Hi Everyone,
First time poster here, I have been a lurker for many years (17 years reefing) and wanted to share what has worked for me prior when combating ich without any scientific evidence to back up my approach. In other words, I have combined many approaches from Humblefish, Paul Baldassano, Jessican, random posts, and a little bit of luck. Ich is a terrible parasite and it's the worst feeling to have your fish go through this while knowing there is no full proof medication that can be offered within an established reef tank.
This approach is a combination of outstanding individuals that have given their time (never met or messaged) and not a representation of eradication, but to minimize the number of free-swimming parasites in the tank for the fish to build an immunity.
2020 Background/Tank Info
-Prior to moving to a Redsea XXL 750 G2 reef tank (Oct 2022), these fish were housed in a Redsea Reefer 525XL since January 2020.
-Purchased all items from a LFS that had a "prior to purchase" quarantine process (consisted of furan/metroplex for 2 weeks).
- Initial Ich outbreak was December 2020 once Tangs were introduced to the aquarium.
-Spent days catching all fish in my reef tank to move them to quarantine for best known outcome (Copper treatment).
-Had to order the smallest fishhooks I could find from Japan to catch 3 blue chromis and my lawnmower blenny (still with me to this day with no sign of previous capture using hook).
- Setup 2 quarantine tanks to dose with Cupramine (copper).
Fish in home quarantine included - 2020 Ich Show Down
-Yellow Tang - Still Here
-Sailfin Tang - Lost
-Hippo Tang - Still Here
-Cleaner Wrasse - Still Here
-Bristle Tooth Tang - Lost
-Clown Fish - Still Here (9 Years old/ Started in Pico Tank as a tank raised baby clown)
-2 Storm Trooper Clowns - Still Here
-3 Blue Chromis - Still Here
-Lawn Mower Blenny - Still Here
-Diamond Goby - Lost
-Pearly Jawfish - Lost
-Lyretail Anthias - Lost a year later/Non ich related from what I can tell
-Splendid Dottyback - Lost
-FoxFace Rabbitfish - Still Here
-Mandarin - Still here
After 6 days of starting the copper treatment, I moved my fish back into the display tank due to some fish not tolerating treatment in their late stage of ICH. Outside of dying (mentioned above), I noticed some fish not eating and pure lethargy. I felt that more fish would be lost if I kept the infected fish in copper at the stage of ich they were experiencing.
I continued to do research as we do when combating this parasite looking for any new advances within the topic and entered the edge of the internet (scary place), finding Paul Baldassano's approach and lack luster sense of humor . After reading Paul's article, I found a website that sold black worms and ordered what I thought would be a reasonable amount... For anyone who has never ordered black worms before, a half-pound goes a long way. Ask me how much my wife liked opening up her subzero refrigerator and seeing trays of black worms on the second shelf (worms needed to be rinsed every day).
Below is my approach that allowed me to combat Ich in my display tank and visibly be Ich free for the better part of 2 years.
Display Reef Sextuple Threat (get your mind out of the gutter/means 6 times)-
UV - 25-Watt Low Flow - UV Intake and Return Only in Sump
Black Worms & Nori - Every Day During Treatment
LRS Food- Reef Frenzy, Herbivore Mix
Selcon Vitamins - Every Feeding minus black worms
3 Water changes and vacuum a week
Polyp Lab Medic - 6 am triple dose and 10 pm triple dose with UV off for one hour after (Polyplab crushed up/mixed/and in to return sump for 25 days)
I am proud to say that this over-the-top approach created an environment where Ich no longer appeared on my fish for a total of 2 years within my aquarium.
But wait, there's more....
Fast forward 2 years and my RS 525 XL stand started to warp. Redsea was kind enough to provide me a new stand or a credit towards a new tank. Of course, I took advantage of the savings on a sweet new G2 model and needed more fish!
