Sordfish
Active Member
Recently 2 of my Tangs got Ich despite quarantining them with copper and praziquantel-pro. I was very worried that all my fish would die and posted a vent here. I got a ton of useful advice on how to manage it in my display and how that can mean that Ich does not have to be an automatic death sentence for the fish.
Below I summarize that information in the hopes that it’ll help others. It worked for me - after 6 days, none of the fish have visible Ich spots. Of course, this does not mean that Ich is gone from my system. However, by using the below tips, I hope to keep it at bay for a long time.
To reiterate, Ich management does not typically get rid of the parasites. It slows down their ability to reproduce thus preventing their ability to multiply at such rapid pace that they overwhelm your fishes’ ability to fight them off.
I also want to mention that most of the ideas below were provided by others on this forum, in response to my original post. Thanks to everyone who contributed, especially to @Jay Hemdal, who provided incredibly detailed information including links to papers. If you want to read that discussion in full, and see everyone’s original comments, here is the link:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/this-hobby-is-very-discouraging.985212/
Ich Management Tips
1 - A properly sized and placed UV.
The UV should be placed so that it takes water from the sump and returns it to the display tank (from BRSTV). I placed mine, in line, between my return pump and the display tank (DT) return. An even better set up would be to use a second return pump dedicated to the UV. This would give you the added benefit of a redundant return pump if your main one fails.
If the Ich parasites are multiplying rapidly, consider getting a very large UV, and putting a pump in the display tank itself to feed the UV. Then return the UV output back into the display - (fromGallery Aquatica TV on YouTube). This will allow a much larger volume/hr of display tank water to be passed through the UV.
Regardless of how you set it up, the flow should be adjusted so that your UV provides a dosage of 90000. At that dose, it can kill many parasitic swimmers.
Please note that UV can only kill free floating parasites. It’ll do nothing against those that are actually attached to the fish or those lying on the sand bed. This is why UV will not be able to cure fish that are heavily infected/sick. However, it’ll give them a chance to fight it off, by slowing down new parasitic attachments.
2 - Skimmer
This will also help with the removal of free floating parasites. When you have an acute outbreak, run a very wet skim so that you can capture the free floating parasites.
3 - Mechanical filtration
Replacing your filter socks/floss every other day (with sufficiently small micron rating), or using a roller filter, will also help with the removal of free floating parasites from the water column as well as keeping the water parameters in check.
4 - Skunk cleaner shrimp
They have been shown to eat tomonts (ich parasites). Also, my tangs presented themselves to the cleaner shrimp for releif, as opposed to scratching on the rocks, which seemed to have some calming/soothing benefit for them.
Ref for skunk eating tomonts: Vaughan, D.B., Grutter, A.S. & Hutson, K.S. 2018. Cleaner shrimp are a sustainable option to treat parasitic disease in farmed fish. Sci Rep 8, 13959 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-32293-6, provided by @Jay Hemdal
5 - Increased biodiversity.
There are probably other critters (pods, carnivorous snails, etc.) which also eat tomonts. I wasn’t able to identify any specific species beyond the skunk shrimp, but it would make sense. Hence mature tanks may provide a greater chance of fighting off the parasites.
6 - Vacuuming your sand bed and rocks.
This will suck up some of the parasites that are laying there. Increase the sand bed vacuuming frequency to a few times a week, when you are experiencing an acute outbreak.
7- Regular water changes. Preferably weekly or more frequently to remove free floating parasites and to improve water quality to reduce stress for your fish.
8 - Frequent feedings. Feed 3 to 5 times a day, and daily nori for the tangs/herbivores. Again, reduces stress for the fish, allowing them to channel their energy to fight the parasites instead.
When to stop managing and move to a hospital tank
The trick is to know when to bail on the management idea and go fully into treatment mode. IMO, the tipping point is seen when many of the fish show more than about 30 ich trophonts (the white spots) at any one time - then, something called propagule pressure comes into play - the ich parasite itself becomes a stressor, and the geometric progression of the reproductive phase takes over...the number of trophonts increases very rapidly and the fish get sick and start to die. [direct quote from @Jay Hemdal in the linked discussion.]
