Ick?! Argh!!!

[RacingTiger03]

Ok, so a couple days ago I noticed my pseudochromi had some white spots in the AM. by noon they were all gone so I chaclked it up to maybe he was digging in the sand to sleep at night. The spots are there every morning since, and don't seem to be there at night. My flame angel is starting to show symptoms as well, but nothing else in the tanks is affected yet.

Should I treat these two fish? Should I go hypo, or copper?

I have a 29 gallon tank set up for QT... the problem is, if I have to treat all the fish, there is no way I can put a flame, two clowns, a watchman goby, a mandarin, and a pseudochromis in a 29 gallon without huge problems I'm sure.

So many problems since changing to the 55.. =/

On a side note, my cyano appears to have dissappeared since my last thread :)

 

[jaytizzle]

You went too fast and didn't properly QT your fish, I assume. Not much of an explanation as to how else you got the ich in your tank. The good news is that none of those fish are too susceptible to ich so they should all battle through it as long as they are eating.

In an ideal world you SHOULD remove all of the fish and allow the display to go fallow. The mandarin can probably be left behind but I'm not sure that will work out for the best as although they aren't susceptible to ich I don't know if they can be carriers or not (I assume yes). I don't think they take well to copper either but I would have to look that up again to confirm.

 

[Steven Pro]

In an ideal world you SHOULD remove all of the fish and allow the display to go fallow.

Ditto

The mandarin can probably be left behind but I'm not sure that will work out for the best as although they aren't susceptible to ich I don't know if they can be carriers or not (I assume yes). I don't think they take well to copper either but I would have to look that up again to confirm.

Mandarins don't get Marine Ich often, but they can catch it and could act as a carrier to the other fish if you leave the Mandarin in and treat everyone else. Doing that would be a waste of time and effort in my opinion.

If using copper, I would use Cupramine. That is supposed to be well tolerated by scaleless fish like your Mandarin.

 

[RacingTiger03]

If I do go copper, I should still leave them all out of the main display for 90 days correct? 90 days for the parasites in the DT to die off right? If 90 days is how long they need to be out I will likely use hypo anyways. So what should I do about the issue of all those fish in a 29 gallon tank though? Dividers are out.. I don't have enough PH's and heaters for that. I could go to walmart and buy one extra plastic tub.. would a 29 gallon and a second plastic tub holding say 15 gallons be enough?

I just worry that the stress on the fish may be too much as none of them will have any hiding places as they are accustomed to with 100lbs LR. Will the mandarin even survive a 90 day QT in a bare tank?! He is eating some of my frozen brine.. but that seems like a stretch for him to survive on for 3 mos. So many questions and possible issues...

And yes perhaps I did go too fast, the psuedo only got a 2 week QT, I was a bit stressed with the move and everything else at the time. 40lbs of my LR came from my 29 gallon tank though, as well as half of the crushed coral, which was set up for 7 months.

 

[chenwon54]

solution

this always gets rid of ich for me.. and you can use it in the dt without issue. just need todo a few big water changes while and after.

make sure you use it 2x weekly for one month to kill their entire life cycle. may have some issues with nutriuents for a while after because it tends to lower bacteria levels in your tank. but nothing too severe. Do not follow the directions.. use only a very small amount.. soak their food or seaweed in it.

Seachem AquaZole 10g (Freshwater)

i've had good exp with it.. perhaps others could chime in with pro's or con's

 

[jaytizzle]

The mandarin will not fare well in a QT setting... they are a PITA to deal with from that perspective. The fallow period for your DT will need to be 6 weeks at a minimum and 8 weeks preferred.

What you could do is remove all fish to the 29 and put in some PVC pipe elbows or some spare rock into the tank for hiding spaces. Treat with either copper or hypo. At the same time, take out some of your rock and set up a separate QT for the mandarin. He is going to have to come out of the DT so you don't have much choice. Use no treatment for the mandarin at this time. Allow the DT to go fallow.

After the fallow period, put all fish but the mandarin back into the DT. Put the mandarin into the 29g QT and treat with copper. Watch him closely to make sure that he is eating something. If he isn't then you may have to either give him up or hope that the short term copper treatment works. You can probably get by with a 1-week copper treatment on the mandarin. After that you can make the choice to rehome him or put him back in the DT. That choice will be on you though.

Good luck, take your time, be patient, and be VERY OBSERVANT!!!

And one more thing, no medications cure ich other than hypo and copper. It just doesn't work. The life cycle of the parasite is such that they may knock out one phase of it but it will be back not long after. Only copper and hypo are the truly effective treatments.

 

[110reef]

If you have a fish only tank, you can treat the tank with copper, and cupramine is very good. Except copper will kill pods, and the mandarin will likely starve. Or put your fish in the quarantine and treat them there. I think the tank is big enough, throw a few rocks in there for mental security, but do not return the rocks to the display after copper treating.

If you have a reef tank or inverts, I would just keep the water pristine, feed well, and the fish should clear up. I think trying to keep your tank ich free is difficult at best, and possibly impossible. But if you keep your water in good condition, a healthy fish will become symptom free and stay that way. Just my opinion, and I know there are others that will disagree.

 

[650-IS350]

Mandarin's don't get ICH or worry about them harboring it.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php

 

[Steven Pro]

Mandarin's don't get ICH or worry about them harboring it.

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

I am pretty certain that linked article does not say Mandarins don't get ich. ;)

 

[reefpeeper]

do you feed garlic with your food. if not start doing it and that may help clear it up.

 

[RacingTiger03]

Thanks very much for the responses everyone! The ick appears to be lessening on the pseudochromis. I will just try garlic soaking the food to try to boost the immune response in the fish for now. How long should I allow that before taking farther steps? I was thinking if they aren't all clear oof ick in 2 weeks resort to the steps mentioned above by jay.

Also, if the ick doesn't clear away I will use hypo to treat, as I have only enough spare eq to run the 29 and I would like to be able to use it later in an emergency situation for the 55 if something were to fail. What is the best way to do this? How long should the 1.01 salinity be maintained before slowly returning to 1.026?

 

[MikeB]

The Coral Vault :: Coral Database - Marine ICH

A little information

 

[650-IS350]

I am pretty certain that linked article does not say Mandarins don't get ich. ;)

the link was for info.. about mandarin's not getting ich, that was from what I've read around since they are scaleless.
Mandarinfish: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article
Marine Ich
Mandarinfish: Information from Answers.com

 

[Steven Pro]

I am pretty certain that linked article does not say Mandarins don't get ich. ;)

the link was for info.. about mandarin's not getting ich, that was from what I've read around since they are scaleless.
Mandarinfish: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article
Marine Ich
Mandarinfish: Information from Answers.com

No offense. I was just joking around with you. I am the guy that wrote the article that you linked to. That was why "I am pretty certain that linked article does not say Mandarins don't get ich. ;)"