QT tank is set-up-Diseases-3reef Forums

Bogie · 03-18-2008, 01:17 PM

Quick background:
Ich noticed on the blue tang 3-4 weeks after I bought him.
Ich got bad, fed w/ garlic xtreme, increased water temp to 80-81*, went through 2 - 8 oz bottles of Stop Ich and talked to Al a few times. The ich came and went and came back, etc for 5 weeks, bought a cleaner shrimp (help clean the tang a bit) and treated secondary skin bacterial infections (from the Ich) with Melafix. The tang was starting to do better...then... 4 more ich spots on Thursday night.

Ok, well this weekend I set up my 10 gallon as a quarantine tank for the blue tang. I have a 50 watt heater, lid w/ light, an airstone, and I put in a piece of pvc pipe for him to hide in. I set the water up with 5 gallons of water from the 55g tank, and 4+ gal of new salt water. I just added the coppersafe last night.

I plan to keep the blue tang in the 10 gal QT tank for enough time for the coppersafe to kill all the ich on/in the fish.
There is no sign of ich on the 2 clowns, 2 damsels, or algae blenny in the 55. However, if I do not QT them in the 10 gallon as well, will the Ich host on them and survive in the 55 gal, then re-attack the tang once he is put back in? As a last resort, (and this makes most sense) is to put all 6 fish in the 10 gal QT copper treating tank (a little crowded but?) for enough time (30-40 days) for the ich in the 55gal to die off with NO fish to host on? Correct me if I'm wrong, but will the Ich not be able to survive/host on the snails, hermits, and cleaner shrimp and BTA?

Any other ideas? Thanks guys.

P.S. I'm finished w/ those B.S. all natural reef safe products like Stop Ich. What a waste of $35!!! Sorry Al, but it didn't work out.

cuttingras · 03-19-2008, 04:15 PM

anyone??

Bogie · 03-19-2008, 06:35 PM

Well it's been a few days in the qt tank for the blue tang, and he really is looking better. The Mardel Coppersafe is hopefully killing all the ich on him for good, and he's eating seaweed with garlic xtreme. I'm glad he's eating in there at least. I'm going to re-check all the water parameters tomorrow (in both tanks).

But does anyone know if the ich in the 55 gal will survive if it is not visible on any of the other fish in that tank for ~30 days?
Or will it host in the other fish w/o me being able to visibly notice and survive to attack my blue tang again?
Either way, I'm definitely keeping the 10 gal up and running as a qt for every new fish, etc.. that may be added to my 55 gal later. Is it necessary to qt hermit crabs?
Sorry for all the questions, and thanks in advance.

baugherb · 03-19-2008, 06:52 PM

Not sure, but hope all works out....

amcarrig · 03-21-2008, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bogie

Is it necessary to qt hermit crabs?
Sorry for all the questions, and thanks in advance.

If you're that concerned about ich, you'll pretty much have to quarantine everything that you ever add to your tank including rock, coral, snails, crabs, etc. as they can all carry ich cysts. I personally think that most ich treatments are "much ado about nothing" but that's me.

wastemanagement · 03-22-2008, 04:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amcarrig

If you're that concerned about ich, you'll pretty much have to quarantine everything that you ever add to your tank including rock, coral, snails, crabs, etc. as they can all carry ich cysts. I personally think that most ich treatments are "much ado about nothing" but that's me.

+2
If you have other fish in the display the ich will still be in the display and the tang will get it agian they are prone to it .
Mine was fine in the store, 1 day later fully covered just dosed the garlic extreme and didnt change any paremiters and the fish was fine ,still is in fact!!!They just need to build up an imunity to it

cuttingras · 03-22-2008, 10:18 AM

Ick...what not uv for a few weeks?

Bogie · 03-22-2008, 10:31 AM

Well, I just did some water tests, and the 55 gal tank is fine.
The 10 gal QT tank has ammonia up to .5+ppm and nitrite level at .25 ppm, and pH is a little high at 8.4-8.5, so I got to do a half water change NOW or decide if 1 week in CopperSafe treating QT was enough time for the ich on/in the Blue Tang to completely die. It says to treat Ich for 5 to 30 days!!!
Since I didn't QT any of the other fish in the tank, there is a really good chance the Ich is still thriving in the main tank, but just not affecting the other 5 fish. 10g is too small for 6 fish, and the ammonia levels, etc. would be off the wall with no LR in there, so that's why I decided not to QT all of them.
Anyone know how long coppersafe takes to kill ich from their own experience?

Tangster · 03-22-2008, 12:07 PM

Look if you just keep the fish eating it will slough off the parasite and will build a immunity to them.. People yank them in and out F/W dipping and then mess with the tanks it just keeps the fishes stress level high and thats the cause of the parasite anyway. I mentioned to someone here not long ago I myself told Al yrs ago that he mad a pretty good BBq sauce (: Dissolved Oxygen levels are what I find to make a big difference to keeping tangs happy. And the reason many have problems with them.. These fish require tighter water parameters then any coral I ever kept.. If its eating well just leave it alone .. You'd be better off.. People kill them with Kindness most times.
I have not quarantined a fish since 1973 or so and seldom do I have health issues. And those I see touting quarantine never apply the practice long enough even. Unless you allow them to stay in the quarantine tank for 3 months at least you are doing nothing really.

Bogie · 03-22-2008, 01:23 PM

Ok, well I'm thinking about just acclimating him back to the 55 gal tank tonight. He is eating in the QT tank (sea weed dosed with garlic xtreme).
Even 2 hrs after the 50% water change, the nitrites are reading 0.25 and ammonia is
0.5 - 1.0 (not a perfect match, but somewhere in between those shades of green).
I think that might be toxic enough to start hurting him... anyone know what levels are still safe?

UPDATE: acclimated blue tang back into the 55 gal. and doing well so far, but he's getting chased out of his old LR by one of the damsels (so I re-arranged the LR to confuse the damsel), and the tang seems to be bullying the algae blenny for no reason? I guess unless the QT is set up with LR, bacteria, etc, it can't really maintain good water parameters for an extended time. Thanks everyone for their input.