

In the first Video I see Ich on your Achilles so you will need to treat for it. I have a couple of questions/suggestions. What is a Farm Tank? I assume it's for Corals, however I don't see that many. Why is your water so cloudy looking? Your best bet might be to remove the few Inverts and rehouse them then treat the Fish in your Farm Tank.

 

[TheReefer2005]

What should I do then? I have about 12 tangs and 17 little fish like chromis, Mandarins, and a gramma

Having a large tank myself, you want a quarantine tank always. You will need to setup a large rubbermaid tub and enter the tangs for sure into this container and treat with coppersafe or Copper Power at therapeutic level 2.25 for a FULL 30 days (do not interrupt this 30 day period) monitored with a 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. All other fish in with it should also be removed as they have also been exposed to the parasites and placed in quarantine tank.
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. Inverts and coral can remain in the display (not treatment) tank during fallow period. Mandarin will have to be placed yet in a separate tank and observed and if ich present, can be treated with Chloroquine phosphate

How would I go abt keeping nutrients up in the tank without fish?

 

[TheReefer2005]

In the first Video I see Ich on your Achilles so you will need to treat for it. I have a couple of questions/suggestions. What is a Farm Tank? I assume it's for Corals, however I don't see that many. Why is your water so cloudy looking? Your best bet might be to remove the few Inverts and rehouse them then treat the Fish in your Farm Tank.

Dealing with a bacterial bloom. Tanks just got acros in recently. They’re still small so u cant see much. I have a 40watt uv sterilizer from ice cap the all in one they make but its been cloudy for abt a week now

 

[W31Olds]

Nutrients are the least of your worries but very easy to solve. You can use Neonitro, Neophos, and Coral Food or just add regular food (pellets).

 

[vetteguy53081]

How would I go abt keeping nutrients up in the tank without fish?

Sorry for multiple answers here causing confusion, Every tank is different and equipped different and I wont compare with mine. You can use seeded sponge or media from another tank to maintain nutrients as well as testing periodically for changes with water quality

 

[LPS Bum]

If it’s Crypt (this won’t work with Velvet) and you don’t have any inverts (or you remove them to a separate system) you can control it with hyposalinity. I’ve bad a lot of success beating Crypt by dropping the specific gravity to 1.009 over the course of 48 hours and holding it there for 30 days. Then slowly raising the specific gravity back to your normal level over the course of 2 weeks.

Jay Hemdal has a great write up on hypo on this forum.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hello all a few weeks back I noticed my tank had an ich breakout in my farm tank. An achilles is among them… i started feeding nori super super heavy and it all went away. Today i was feeding and noticed the tank had another breakout and i wanted ti ask for more opinions on what should be done. I have added a video of how my achilles looks today right before posting this thread. Pls let me know if I should continue to feed heavy or is there no chance they will survive in the tank. Everyones still eating and all fish were properly qt before added. I will say once I went back to normal feeding of frozen and nori once or twice a day the breakout happened again.

I agree - the fish need to be moved to a hospital tank with an active biofilter and then treated with copper for ich, but then also with praziquantel for possible flukes - the Achilles is thin and a bit “wobbly” swimming and dull acting. That can be a sign of flukes. Then, with no fish in the frag tank, they could be returned after 70 days. Personally though, I focus on using other CUC in frag tanks and just keep them fishless.

 

[TheReefer2005]

Hello all a few weeks back I noticed my tank had an ich breakout in my farm tank. An achilles is among them… i started feeding nori super super heavy and it all went away. Today i was feeding and noticed the tank had another breakout and i wanted ti ask for more opinions on what should be done. I have added a video of how my achilles looks today right before posting this thread. Pls let me know if I should continue to feed heavy or is there no chance they will survive in the tank. Everyones still eating and all fish were properly qt before added. I will say once I went back to normal feeding of frozen and nori once or twice a day the breakout happened again.

I agree - the fish need to be moved to a hospital tank with an active biofilter and then treated with copper for ich, but then also with praziquantel for possible flukes - the Achilles is thin and a bit “wobbly” swimming and dull acting. That can be a sign of flukes. Then, with no fish in the frag tank, they could be returned after 70 days. Personally though, I focus on using other CUC in frag tanks and just keep them fishless.

How do you keep nutrients up without fish?

 

[CarpetSurfer]

Check out peroxide dosing. I have not seen ich in my tank after over 1 year of doing the recommended peroxide dosing treatment for a few months. It was in a stocked mixed reef and didn’t cause any issues. Have 5 tangs and none have shown issue since the treatment. I have since added multiple fish and have not had any further outbreaks

 

[TheReefer2005]

Check out peroxide dosing. I have not seen ich in my tank after 1 year of doing the recommended peroxide dosing treatment for a few months. It was in a stocked mixed reef and didn’t cause any issues. Have 5 tangs and none have shown issue since the treatment. I have since added multiple fish and have not had any further outbreaks

What tangs do u have?

 

[winxp_man]

As Vette stated, and Jay get fish in a QT. Fallow for 60 days worked for me. Just put many of my fish in the now new 300 system. Nothing better than a disease free tank.

I even did the peroxide treatment by dosing in the tank just for the sake of science at this point. All I did was kill a few corals and tick off the rest in one of my tanks. Ended up having to pull them and give them to a buddy of mine after 60 days fallow.

Secret to fallow is get the temp up to 80-81* slowly if your corals do okay then let the temp on the higher side, and get wakemakers/power heads to move water. Stagnant water can hide ich in the tomont stages then out they come once fish are back in. This has happened to me after I did 76 days fallow. Again slow temp increase in the DT as you’re doing the fallow period, then get water moving. Warmer temp and lights off get the ich to come out and play ball.

If you want nitrates dosing works, but I did silversides for my cuc to eat. And since they couldn’t eat a dead silver side over night it would start decomposing, and the circle of life in the world of micro biology would end up starting in place of no fish presence to give odd ammonia.

Going the food route, will only prevent the inevitable. That is the increase of disease numbers. Ich will only keep multiplying, and to the point that your fish will get over run. And not be able to fight them off any longer.


My new tank with poor fish that have gone through the wringer when it comes to QT. I even did a month and a half observation with them. And most are tangs.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

How do you keep nutrients up without fish?

The nitrifying bacteria can live a long time without food - the previous fed food just cycles around and around, plus the bacteria can go into a resting phase. That said, I generally “ghost feed” the tank lightly during fallow periods…..perhaps 1/8 of what you had been feeding when fish were in the tank.

 

[CarpetSurfer]

What tangs do u have?

Gem, purple, hippo, tomini, and yellow

 

[strich]

Going the food route, will only prevent the inevitable. That is the increase of disease numbers. Ich will only keep multiplying, and to the point that your fish will get over run. And not be able to fight them off any longer.

I read this comment as suggesting that ick/flukes must be eradicated versus letting it exist in the tank with active management (UV, etc). Is this actually true? I ask because I'm personally going through an outbreak and through all the reading and opinions I've gathered, it does seem like taking the route of active management should be viable. If people here disagree with that, I'd love to know!

 

[fishface NJ]

Please follow what @vetteguy53081 @Jay Hemdal have posted

 

[W31Olds]

Active management can probably work but it's like living on the edge with no safety margin. You would probably need a large Tank with lower-than-average Fish Load and a large UV setup for Parasite Eradication with adequate turnover and inlet water pulled from the Tank itself.
The main problem as I see it is a single stressor event could Trigger an Outbreak. Events like a Power Outage, Equipment Failure, adding a new Fish. etc.