I started a 180g about a year ago, upgrading from a 40 (via a 125 tank my fish spent some time in), and ich just popped up on my purple tang yesterday and is showing on a few other fish today (tusk maybe, desjardini and blue tangs probably, still not 100% confirmed ich as it's not PERFECTLY grainy like I'm used to seeing, but that's probably me being over hopeful).
All my fish from the 40/125 went through ttm prior to entering the 180, and every added fish since has spent at least 4 weeks in careful observation, usually in another established tank of mine (a 20 long for a while, nuvo 10, few others that have come and gone). I've had dreadful luck with medicated qt, lost 10+ fish in sterile tanks with just pvc, and until now the observation-only (treating as needed) had worked well. Fish are healthy, corals recently started growing, all was well or so I thought.
In the past 6 weeks or so, I added a few corals from macna, a couple things I traded for, and a tiny juvenile bristletooth tang that spent a month in the 10g with no signs of disease. Ich could have come in on anything here.
As a fairly active hobbiest, I've taken some steps to avoid sick fish, but days like today make me wonder how other less dedicated people avoid ich and other common diseases and parasites. Maybe they're lucky. Maybe I have bad luck. Maybe it's not ich (lol I doubt it). I have this dream to keep an awesome reef tank, but maybe it just isn't meant to be.
So the way I see it, I've got 3 options:
- Feed extra and try ich management, with it flaring up every time I have a stress inducing problem, try my best and see what dies. Maybe it'll be OK. I doubt it. This sounds like a nightmare.
- Somehow catch the 20 or so fish I have, half of which are burying wrasses, treat them one way or another, and leave the tank fishless for 11 weeks. My rocks are half glued, tank has a good amount of coral, and I really don't have a place in my home to house 20 fish for so long. This sounds like a nightmare.
- Get out of the hobby and let someone else deal with it. Having spent thousands on setting everything up, countless hours planning and building, this too sounds like a nightmare.
And it's not like the problem goes away after doing this. I had hoped to add a few more fish at some point, maybe replace a few of the easier to catch with something new. If the simple act of adding anything without over medicating (fish) or sitting it in a tank for 11 weeks where it likely will die (coral) means getting disease, I'm probably out.
GG cryptocaryon irritans. You win no matter what I end up doing.
All my fish from the 40/125 went through ttm prior to entering the 180, and every added fish since has spent at least 4 weeks in careful observation, usually in another established tank of mine (a 20 long for a while, nuvo 10, few others that have come and gone). I've had dreadful luck with medicated qt, lost 10+ fish in sterile tanks with just pvc, and until now the observation-only (treating as needed) had worked well. Fish are healthy, corals recently started growing, all was well or so I thought.
In the past 6 weeks or so, I added a few corals from macna, a couple things I traded for, and a tiny juvenile bristletooth tang that spent a month in the 10g with no signs of disease. Ich could have come in on anything here.
As a fairly active hobbiest, I've taken some steps to avoid sick fish, but days like today make me wonder how other less dedicated people avoid ich and other common diseases and parasites. Maybe they're lucky. Maybe I have bad luck. Maybe it's not ich (lol I doubt it). I have this dream to keep an awesome reef tank, but maybe it just isn't meant to be.
So the way I see it, I've got 3 options:
- Feed extra and try ich management, with it flaring up every time I have a stress inducing problem, try my best and see what dies. Maybe it'll be OK. I doubt it. This sounds like a nightmare.
- Somehow catch the 20 or so fish I have, half of which are burying wrasses, treat them one way or another, and leave the tank fishless for 11 weeks. My rocks are half glued, tank has a good amount of coral, and I really don't have a place in my home to house 20 fish for so long. This sounds like a nightmare.
- Get out of the hobby and let someone else deal with it. Having spent thousands on setting everything up, countless hours planning and building, this too sounds like a nightmare.
And it's not like the problem goes away after doing this. I had hoped to add a few more fish at some point, maybe replace a few of the easier to catch with something new. If the simple act of adding anything without over medicating (fish) or sitting it in a tank for 11 weeks where it likely will die (coral) means getting disease, I'm probably out.
GG cryptocaryon irritans. You win no matter what I end up doing.
