Saltwater Itch Inside of reef tank problem.

Garryzoanthid · Nov 30, 2023

Hello everyone,

I have gone through the itching phase once in my reef tank before. However, I didn’t do anything to remove the itch in the tank so it randomly went away by itself. But since I’ve recently bought a new fish, I noticed some white spots on him, and so I wondered if they’ll simply go away by itself until later the week that came by, I noticed it was getting worse. So then the next week after that was when he started stressing out and ended up dying in my reef tank due to the itching problem. Now I’m wondering how I can remove the itch that’s inside the tank. I’m also noticing that my clownfish are beginning to have white small transparent spots on their bodies and fins which worries me a lot since it can possible become an outbreak and kill my clownfish. If anyone knows anything about the best itch killer that I can dose the water with, it will be great! There will also be water changes throughout the process so ammonia doesn’t increase due to the dead fish that died earlier in the morning from the itch.

Doctorgori · Nov 30, 2023

they are gonna want more specific tank parameters to help you: tank size, stocking, et…
Also be prepared to treat separately, the answers might not be easy ….

threebuoys · Nov 30, 2023

You are in a tough situation. The spots on the fish do appear to be ich. Unfortunately, no treatments are possible inside a reef tank. You will need to move all fish to a quarantine tank and follow the protocol using either copper power or copper safe for 30 days. Please see the link to the full protocol. You will also need to allow the reef tank to remain fallow (fishless) for 8 weeks to allow the parasites to die off completely before adding fish back

Garryzoanthid · Nov 30, 2023

threebuoys said:
You are in a tough situation. The spots on the fish do appear to be ich. Unfortunately, no treatments are possible inside a reef tank. You will need to move all fish to a quarantine tank and follow the protocol using either copper power or copper safe for 30 days. Please see the link to the full protocol. You will also need to allow the reef tank to remain fallow (fishless) for 8 weeks to allow the parasites to die off completely before adding fish back

Will I have to measure the copper safe during quarantine? And thank you for helping me out!

threebuoys · Nov 30, 2023

Yes. You'll need to keep the concentration of either of the two products I mentioned at between 2.25 and 2.50 ppm throughout the 30 day period. See the link below in my signature block.

threebuoys · Nov 30, 2023

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com

Spare time · Nov 30, 2023

Put the fish in a QT (with pvc pipes, a hob filter with a biosponge, and biospira) with copper power or copper safe at 2.25-2.5ppm for 30 days at 81F and keep the display empty from fish for 45 days at 81F. You could also do hyposalinity and move the corals out into a separate container if that is easier.