Ick on my Royal Gramma
- Thread starter GRaff71884
- Start date
Oh dear.. Well it's not a QT now, it's a hospital tank.
OK, when it comes to ich I'm a purist. Set up the hospital tank, put all fish in , see what happens. Put in live rock and sponge filter if you have one , lots of aeration. If things get worse take out rock and use copper, and remember to use a copper test kit - there will be no effective filtration on the tank, you'll use water changes to keep levels down thus you'll need to add more copper, thus you need the kit. Freshwater Dips can work as well, don't forget to adjust the pH to match or you'll kill the fish. You need to do this right as the fish will be in here for 4+ weeks, while you let the diesease die out in the main display.
I don't think you can treat in the main display unless you're very, very lucky. Garlic sometimes works, sometimes not and is nothing like 100%. A UV won't realy do it - generally the thing is on the fish or on the substrate and is only in the water column for a short time, so statistically a UV is totally not going to get all the live ich. Also none of th reef safe cures are anything like 100% - most of them just irritate the fishs mucus coat to stop the thing attaching.
You have learnt your lesson now (or will have) - QT in the future!
OK, when it comes to ich I'm a purist. Set up the hospital tank, put all fish in , see what happens. Put in live rock and sponge filter if you have one , lots of aeration. If things get worse take out rock and use copper, and remember to use a copper test kit - there will be no effective filtration on the tank, you'll use water changes to keep levels down thus you'll need to add more copper, thus you need the kit. Freshwater Dips can work as well, don't forget to adjust the pH to match or you'll kill the fish. You need to do this right as the fish will be in here for 4+ weeks, while you let the diesease die out in the main display.
I don't think you can treat in the main display unless you're very, very lucky. Garlic sometimes works, sometimes not and is nothing like 100%. A UV won't realy do it - generally the thing is on the fish or on the substrate and is only in the water column for a short time, so statistically a UV is totally not going to get all the live ich. Also none of th reef safe cures are anything like 100% - most of them just irritate the fishs mucus coat to stop the thing attaching.
You have learnt your lesson now (or will have) - QT in the future!
ick on a fish falls off around the 3 day mark, hits the deck, reproduces like crazy, then hits the fish again - this cycle goes on ad-infinitum
you have to treat the whole tank over a period of a week or so to get rid of it despite the appearance that it's gone from the affected fish - it'll keep coming back till you do it properly, and it'll be worse every time
http://www.myfishtank.net/diseasedatabase.php#1 look up "whitespot"
you have to treat the whole tank over a period of a week or so to get rid of it despite the appearance that it's gone from the affected fish - it'll keep coming back till you do it properly, and it'll be worse every time
http://www.myfishtank.net/diseasedatabase.php#1 look up "whitespot"
Well, good news everyone. The Royal Gramma finally got comfortable today to start swimming around in the tank and not just hiding anymore. I noticed when she was out, that it never was ick in the first place (stupid me), it was just a few spots where she looked a little beat up. I still think I am gonna quarantine her though and see if the copper medicine I bought will heal her back to 100% and make sure she is ok in general. Also, so far, all 3 fish get along great!! I will put some pics up tom.
qt is critical imo, difficult to reconcile losing an entire tank b/c of a little laziness and lack of proper protocol
I totally understand. I am pretty new to saltwater so the quarantine tank wasn't something I was aware of until this problem arised. It is now setup for good, though. I guess she got a little beat up there. I didn't really pay much attention to her other than that she was active b/c the store is very reputable and I never have had a problem there before with fish. She is doing good, but I am gonna QT her anyway to get her 100%. Thanks for all your help though, constructive criticism is always welcomed here!!! Thanks again!!
Yes it will nuke the live rock. Copper is deadly to almost all inverts, vertebrates have developed bodily functions to handle it to different levels, though it is still ultimately toxic to fish. For that reason I don't advise prophelactically treating fish with copper 'just in case' - use it, in QT, when you need it.
QT is always a good idea, no matter how good the lfs. If they have a lot of fish in and out, and/or use a centralised system, you have to assume there is ich, or something else in there. It's just a fact of life. The only exception I have is that for example, I have an lfs I wouldn't quarantine from. He doesn't get many fish coming through, he doesn't have centralised system, and his fish often sit, in the same tank, for a month plus. Effectively he quarantines for you, but obviously this is the exception and not the rule. (he doesn't do marines for the money incidentally, just to have a 'complete' range).
