Ich in display tank

[brittanyc2998]

I have a 75 gallon setup that I bought used. So far the only inhabitants are a fox face, a damsel and two clowns, with a few snails. Had a butterfly fish at one point that introduced ick to the tank. I have since set up a small quarantine tank and managed to get the clowns under control however catching the fox face and damsel is a nightmare. I would like to find out how to keep this tank from getting ick again without completely ruining it. I’ve been advised not to add copper to my main tank and I will be setting up a larger (40 gallon) quarantine for my larger fish and let my display tank sit for a few months without fish. Is there anything else I should do? I am hoping to get a juvenile blue tang and eventually upgrade my tank to 125 or 180 gallons but I won’t be able to keep one alive if I keep struggling with ich.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I have a 75 gallon setup that I bought used. So far the only inhabitants are a fox face, a damsel and two clowns, with a few snails. Had a butterfly fish at one point that introduced ick to the tank. I have since set up a small quarantine tank and managed to get the clowns under control however catching the fox face and damsel is a nightmare. I would like to find out how to keep this tank from getting ick again without completely ruining it. I’ve been advised not to add copper to my main tank and I will be setting up a larger (40 gallon) quarantine for my larger fish and let my display tank sit for a few months without fish. Is there anything else I should do? I am hoping to get a juvenile blue tang and eventually upgrade my tank to 125 or 180 gallons but I won’t be able to keep one alive if I keep struggling with ich.

Welcome to Reef2Reef and sorry for your trouble!

Yeah, adding copper to a display tank has been done before, but it's not recommended. To prevent the tank from getting ich again, you would get the fish out and treat them (either with copper or hyposalinity - see below for info on both), then QT anything "wet" that goes into your tank (or near it) for a minimum of 45 days at 81F; 60-76 days (especially if at lower temps) is recommended. That means quarantining fish, inverts, coral, rocks, sand, macroalgae, etc.

For copper treatment and hyposalinity:

if you want to treat ich effectively, you need either copper medication (chelated copper like Coppersafe or Copper Power at 2.25-2.5ppm for 30 days after the last ich trophonts disappear is recommended) or hyposalinity (drop your salinity to 1.009 and keep the tank at that salinity for 30 days after the last signs/symptoms of the disease disappear)

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2021 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

For future quarantines:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com

Biosecurity

A short introduction to aquarium biosecurity

www.reef2reef.com

 

[brittanyc2998]

Welcome to Reef2Reef and sorry for your trouble!

Yeah, adding copper to a display tank has been done before, but it's not recommended. To prevent the tank from getting ich again, you would get the fish out and treat them (either with copper or hyposalinity - see below for info on both), then QT anything "wet" that goes into your tank (or near it) for a minimum of 45 days at 81F; 60-76 days (especially if at lower temps) is recommended. That means quarantining fish, inverts, coral, rocks, sand, macroalgae, etc.

For copper treatment and hyposalinity:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2021 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

For future quarantines:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com

Biosecurity

A short introduction to aquarium biosecurity

www.reef2reef.com

So would I need to take my sand and live rock out as well and quarantine it? This tank is fowlr at the moment so I don’t have to worry about corals but I plan on having them as well in the future. Should I increase or decrease the temperature while my fish are in QT?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

So would I need to take my sand and live rock out as well and quarantine it? This tank is fowlr at the moment so I don’t have to worry about corals but I plan on having them as well in the future. Should I increase or decrease the temperature while my fish are in QT?

No, by leaving the rock and sand in the fishless (fallow) tank for 45 days at 81F (60-76 days is recommended especially at lower temps), the ich will die off - so no need to quarantine the rocks and sand that are already in the display (it will be automatically quarantined in the display if you pull the fish out and do a proper fallow period).

If you want to run the display fallow for 45 days, it needs to maintain a temperature of 81F (so you'd increase the temperature when you pull the fish out); if you run the tank fallow for 60-76 days, then you can leave the temperature unchanged.