ich in my main tank!! HELP!!!

ronski5287 · Sep 7, 2014

guys i have 60 gallon main tank, i have ich in my main tank already and i lost my regal angelfish, my blue tang was the 1st to bring itch in my main tank and i dont have QT tank, i try medication but it didnt work,, im planning to hyposalinity in my main tank, is it ok?? i dnt have inverts and corals, but i have live rocks..
any suggestion or advice how to get rid of my itch in my main tank? i have 8 fish in my main tank... pls help me guys:cry:

3dees · Sep 7, 2014

there are no effective ways to treat ich in the dt. hypo-salinity, tank transfer, and cooper are the only proven methods, and your dt must run fallow for a minimum of 72 days. I guess hypo can work in the dt if no coral or cuc. the problem is a hippo and angel need a much larger tank. what other fish are in there? stress is the no. 1 reason for ich and you will continue to have the problem if you stay with these fish. the tang and angel need at least a 180 gal. tank. I know it's hard to hear, but I'm just trying to save you future headaches.

Z06-Hec · Sep 7, 2014

I've gone through Ich a few times, 2 times in my 95 Gal Flat back hex and 1 time in my 150gal 6' long.
I freaked out and tried meds 1st time and it beat me.... Killed my butterfly and angel
2nd time i tried heat and hypo, all my damsels died, i was left with an Emperor angel and my majestic angel. They started to look much better after about 45-50 days of hypo and heat. Once i thought all was good i started raising the salt and bring the temp down. After all that my emperor never fully recovered and started fading. Never got an actual diagnosis on it. I then upgraded to the 150gal, boiled all my rocks, bought new rocks new sand, let the new tank cycle etc.... did all to avoid it in the new tank.
Put the Emp in a DT and tried treating him with Para shield, for internal parasites... he didnt make it.
My last fish left was the majestic, she is an adult and recovered fully from that last out break.
New tank was up and running for some time with her in it and I began stocking slowly.
I had bought 2 Wyoming White clowns and they claimed their spot in the tank.
I then bought 2 baby hippo tangs after that and the female clown who was already bullying the smaller Clown started bullying the tangs as well. With some time 1 tang held her own, the other got stressed and started hiding... Sure enough Ich came out again in my new tank.
I read a post here about ich and just leaving it be especially with Tangs... So i decided Fluff it, I will let it be and see how it plays out.
I pointed my heads towards all the dead spots in the tanks, my made caves, and made sure there was a good flow to all spots in the tank that any parasites could rest and hatch and cycle over etc...
Anyway, that 1 tang died and 100% sure my majestic and the other tang had it too but they eat very well and didnt hide and ich went away.
Been at least 7 months since that happened.
Now I have a powder blue, a purple tang, a blue face angel, 2 Nearly naked clowns, lawnmower blenny, yellow gobie, my original 2 wyoming whites and my original Majestic Angel from the other tank.
If it happened again i would go that same route... a lot of flow in all areas and make sure all fish are fed well and eat

Kworker · Sep 7, 2014

If you have buckets, I would try moving as much live rock as possible over to them with appropriate water parameters to keep your beneficial bacteria alive on it.. Since you have no inverts. Than do your hypo treatment in the display. Better would be get yourself a appropriate sized QT tank for the future to have around.

What medication did you try? If you used copper you may have made it possible you won't be able to get coral.

badfinger · Sep 7, 2014

Unless your planning on getting an achilles tang or other prone to disease fish.. take it easy, get a UV and feed more. Any tang that comes from a tank with uv and goes into one without usually have a low survival rate.

A 60 is rather small for both fish but I have seen it done before. No healthy fish will die from ich, there are other underlying issues. Whenever ich pops up in my tank I feed heavy and soak food in garlic.

Does garlic work against ich maybe does it not maybe but it helps my fish eat more.

Kworker · Sep 7, 2014

badfinger said:
Unless your planning on getting an achilles tang or other prone to disease fish.. take it easy, get a UV and feed more. Any tang that comes from a tank with uv and goes into one without usually have a low survival rate.

A 60 is rather small for both fish but I have seen it done before. No healthy fish will die from ich, there are other underlying issues. Whenever ich pops up in my tank I feed heavy and soak food in garlic.

Does garlic work against ich maybe does it not maybe but it helps my fish eat more.

I disagree, if he is having signs of ich he should take action against it. I wasted time waiting for it to "go away" a month ago. Ich is a parasite not a disease, and a UV sterilizer will do nothing for it. A blue tang which I assume he means a hippo is just as notorious at being a ich magnet as a Achilles, powder blue, etc.

I do agree that the tank is small for the fish listed and that fish won't* die from ich alone.

Edit: * originally said one for some reason instead of won't.

ThaBeast · Sep 7, 2014

Kworker said:
I disagree, if he is having signs of ich he should take action against it. I wasted time waiting for it to "go away" a month ago. Ich is a parasite not a disease, and a UV sterilizer will do nothing for it. A blue tang which I assume he means a hippo is just as notorious at being a ich magnet as a Achilles, powder blue, etc.

I do agree that the tank is small for the fish listed and that fish one die from ich alone.

+1

It is possible to have an ich free tank, takes so work, dedication, and QT, but it is possible

daniel_lee95 · Sep 10, 2014

I had the same problem. My blue tang got it first but then my clownfish died first. honestly i have tried the reef safe stuff but its garbage. I would take all of your fish out into a QT. It doesnt have to be a tank, it could be those plastic storage boxes. Use copper in the QT and use the reef safe stuff in your display tank. Keep the fish in there for a month or two and they should be okay.