My Foxface had ich

saullman

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Ok. I need everyone's help. Today I noticed that my foxface has ich pretty bad. I have a Reefer 350 (90 gal total) with some tangs, a 6 line, clown, and some inverts. All the other fish at this point look ok and are eating ok. The foxface is not eating well at all. I was thinking of getting some selcon to get him to eat. So tonight in a panic I setup a 10 gal quarantine tank. Pic below. I don't have any ich medication yet and the foxface is still in the main display. Here are my questions:

1- what is the best medication to use to treat ich?
2- how long should I keep the foxface in quarantine?
3- do I remove the foxface from the main display even though I don't have any medication yet?

What else do I need to know about the quarantine tank and taking care of a sick fish? This is my first try at saving a fishes life.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

1508B6D5-7EDC-4D9E-B457-D50A88987EB0.jpeg
 

KrisReef

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I don't do QT, but I do have some questions that may help you get a great answer instead of a good answer.

How long have you had your fishes?

If your Foxface has ich, the entire tank has ich, so people who qt will be telling you to treat them all and let the tank go fallow without any fish for ~3 months.

How you should handle this situation is up to you but you will do it better if you resist the habit of stressing about it. Decide to move forward and do your best. You can do whatever better without stress (Don't ask me how I know.)

Some folk would tell you to feed the Foxface a variety of live foods, fresh mussels, clams, and seafood from the store as the best way to beat ich.

@Jay Hemdal, if he is around has a good handle on medication. GL!
 

Jay Hemdal

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First thing, how confident are you of the diagnosis? Can you post a clear picture of the foxface?

If it is ich, and it is severe enough to cause the foxface not to feed well, it will most likely spread to all of the fish in the tank, and they won't all fit in the 10 gallon tank.

I use coppersafe for 30 days to treat ich. If the fish in the DT don't break with ich (unlikely) then they can still carry sub-acute infections. Then, you may not be able to eliminate the parasite and will need to try something called "ich management". If you move all of the fish out, then your tank needs to remain fishless for 45 to 75 days, depending on your risk tolerance, water temperature and a few other factors.

Jay
 
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saullman

saullman

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I don't do QT, but I do have some questions that may help you get a great answer instead of a good answer.

How long have you had your fishes?

If your Foxface has ich, the entire tank has ich, so people who qt will be telling you to treat them all and let the tank go fallow without any fish for ~3 months.

How you should handle this situation is up to you but you will do it better if you resist the habit of stressing about it. Decide to move forward and do your best. You can do whatever better without stress (Don't ask me how I know.)

Some folk would tell you to feed the Foxface a variety of live foods, fresh mussels, clams, and seafood from the store as the best way to beat ich.

@Jay Hemdal, if he is around has a good handle on medication. GL!
So you prefer to NOT quarantine and let the disease go through is life cycle. And to just feed the tank well.

I have had the most of the fish for about 2 months. I upgraded my tank from a 45 gal to a 90 gal about 2 months ago which is when I bought 4 new fish. I only transferred one clown to the new tank.

I currently feed the fish LRS, just purchased frozen mysis, dried seaweed, and some pellets (crab food which they all seem to love) but the foxface is not eating well in general. I thought about trying to entice his appetite with garlic.
 
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saullman

saullman

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First thing, how confident are you of the diagnosis? Can you post a clear picture of the foxface?

If it is ich, and it is severe enough to cause the foxface not to feed well, it will most likely spread to all of the fish in the tank, and they won't all fit in the 10 gallon tank.

I use coppersafe for 30 days to treat ich. If the fish in the DT don't break with ich (unlikely) then they can still carry sub-acute infections. Then, you may not be able to eliminate the parasite and will need to try something called "ich management". If you move all of the fish out, then your tank needs to remain fishless for 45 to 75 days, depending on your risk tolerance, water temperature and a few other factors.

Jay
I'm not 100% but fairly confident with the diagnosis. I've had Brook before which wiped out my old tank so I know what that is. And it's not velvet either.

The coppersafe that you speak of, is that medication used in the main display or in a quarantine tank?
 

Jay Hemdal

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I'm not 100% but fairly confident with the diagnosis. I've had Brook before which wiped out my old tank so I know what that is. And it's not velvet either.

The coppersafe that you speak of, is that medication used in the main display or in a quarantine tank?
Copper can only be used in a quarantine tank. There are not any truly effective reef safe ich medications that can be used for moderate to severe cases. The ones that seem to work do so only on really light cases. You could try polyp lab medic perhaps.
Jay
 

KrisReef

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So you prefer to NOT quarantine and let the disease go through is life cycle. And to just feed the tank well.

I have had the most of the fish for about 2 months. I upgraded my tank from a 45 gal to a 90 gal about 2 months ago which is when I bought 4 new fish. I only transferred one clown to the new tank.

I currently feed the fish LRS, just purchased frozen mysis, dried seaweed, and some pellets (crab food which they all seem to love) but the foxface is not eating well in general. I thought about trying to entice his appetite with garlic.
I’m glad Jay checked in. A new tank is a little less stable than a long term set up. I’m more comfortable suggesting “just keep feeding well “ in a more established environment.

speaking of environment, does the Foxface have a good place to find cover? Having a hiding place will allow the fish to relax and may improve feeding?

Keep a sharp eye out for improvement or not.
 
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saullman

saullman

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I’m glad Jay checked in. A new tank is a little less stable than a long term set up. I’m more comfortable suggesting “just keep feeding well “ in a more established environment.

speaking of environment, does the Foxface have a good place to find cover? Having a hiding place will allow the fish to relax and may improve feeding?

Keep a sharp eye out for improvement or not.
Yes, that is why I added the large rock in the tank. However at this point I'd be shocked if the foxface made it through the night. I treated the QT tonight with some copper safe. The Foxface is hiding under the rock on its side and he is struggling to breathe.
 
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saullman

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I just realized that I may have made another big mistake. I did a 10 gal water change on my main display to fill up my QT. Is this ok or not ok?
 

Jay Hemdal

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I just realized that I may have made another big mistake. I did a 10 gal water change on my main display to fill up my QT. Is this ok or not ok?
That should be fine, it won’t introduce anything that the fish doesn’t already have.
Jay
 
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