Ich Outbreak

Dsumpter · Jul 29, 2020

I'm sorry if I'm hijacking your post, but I am really new to the hobby and the forum. I to have an ich out break in my fairly new 55g tank. I have 2 clown fish and 1 algae blenny. I had a blue tang and a scooter blenny that both have surcum to the ich before i realized what it was. Just yesterday we set up a 10 gallon QT and put all 3 fish in there and the LFS guy coahed us on quarentining the fish and adding the copper to the QT, but not the slow ramp up part. He said 1oz of copper power to the 10g tank would be good so thats what I did, i set up the tank with water from my main tank and added the copper and some cycle bacteria to keep the bacteria stable in the tank then caught the fish and put them in there. My question is will it harm my fish by not ramping up slowly over 7 days, or will they be ok. They all seemed fine this morning

T-J · Jul 29, 2020

First off, welcome to R2R!

You didn't hijack anyone's post, you created your own post! So, that's good.

As far as battling Ich, follow the instructions for the treatment you're using. That always works for me. Make sure you're monitoring the conditions of the QT, as a small tank like that can have salinity swings pretty easy due to evaporation. Also, I've seen others add an airstone to make sure there's plenty of oxygen during treatment. Ich treatment can take up to 8 or so weeks, IIRC, so be patient.

Finally, do not ever plan on using that QT tank for anything else when you're done with it. Because you put copper in it, the only thing you could ever QT in there would be fish. Copper will leech into the silicone and release back into the water, so if you put corals or inverts in there, they will likely die.

Sleeping Giant · Jul 29, 2020

Took me 6 weeks

Hugh Mann · Jul 29, 2020

Not ramping up copper overtime can indeed harm or kill fish, however clowns are pretty tough and should be alright. Definitely better than being infected with ich, that is for certain.

Some things to note.
Mark the water level on the QT, and top it up with fresh rodi every day. Evaporation in a small tank can quickly cause copper to rise to dangerous levels.

Get a copper test, even a cheap one is better than nothing. Due to a variety of reasons, aquariums rarely contain exactly the specified volume of water, so the dosing by the instructions may end up being too high/not enough.

Seachem Ammonia Alert Badge can help passively monitor ammonia levels.

No not under any circumstance dose Prime, other ammonia reducing agents, or any other medications unless specified it can be used with copper. Can cause side reactions raising the toxicity of copper.

If you need to do a water change for whatever reason, dose and test your new water before adding to the tank.

Your 55 gallon has to sit without fish (inverts are fine) for a minimum of 76 days. After that period all the ich will have starved to death and you'll be good to return your fish to it.

Dsumpter · Jul 29, 2020

T-J said:
First off, welcome to R2R!

You didn't hijack anyone's post, you created your own post! So, that's good.

As far as battling Ich, follow the instructions for the treatment you're using. That always works for me. Make sure you're monitoring the conditions of the QT, as a small tank like that can have salinity swings pretty easy due to evaporation. Also, I've seen others add an airstone to make sure there's plenty of oxygen during treatment. Ich treatment can take up to 8 or so weeks, IIRC, so be patient.

Finally, do not ever plan on using that QT tank for anything else when you're done with it. Because you put copper in it, the only thing you could ever QT in there would be fish. Copper will leech into the silicone and release back into the water, so if you put corals or inverts in there, they will likely die.

I actually posted this as a reply on another thread and apparently the mods gave me my own thread. Lol thats cool though. Thanks for the reply. The LFS guy just poured some "Copper Power" in a secondary container and gave it to me with the instructions I stated. Incidentally we just plan on using the small tank as a QT for fish from here on out. New fish or sick fish whatever we may need it for.

Qasimja · Jul 29, 2020

Dsumpter said:
I actually posted this as a reply on another thread and apparently the mods gave me my own thread. Lol thats cool though. Thanks for the reply. The LFS guy just poured some "Copper Power" in a secondary container and gave it to me with the instructions I stated. Incidentally we just plan on using the small tank as a QT for fish from here on out. New fish or sick fish whatever we may need it for.

copper power is more gentle on the fish i usually drop fish into QT with copper power at half dosage and they tolerate it without any issues

LAReefer4Life · Jul 29, 2020

Its best to ramp up over 3-4 days but its a good sign that fish are doing well. Since this is not a cycled QT tank, you'll need to keep an eye on the ammonia levels. Make sure you have a seachem ammonia alert badge as most ammonia tests are inaccurate when dosing copper and have plenty of salt batched water for frequent water changes, probable every other day is best or once every 3 days at the max. Make sure to avoid water temp and salinity swings and get a solid test kit to make sure copper remains at therapeutic levels. When conducting water changes add the copper to the new water prior to adding to the QT. Remember you need to run your display fallow for 76 days minimum to eradicate ich.