After being ich free visibly for 2 years I recently saw some flashing on my hippo tang which turned into a few white spots a couple weeks later. The only thing that had changed is the addition of new fish that were added to the tank. I cannot claim whether or not it was a new fish or a flare up from my previous episode a couple years prior. The company I used to purchase fish this time is a reputable online group that quarantines for 30 days and has amazing reviews. It wasn't until the last order out of multiple that I experienced this outbreak on my hippo tang.
Current Fish - 2022 Ich Show Down
-Yellow Tang - Still Here
-Hippo Tang - Still Here
-Cleaner Wrasse - Still Here
-Clown Fish - Still Here (9 Years old/ Started in Pico Tank as a tank raised baby clown)
-2 Storm Trooper Clowns - Still here
-3 Blue Chromis - Still Here
-Lawn Mower Blenny - Still Here
-FoxFace Rabbitfish - Still Here
-Mandarin - Still here
-Valentini Puffer - New Fish within 2 Months
-Blotched Anthias - New fish within 2 Months
-Gem Tang - New Fish Within 2 Months
-Splendid Dottyback - New Fish Within 2 Months
-Helfrichi Fire Fish - New Fish Within 2 Months
- 4 pajama Cardinals - New Fish Within 2 Months
SO, needless to say I have started my old regiment to see if I can do this one more time (fingers crossed).
I am currently on day 5 with the following setup - (no Fish Loss to date and improving spot wise due to Ich life cycle) -
UV - 25-Watt Low Flow - UV Intake and Return Only in Sump
Black Worms & Nori - Every Day During Treatment
LRS Food- Reef Frenzy, Herbivore Mix, Chunky
Selcon Vitamins - Every Feeding minus black worms
3 Water changes and vacuum a week
Polyp Lab Medic - 6 am triple dose and 10 pm triple dose with UV off for one hour after (Polyplab crushed up/mixed/and in to return sump for 25 days)
If anyone is interested, I can keep my progress posted for review over the next month or so.
Thanks for reading,
Josh
First time poster here, I have been a lurker for many years (17 years reefing) and wanted to share what has worked for me prior when combating ich without any scientific evidence to back up my approach. In other words, I have combined many approaches from Humblefish, Paul Baldassano, Jessican, random posts, and a little bit of luck. Ich is a terrible parasite and it's the worst feeling to have your fish go through this while knowing there is no full proof medication that can be offered within an established reef tank.
This approach is a combination of outstanding individuals that have given their time (never met or messaged) and not a representation of eradication, but to minimize the number of free-swimming parasites in the tank for the fish to build an immunity.
2020 Background/Tank Info
-Prior to moving to a Redsea XXL 750 G2 reef tank (Oct 2022), these fish were housed in a Redsea Reefer 525XL since January 2020.
-Purchased all items from a LFS that had a "prior to purchase" quarantine process (consisted of furan/metroplex for 2 weeks).
- Initial Ich outbreak was December 2020 once Tangs were introduced to the aquarium.
-Spent days catching all fish in my reef tank to move them to quarantine for best known outcome (Copper treatment).
-Had to order the smallest fishhooks I could find from Japan to catch 3 blue chromis and my lawnmower blenny (still with me to this day with no sign of previous capture using hook).
- Setup 2 quarantine tanks to dose with Cupramine (copper).
Fish in home quarantine included - 2020 Ich Show Down
-Yellow Tang - Still Here
-Sailfin Tang - Lost
-Hippo Tang - Still Here
-Cleaner Wrasse - Still Here
-Bristle Tooth Tang - Lost
-Clown Fish - Still Here (9 Years old/ Started in Pico Tank as a tank raised baby clown)
-2 Storm Trooper Clowns - Still Here
-3 Blue Chromis - Still Here
-Lawn Mower Blenny - Still Here
-Diamond Goby - Lost
-Pearly Jawfish - Lost
-Lyretail Anthias - Lost a year later/Non ich related from what I can tell
-Splendid Dottyback - Lost
-FoxFace Rabbitfish - Still Here
-Mandarin - Still here
After 6 days of starting the copper treatment, I moved my fish back into the display tank due to some fish not tolerating treatment in their late stage of ICH. Outside of dying (mentioned above), I noticed some fish not eating and pure lethargy. I felt that more fish would be lost if I kept the infected fish in copper at the stage of ich they were experiencing.
