Seahorses in ich tank

ajhudson15 · Mar 14, 2018

Here is my dilemma. I have a 75 gallon tank with about 8 seahorses. This tank is also home to 4 clowns, a yellow goby, a pipefish, and a batfish. My issue is that the clowns and batfish have ich and ive been trying to manage is with healthy feedings but it has gotten worse. My issue is that I do have a qt tank but no extra chiller so the seahorses cant go in there. I could put the clowns, batfish, and goby in there and treat but that doesn't solve the ich problem in the display. Since I cant treat with copper and the tank cant be fallow since the horses will still be in it im looking for suggestions on how to treat.

EmdeReef · Mar 14, 2018

When you say it's getting worse, more specks or increased itching other symptoms? Has it been getting progressively worse and over what period? Can you post pics and how long have you had the clowns and batfish? Ich will attack seahorses and starts around their gills. Tank transfer method will work best with seahorses, they also tolerate FW dips and hyposalinity (Kellogg's are more sensitive to that).
It would be pointless to just treat the fish without treating the seahorses and you will have to run your DT fallow for ~76 days as well. You can try managing ich but keep in mind that any stress can cause an outbreak.

Ich treatment options: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ich-cryptocaryon-irritans.191226/

ajhudson15 · Mar 14, 2018

Its getting worse as in increased spots and breathing on the clownfish. The seahorses are all acting fine and do not seem to be having any issues at the moment. Clowns and batfish have been in this tank for months. I am guessing it came in on a seahorse showing no signs or or live rock. I plan on moving the batfish and clowns to a qt and dosing copper to be effective. The seahorses I can try to put in another tank for the time being the only problem is keeping the water temp down. If I get everything out of the display I can dose copper and kill off the ich right? At that point I wouldn't need to go fallow since the copper would kill everything and then I could do water changes before adding anything back in. Is treating the tank with copper and expecting everything to die from the copper an ok assumption(I hate assuming)

EmdeReef · Mar 14, 2018

ajhudson15 said:
Its getting worse as in increased spots and breathing on the clownfish. The seahorses are all acting fine and do not seem to be having any issues at the moment. Clowns and batfish have been in this tank for months. I am guessing it came in on a seahorse showing no signs or or live rock. I plan on moving the batfish and clowns to a qt and dosing copper to be effective. The seahorses I can try to put in another tank for the time being the only problem is keeping the water temp down. If I get everything out of the display I can dose copper and kill off the ich right? At that point I wouldn't need to go fallow since the copper would kill everything and then I could do water changes before adding anything back in. Is treating the tank with copper and expecting everything to die from the copper an ok assumption(I hate assuming)

Ich usually gets better every few days. It's possible the fish have velvet which would be getting progressively worse - check this https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/velvet-amyloodinium-ocellatum.217570/ if so, you have to treat promptly as it it's a fast killer.

If you take everything out of your DT and keep it dry for a few days it will kill ich and most other parasites, you can use bleach to be extra safe just make sure to rinse well afterwards. That way there's no need to add copper, which is generally not ideal in the DT for risk of any residue remaining. However, it's possible ich or velvet can be encysted on your rocks, corals etc and that's why the need to run the tank fallow. The moment you reintroduce rocks or anything wet you run the risk of reinfecting your tank. Unfortunately, the only way around then would be to start fresh with new sand and dry rocks.

ajhudson15 · Mar 14, 2018

judging by the pics and the description it is ich. And im sure the tank has had it for about 2 weeks and no deaths./ it sounds like velvet would kill faster than that. Like I said I was trying to manage with increasing their immune system but hasn't worked. I think I will add fish to qt and treat with copper. Seahorses will go in old tank and try to monitor temp and let the dt sit fallow

EmdeReef · Mar 14, 2018

Sorry I don't have better news and good luck! You should follow this protocol for the seahorses https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-transfer-method.192655/
Otherwise, there's no way of knowing if they may remain asymptomatic carriers indefinitely.

Humblefish · Mar 14, 2018

Seahorses will not tolerate copper, and using CP on them has been very hit or miss.

If you are sure this is ich (and not velvet), then below are your two best options:

Tank Transfer Method: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-transfer-method.192655/

Hyposalinity: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/hyposalinity.247596/

@SeahorseKeeper for more input