Treatment or Not?

Dowtish · May 17, 2012

I had a major ich outbreak a few months back and lost a lot of fish and removed the rest and ran the tank fallow for 9 weeks. Afterwards I began restocking. All fish were QT'd for 4 weeks before going into the DT. Long story short, I now have a powder brown that has had ich for over 4 months now. His spots never go away completely, but he eats like a pig, and is fat as can be. I also have a purple tang that has had spots for 3 days and then will go away for weeks. Currently all fish are clear except for the PBT. I still have my 55 gallon QT setup. Should I even bother with trying to to treat the PBT? I just cant imagine it having spots for this long and that it isn't doing harm. One thing he does is, He swims into the flow of my MP40 all night long, when the lights are out. Ive never seen him actually bed down and sleep. I'm wondering if this is his way to keep them off of him? And I never see him flash or scratch. Just a strange observation Ive made over the past few months.

So, after all of this, I am of the train of thought that there is and will be ich in my system, so removing all fish again is not going to happen. but am I just wasting my time treating this guy with cupramine, just to put him back in the DT, and he get it again?

Rob.D · May 17, 2012

Im dealing with a similar situation, my plan of action is UV.

cdness · May 17, 2012

I have attempted the hypo, cupramine, and tank fallow treatments and honestly have had little luck... I have not had any ich outbreaks in a very long time so it may have just died off...

Keep your fish healthy and there should be no issues.

Dowtish · May 17, 2012

I am running UV btw, and have not seen any difference, other than no cyano and less algae on the glass. It's an 18watt and I have half of the recommended flow going thru it. Not that I am going to take it offline anytime soon.

cdness, I agree. Its just kind of sad to see a fish with spots for this long.

MBG75 · May 17, 2012

Even if you qt and treat the PBT with Cupramine. The ich will come back once you put him back in the dt

Dowtish · May 17, 2012

MBG75 said:
Even if you qt and treat the PBT with Cupramine. The ich will come back once you put him back in the dt

That's basically my point in this thread. I have even thought about taking it out and treating it, and then letting it go to a friend with a larger tank, who has never had any issues with ich. But dangit, i love this fish and I don't want to let it go.

btkrausen · May 17, 2012

Hypo-salinity works very well IMO. I just went through it and now I"m 100% ich free. In your case, without either treating with culpramine or hyposalinity, it'll never just go away. The fish swimming in the powerhead is a common among ich, where the fish is trying to use the water flow to help get the parasite off of him.

Also, would like to state that UV is not a way to get rid of ich. UV can only kill organisms in the water column, but ich mostly lives on the fish and then drops to the sand to reproduce. It may help, slightly, but it is, by any means, a cure.

Dowtish · May 17, 2012

I understand all of this Bryan, I have spent countless hours of reading ich threads, to the point of wanting to never have fish again. I don't have time to treat all my fish with hypo for one, and secondly, I have read that there are dormant strains of ich that can survive up to 36 weeks in your system. So I'm kinda over the whole "running fallow" method. I am of the thought that a fish can beat this, if it is healthy enough and not stressed. Because it is obvious that all my other fish are capable, just not the PBT right now.

evolved · May 17, 2012

I'd let it ride, considering the fish is healthy. I don't see any other good solution here.

tcreeftank · May 17, 2012

I had a similar situation in one of my tanks and treated with Metronidazole. Worked liked a charm and the Ich never came back. I had tried almost every other treatment before that. I found it works better when you feed it instead of placing it in the water column.

btkrausen · May 17, 2012

Dowtish said:
I understand all of this Bryan, I have spent countless hours of reading ich threads, to the point of wanting to never have fish again. I don't have time to treat all my fish with hypo for one, and secondly, I have read that there are dormant strains of ich that can survive up to 36 weeks in your system. So I'm kinda over the whole "running fallow" method. I am of the thought that a fish can beat this, if it is healthy enough and not stressed. Because it is obvious that all my other fish are capable, just not the PBT right now.

Sorry Chris, some of that response was geared towards others as well so they would be aware.

If you don't have time to do hypo, I would agree the best bet is to let it be, feed heavily with soaked foods, and keep your fingers crossed

Dowtish · May 18, 2012

Right on Bryan, I understand what you mean. A UV is definitely not a cure for ich, but it definitely can't hurt.

Trex · May 18, 2012

Do you plan on adding any more fish? The only way I would consider doing nothing and letting things be is if you were not planning on adding any more fish.

REEFKEEPER10 · May 18, 2012

If it is eating and other wise healthy I would let it be. It sounds like something in your tank has it stressed and it just needs to adjust. Maybe a fish. I hope this helps