I continued to do research as we do when combating this parasite looking for any new advances within the topic and entered the edge of the internet (scary place), finding Paul Baldassano's approach and lack luster sense of humor . After reading Paul's article, I found a website that sold black worms and ordered what I thought would be a reasonable amount... For anyone who has never ordered black worms before, a half-pound goes a long way. Ask me how much my wife liked opening up her subzero refrigerator and seeing trays of black worms on the second shelf (worms needed to be rinsed every day).
Below is my approach that allowed me to combat Ich in my display tank and visibly be Ich free for the better part of 2 years.
Display Reef Sextuple Threat (get your mind out of the gutter/means 6 times)-
UV - 25-Watt Low Flow - UV Intake and Return Only in Sump
Black Worms & Nori - Every Day During Treatment
LRS Food- Reef Frenzy, Herbivore Mix
Selcon Vitamins - Every Feeding minus black worms
3 Water changes and vacuum a week
Polyp Lab Medic - 6 am triple dose and 10 pm triple dose with UV off for one hour after (Polyplab crushed up/mixed/and in to return sump for 25 days)
I am proud to say that this over-the-top approach created an environment where Ich no longer appeared on my fish for a total of 2 years within my aquarium.
But wait, there's more....
Fast forward 2 years and my RS 525 XL stand started to warp. Redsea was kind enough to provide me a new stand or a credit towards a new tank. Of course, I took advantage of the savings on a sweet new G2 model and needed more fish!
After being ich free visibly for 2 years I recently saw some flashing on my hippo tang which turned into a few white spots a couple weeks later. The only thing that had changed is the addition of new fish that were added to the tank. I cannot claim whether or not it was a new fish or a flare up from my previous episode a couple years prior. The company I used to purchase fish this time is a reputable online group that quarantines for 30 days and has amazing reviews. It wasn't until the last order out of multiple that I experienced this outbreak on my hippo tang.
Current Fish - 2022 Ich Show Down
-Yellow Tang - Still Here
-Hippo Tang - Still Here
-Cleaner Wrasse - Still Here
-Clown Fish - Still Here (9 Years old/ Started in Pico Tank as a tank raised baby clown)
-2 Storm Trooper Clowns - Still here
-3 Blue Chromis - Still Here
-Lawn Mower Blenny - Still Here
-FoxFace Rabbitfish - Still Here
-Mandarin - Still here
-Valentini Puffer - New Fish within 2 Months
-Blotched Anthias - New fish within 2 Months
-Gem Tang - New Fish Within 2 Months
-Splendid Dottyback - New Fish Within 2 Months
-Helfrichi Fire Fish - New Fish Within 2 Months
- 4 pajama Cardinals - New Fish Within 2 Months
SO, needless to say I have started my old regiment to see if I can do this one more time (fingers crossed).
I am currently on day 5 with the following setup - (no Fish Loss to date and improving spot wise due to Ich life cycle) -
UV - 25-Watt Low Flow - UV Intake and Return Only in Sump
Black Worms & Nori - Every Day During Treatment
LRS Food- Reef Frenzy, Herbivore Mix, Chunky
Selcon Vitamins - Every Feeding minus black worms
3 Water changes and vacuum a week
Polyp Lab Medic - 6 am triple dose and 10 pm triple dose with UV off for one hour after (Polyplab crushed up/mixed/and in to return sump for 25 days)
If anyone is interested, I can keep my progress posted for review over the next month or so.
Thanks for reading,
Josh
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