Ich Treatment for a Hippo Tang

Jay Hemdal

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Very sorry to hear this. I have nothing to add to the convo really....the cloudy eye could be a scrape, or it could be a reaction to the ich.

Jay
 

fishguy242

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Very sorry to hear this. I have nothing to add to the convo really....the cloudy eye could be a scrape, or it could be a reaction to the ich.

Jay
hi jay ,is it true or false a hippo carries ich in bloodstream ,and can come out at anytime??
 
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Hugh Mann

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Just got off the phone with my Lfs, it's their guess that it's the eye that set off the ich.

Fortunately, I have the greatest LFS in the Universe, known and unknown, and they're picking it up tomorrow to treat with their stockpile of the good stuff. For free.

I just have to figure out what the heck to do with the other fish. Do I go management, which will be near impossible with the tang, or eradication?
If so, how do I eradicate it? By which I mean hypo, in which case I need to set up a cycled system in 3 days to hold a Marine Betta, maroon clown, greyfaced moray eel and 6 mollies.
Copper, same thing as above, except then the eel needs his own system.

Could tank transfer everything when I get back, but then where do I keep everything for 3 months?

It's not a space issue, it's a time and money issue I have.
 

ichthyogeek

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Ask the LFS if they can also just take all of your fish while you're on vacation? Then zap the tank at 85 F or something (assuming no corals) with a shrimp in there and lights off to maintain the cycle and kill off all the ich?
 
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Hugh Mann

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Ask the LFS if they can also just take all of your fish while you're on vacation? Then zap the tank at 85 F or something (assuming no corals) with a shrimp in there and lights off to maintain the cycle and kill off all the ich?

I did. They unfortunately can't take them all as combined they'd take up too much room. Especially the eel.

Only two corals, small frags of GSP and Aussie Star, easily removable. Maybe. The gsp is glued to the glass.

If it wouldn't nuke my biofilter, I'd just pull my handful of inverts, 3 nassarius, 2 bumblebee, 1 hermit, 1 tuxedo urchin, and hypo the display.

What about hydrogen peroxide? They told me about that one, but that there isn't anything scientific to back it up. 1ml/50 gallons a day for 14 days.
 

Jay Hemdal

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hi jay ,is it true or false a hippo carries ich in bloodstream ,and can come out at anytime??

I'd say false. I've never heard of Cryptocaryon being intracellular. Uronema sure can be! I think what happens is that Cryptocaryon can be "cryptic" in a fish's gills, or just a spot here or there. Under the right (wrong!) conditions, it begins to multiply, and propagule pressure takes over and the numbers increase exponentially. Kinda like where I live with Covid - during lockdown, new cases completely stalled (but it never went away). Then, around July 4th, we opened everything back up (increased the propagule pressure) and NOW we have the highest rate of increase that we've seen during the pandemic.

FWIW, here is an excerpt I wrote about this:

Propagule pressure and resistance

The ease with which Cryptocaryon infections proceed in an aquarium is influenced by both propagule pressure and resistance. The term “propagule pressure” simply refers to the number of tomites present. If the propagule pressure is low, there are relatively few tomites present and the chances of them landing on a suitable host are very low. Thus, the infection does not reach the exponential growth phase.

Although not scientifically proven, it appears that fish that have survived a Cryptocaryon infection develop some resistance and are less likely to develop the disease in the future. Likewise, a fish that is in poor overall health, or has suffered an environmental stress, may have a lowered resistance and will be more likely to develop the disease.

Remember however, that propagule pressure is itself the most common stressor that lowers a fish’s resistance to this disease. That is, if there are hundreds of tomites swarming around an aquarium, even the least-stressed fish will become infected.


Jay
 

ichthyogeek

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Awww, that sucks. Maybe they could take some of the fish like the maroon clown, and the mollies, while the comet and the eel get sequestered to a quarantine tank (that you can then treat accordingly), so there's less pressure, and you know those fish are free of the disease? And then just stick the inverts in a tank by themselves for quarantine purposes (inverts can hold ich too!).