I doubt melafix is going to do it for you, and I don't trust most natural cures - is melafix, a general cure, specifically going to hit ich, brooklynella or whatever but not hit your other inverts? Get real! Most natural cures work by promoting the slime coat so the parasite can't stick, or garlic makes it taste bad to the parasite(?).
Here's my QT regime, which I've also used with obvious changes in freshwater. Setup QT tank with maintank water + some fresh, plus live rock and cheap skimmer if you have one. Also a sponge filter if you have one. Get fish,float bag to start to match tank temp, add little bits of tank water. When you're ready to tip fish in DON*T - if possible, freshwater dip whin pH corrected water to avoid possibly fatal pH shock. Net fish out, dispose of water from lfs. Watch fish in dip for up to 10 mins, but many won't go this long. You've now gotten rid of any nasties in the water, and the freshwater dip will deal with many more. Leave fish alone in QT, feed as best you can (this is why pieve live rock , hopefully with algae helps). If fish gets sick, remove live rock to a smaller bowl, or 2 litre yoghurt pot NOT main tank, because it too needs qt. Now treat QT tank. Filtration - assume it's gone. Maintain water quality with water changes and skimmer if you have one - cycling is irrelevant here. If you use copper, use a test kit, and beware , fish are variably sensitive to copper, and you don't want to kill them. This works for me, and once you've killed a few hundred pounds worth of fish in one go, you'll do this too.
QT is always a good idea, no matter how good the lfs. If they have a lot of fish in and out, and/or use a centralised system, you have to assume there is ich, or something else in there. It's just a fact of life. The only exception I have is that for example, I have an lfs I wouldn't quarantine from. He doesn't get many fish coming through, he doesn't have centralised system, and his fish often sit, in the same tank, for a month plus. Effectively he quarantines for you, but obviously this is the exception and not the rule. (he doesn't do marines for the money incidentally, just to have a 'complete' range).
I doubt melafix is going to do it for you, and I don't trust most natural cures - is melafix, a general cure, specifically going to hit ich, brooklynella or whatever but not hit your other inverts? Get real! Most natural cures work by promoting the slime coat so the parasite can't stick, or garlic makes it taste bad to the parasite(?).
Here's my QT regime, which I've also used with obvious changes in freshwater. Setup QT tank with maintank water + some fresh, plus live rock and cheap skimmer if you have one. Also a sponge filter if you have one. Get fish,float bag to start to match tank temp, add little bits of tank water. When you're ready to tip fish in DON*T - if possible, freshwater dip whin pH corrected water to avoid possibly fatal pH shock. Net fish out, dispose of water from lfs. Watch fish in dip for up to 10 mins, but many won't go this long. You've now gotten rid of any nasties in the water, and the freshwater dip will deal with many more. Leave fish alone in QT, feed as best you can (this is why pieve live rock , hopefully with algae helps). If fish gets sick, remove live rock to a smaller bowl, or 2 litre yoghurt pot NOT main tank, because it too needs qt. Now treat QT tank. Filtration - assume it's gone. Maintain water quality with water changes and skimmer if you have one - cycling is irrelevant here. If you use copper, use a test kit, and beware , fish are variably sensitive to copper, and you don't want to kill them. This works for me, and once you've killed a few hundred pounds worth of fish in one go, you'll do this too.
Well, they all have ick now somehow. I guess the Gramma did have ick like I thought in the first place. The tank has been medicated with copper, all three fish are in the hospital tank, how long do I have to leave in there until I know they are completely healthy? Also, with no fish in my display tank, how long does it take for the ick in that tank to die off? Do I have to do anything to my main tank to get the ick to die off or does it die off on its own with no fish in there? All that's in my display tank now is live rock and inverts. Thanks!
How will I know whether to put them back in at 4 weeks or 6 weeks? I am not so sure my Royal Gramma is gonna make it, my Coral Beauty either. I did a freshwater dip on my clown and the beauty before QT, the clown is in perfect shape, the CB isn't doing good at all. Well, if I end up with only my clown, I guess I am lucky considering I didn't QT any of my fish to start off. You live you learn I guess. Thanks for all your help!!
Well an update on my fish. The Coral Beauty went belly up about 3 hours after goin into QT. I am not really sure, I did a freshwater dip on all 3 fish, and the CB just started gettin wierd after that. The Royal Gramma ended up dying, but it wasn't the ick, she had some kind of internal disease. The clown, however, is doing great, just waiting another 3 weeks for the ick to die off in my main tank to put it back in. Hopefully with a QT setup I will never encounter this again. Thanks for everyones help, I really appreciate it!