JR Bodyman · Jul 29, 2020

Hugh Mann said:
Not ramping up copper overtime can indeed harm or kill fish, however clowns are pretty tough and should be alright. Definitely better than being infected with ich, that is for certain.

Some things to note.
Mark the water level on the QT, and top it up with fresh rodi every day. Evaporation in a small tank can quickly cause copper to rise to dangerous levels.

Get a copper test, even a cheap one is better than nothing. Due to a variety of reasons, aquariums rarely contain exactly the specified volume of water, so the dosing by the instructions may end up being too high/not enough.

Seachem Ammonia Alert Badge can help passively monitor ammonia levels.

No not under any circumstance dose Prime, other ammonia reducing agents, or any other medications unless specified it can be used with copper. Can cause side reactions raising the toxicity of copper.

If you need to do a water change for whatever reason, dose and test your new water before adding to the tank.

Your 55 gallon has to sit without fish (inverts are fine) for a minimum of 76 days. After that period all the ich will have starved to death and you'll be good to return your fish to it.

You are on point. Had the same situation and did exactly what you stated. I’ll confirm it works to a tee. Although I did do a fresh water dip once removed from the DT before placing in the QT.

Hugh Mann · Jul 29, 2020

I totally forgot about the freshwater dip.

Yes, do that, 100%. Rodi water, temp match to your tank, airate heavily and put your fish in there for 5 minutes. I would recommend using a specimen box so you don't have to catch them again.

Dsumpter · Jul 29, 2020

pathot984 said:
Its best to ramp up over 3-4 days but its a good sign that fish are doing well. Since this is not a cycled QT tank, you'll need to keep an eye on the ammonia levels. Make sure you have a seachem ammonia alert badge as most ammonia tests are inaccurate when dosing copper and have plenty of salt batched water for frequent water changes, probable every other day is best or once every 3 days at the max. Make sure to avoid water temp and salinity swings and get a solid test kit to make sure copper remains at therapeutic levels. When conducting water changes add the copper to the new water prior to adding to the QT. Remember you need to run your display fallow for 76 days minimum to eradicate ich.

So I used 10 gallons of water from my DT to fill the QT and also dosed with "cycle" to help stability of the bacteria in the water. Will that not help with the ammonia levels?

T-J · Jul 30, 2020

Dsumpter said:
So I used 10 gallons of water from my DT to fill the QT and also dosed with "cycle" to help stability of the bacteria in the water. Will that not help with the ammonia levels?

From what I understand, the nitrifying bacteria that we depend on are not free-floating very much in the water column. They need to be established on a surface like sand, rock, etc. I might be wrong, but that's what I recall.

LAReefer4Life · Jul 30, 2020

Dsumpter said:
So I used 10 gallons of water from my DT to fill the QT and also dosed with "cycle" to help stability of the bacteria in the water. Will that not help with the ammonia levels?

Thats a good start but yes you will absolutely need to conduct water changes, the beneficial bacteria takes time to build and needs porus surface. Ceramic media or bioballs inside the HOB filter are great.

Dsumpter · Aug 4, 2020

So I've done 2 50% water changes so far. The fish seem super happy. The blenny has all its color back and little white spots are completely gone from the clown fish. The water parameters are still a little sketchy. The ammonia and nitrites are still a little high and the PH is about 8.0 I add about 10 ml of the cycle at every water change. Is there something else I need to be doing, or just continue the course and monitor water conditions and do water changes as needed? I have 3 pieces of 11/2 pvc for hiding purposes a sponge filter and the regular HOB filter that came with the tank.

T-J · Aug 4, 2020

pH really shouldn't be a concern since it's a QT without any corals. 8 is just fine for the fish. Ammonia should be your biggest concern, so sticking to waterchanges and monitoring that would be my suggestion. Make sure you follow through with the full treatment, even though you don't see any obvious signs of ich.

Dsumpter · Aug 7, 2020

What should my water change schedule be for my QT. 1 of the clown fish is acting strange, and it seems like the ammonia gets pretty high when i test every 3rd day or so.