How are you planning on feeding your tank while you're on vacation? Are there any local hobbyists that you could pay to do a rigorous TTM and sterilization for the fish?

I think if you're really trying to avoid ich, then just be paranoid. And extra paranoid. And extra extra paranoid. And just assume that everything that holds water is contaminated, and work from there.

I'm fairly certain the thoughts on hydrogen peroxide have to do with using it in conjunction with the TTM.
 
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Hugh Mann

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Unfortunately not. I think part of it was they were the ones who sold me the Hippo. Everything else came from other stores. The only other local reefer is actually coming with me. His girlfriend is looking after his tank, but due to work, etc, I had to find someone else to feed my tank. A friend agreed, but he has zero experience, and is only willing/able to do water changes and feed.

I'm thinking the mollies will go into a fresh quarantine, I'll just stuff the filter with old filter floss and hope it cycles. They're going to be the next ones to be infected if anything. Eel, clown and Betta are all tough as nails and should be able to deal with it on their own while I am gone. When I am back, I will put the treated Hippo into an improvised system away from all others. Everything else will get hypo while the tank sits fallow.

I'd love to do it before I go, but I just don't have the time to get everything done properly before I go.
 
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Hugh Mann

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Revision to my plan, after much discussion with my lfs.

They will treat the tang for both ich and the eye infection. Awesome folks, truly awesome.

The mollies will go into a new system before I leave to leave only the hardy fish in the infected tank. They should be able to cope on their own, especially with the tang and mollies out. Will dim the lights too.

When I get back, the tang will be returned and go into yet another fresh system (thankfully I have lots of spare heaters and large plastic bins!). I'll also pull my inverts and corals, of which there's not many and put them in with my other inverts I am quarantining. I know this will reset the counter, but don't have many options.
Then I will hypo salinity my display tank. This will kill any ich in the tank. It's not ideal, but I think it's the best option I have available to me besides trying to manage ich, which I will only do as an absolute last resort, and if I do that, I'll have to give up the Hippo, as it seems beyond my capabilities to manage ich with such a prone species.
 

ichthyogeek

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Yay! I'm glad that they'll treat everything! Sounds like a truly amazing LFS.

Are you going to freshwater quarantine the mollies? Or just put them into a saltwater system?

If I remember correctly, you can drop the temperature down a little bit to slow down the ich lifecycle as well.
 
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Hugh Mann

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Yay! I'm glad that they'll treat everything! Sounds like a truly amazing LFS.

Are you going to freshwater quarantine the mollies? Or just put them into a saltwater system?

If I remember correctly, you can drop the temperature down a little bit to slow down the ich lifecycle as well.

Still just the tang, have to treat the others myself. Freshwater the mollies I think. No reason not to, other than it takes time to get them back to full fresh.
 
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Hugh Mann

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Well, that's it. They picked up the tang. It's a pretty mild case, the cloudy eye is more worrisome, but being a proper store, they have access to meds that I do not. I'm already looking forward to having this fish back in a month.
 

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Im not a fan of quarenteen tanks.......copper or other treatments..........im looking at stress levels.......safe home/hiding places.........your water quality etc.........if you feel need to have quarenteen tank.......make sure its got live rock w caves......sandbed........proper timed light cycle........and pristine water quality w salinity ph n temp correct......0 ammonia and 0 nitrites..........and skunk cleaners in tank...........feed WELL.
 
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Hugh Mann

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Heard you were back from vacation. How's the tang and all the other fish doing?

Only for a few days, leaving again tomorrow until the 30th.
Lfs tells me the tang is doing great, no spots in over a week.
Somehow nothing, not even the converted freshwater mollies are showing any spots. Still not exactly sure how I am going to go about trying to rid the display of ich. Lfs recommends trying hydrogen peroxide before going more extreme.
 

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