In my case, only 2 fish had spots (though both were in the 30+ per fish range) and both behaved normally and ate well. So I stuck with management and it worked.
Please comment below with any additional steps or improvements/corrections and I’ll update the post.
Below I summarize that information in the hopes that it’ll help others. It worked for me - after 6 days, none of the fish have visible Ich spots. Of course, this does not mean that Ich is gone from my system. However, by using the below tips, I hope to keep it at bay for a long time.
To reiterate, Ich management does not typically get rid of the parasites. It slows down their ability to reproduce thus preventing their ability to multiply at such rapid pace that they overwhelm your fishes’ ability to fight them off.
I also want to mention that most of the ideas below were provided by others on this forum, in response to my original post. Thanks to everyone who contributed, especially to @Jay Hemdal, who provided incredibly detailed information including links to papers. If you want to read that discussion in full, and see everyone’s original comments, here is the link:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/this-hobby-is-very-discouraging.985212/
Ich Management Tips
1 - A properly sized and placed UV.
The UV should be placed so that it takes water from the sump and returns it to the display tank (from BRSTV). I placed mine, in line, between my return pump and the display tank (DT) return. An even better set up would be to use a second return pump dedicated to the UV. This would give you the added benefit of a redundant return pump if your main one fails.
If the Ich parasites are multiplying rapidly, consider getting a very large UV, and putting a pump in the display tank itself to feed the UV. Then return the UV output back into the display - (fromGallery Aquatica TV on YouTube). This will allow a much larger volume/hr of display tank water to be passed through the UV.
Regardless of how you set it up, the flow should be adjusted so that your UV provides a dosage of 90000. At that dose, it can kill many parasitic swimmers.
Please note that UV can only kill free floating parasites. It’ll do nothing against those that are actually attached to the fish or those lying on the sand bed. This is why UV will not be able to cure fish that are heavily infected/sick. However, it’ll give them a chance to fight it off, by slowing down new parasitic attachments.
2 - Skimmer
This will also help with the removal of free floating parasites. When you have an acute outbreak, run a very wet skim so that you can capture the free floating parasites.
3 - Mechanical filtration
Replacing your filter socks/floss every other day (with sufficiently small micron rating), or using a roller filter, will also help with the removal of free floating parasites from the water column as well as keeping the water parameters in check.
4 - Skunk cleaner shrimp
They have been shown to eat tomonts (ich parasites). Also, my tangs presented themselves to the cleaner shrimp for releif, as opposed to scratching on the rocks, which seemed to have some calming/soothing benefit for them.
Ref for skunk eating tomonts: Vaughan, D.B., Grutter, A.S. & Hutson, K.S. 2018. Cleaner shrimp are a sustainable option to treat parasitic disease in farmed fish. Sci Rep 8, 13959 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-32293-6, provided by @Jay Hemdal
5 - Increased biodiversity.
There are probably other critters (pods, carnivorous snails, etc.) which also eat tomonts. I wasn’t able to identify any specific species beyond the skunk shrimp, but it would make sense. Hence mature tanks may provide a greater chance of fighting off the parasites.
6 - Vacuuming your sand bed and rocks.
This will suck up some of the parasites that are laying there. Increase the sand bed vacuuming frequency to a few times a week, when you are experiencing an acute outbreak.
7- Regular water changes. Preferably weekly or more frequently to remove free floating parasites and to improve water quality to reduce stress for your fish.
8 - Frequent feedings. Feed 3 to 5 times a day, and daily nori for the tangs/herbivores. Again, reduces stress for the fish, allowing them to channel their energy to fight the parasites instead.
When to stop managing and move to a hospital tank
The trick is to know when to bail on the management idea and go fully into treatment mode. IMO, the tipping point is seen when many of the fish show more than about 30 ich trophonts (the white spots) at any one time - then, something called propagule pressure comes into play - the ich parasite itself becomes a stressor, and the geometric progression of the reproductive phase takes over...the number of trophonts increases very rapidly and the fish get sick and start to die. [direct quote from @Jay Hemdal in the linked discussion.]
In my case, only 2 fish had spots (though both were in the 30+ per fish range) and both behaved normally and ate well. So I stuck with management and it worked.
Please comment below with any additional steps or improvements/corrections and I’ll update the post.
