Question on preventing disease

I am trying to see if if there is a way to help prevent Ich and other diseases. I did get rid of ich with copper. Someone gave me something called fish keeper but I am not finding any reviews on it. So anyone havs some suggestions

Thanks
dean

 

Do you have freshwater or saltwater?

 

Welcome to 3reef Dean.

Buying healthy fish that have been in QT. Creating your own quarantine routine using a tank of appropriate size to QT and treat in.

Reduce or element stress to the tank and it's inhabitants by stocking slowly, maintaining water quality, not over crowding, planing the appropriate fish for the size of the tank. Remove or deal with an aggressive fish before it's causes stress to the other fish.

There are a individuals that routinely dip their fish in medicated dips or baths prior to introduction to a display tank but I am not familiar with the procedure. Some routinely treat for intestinal parasites prophylactically.

A proper diet that is varied and attempts to mimic a fish natural diet and provides vitamins and supplements.

Hope that helps even a little.

 

To PREVENT ICH? I think you would be well-served to keep the following in order:

Stocking - if you have too many fish in a tank or the wrong fish (incompatible) they will be overly stressed and more susceptible to ICH.

Stability in Maintenance: Do regular water changes, keep your skimmers clean, keep your carbon fresh, keep your powerheads and pumps clean to prevent failure and stress.

Feeding: Feed a variety of high-quality foods. You may consider adding a vitamin supplement to their food before feeding as well. Feed several times a day. Feeding smaller ammounts more frequently is better than large ammounts infrequently.

Temp: Keeping stable consistent temps in the recommended range (usually 76-82 degrees or something like it).

Choose your stock carefully: Don't impulse buy - that will help to stop you from buying a less than healthy fish - or one that will fight with or otherwise disrupt the current harmony (or make an already chaotic reef worse). Research the species you want first to see if it is a good fit for your tank and your equipment. Some fish are SLOBS and need really heavy duty filtration which cannot come in the form of a CUC because they are usually the same fish that eat snails and hermits.

Test Your Water: Test your water regularly to ensure all of the above steps are working in concert to keep your water params in the ideal range.

 

There are a few different levels of preventative measures that can be taken.

When buying fish, look at them carefully. Don't buy fish if there are other fish in the tank that clearly have ich. Don't buy fish that are behaving oddly, not eating, or just don't look healthy (like faded colors). All of that is just common sense, but it is really important!

I preemptively keep new fish in a hospital tank at 15 ppt for a couple of weeks before introducing them to the display tank. Keep activated carbon, bio filter media, and a heater in the tank. Make frequent water changes. If possible include a UV sterilizer.

Once the fish is in the tank, keep water parameters as constant as possible, especially temperature. Like the others have said, don't over crowd, purchase fish appropriate for your tank, etc.

Some aquarists claim that cleaner shrimp can also help. I don't think they help much. If they do help prevent it, at best it is to a very low degree.

It is a common belief that white spot is in every tank. I disagree with that idea and believe white spot can be kept out of tanks with extensive quarantine protocols for new live stock. Not saying those protocols aren't a pain in the butt though

 

a uv sterilizer. if you buy one research them first, not all are created equal.

 

Thanks for the info, it ws all useful. This is a saltwater 100 gallon aquarium. I have 11 fish in there now so I think I hit my limit as they are med to large size. I test the waters about every other day mainly for nitrites. I just put back in a fresh carbon filter to start removing the copper safe. Should I change out the water as well, does 20% sound about right.

 

Let me add that I feed with a mix bag frozed foods. Puffer likes the squids and silver sides (which the Green Wrasse will only eat) The Lion fish is hopeless so it is live food for him and that is it.

I started soaking food in galic mainly to add to it, I have read that this helps too prevent and cure ich, but I have no proof on this. I would like to use something else than copper from now on because I would like to add a coral for the clown fish. He thinks the dead coral is real. LOL. This is why I am trying this fishKeeper product. I have also read that lowering the salt and raising the temps do the trick as will.

 

This is a great link, the guy that wrote is a Microbiologist and hobbyist so he probably knows what he it talking about.

Marine Ich - Myths and Facts

There is a lot of BS out in the hobby about how to treat marine ich. Basically it boils down to this, if it sounds too easy or even mildly easy it does not work. Lowering the salinity will not do anything, unless you go all the way down to 1.009, which you really need a quarantine tank for. Adjusting the temp only increases the life cycle, the parasite falls off the fish faster but it's still present and reproducing in your system. Just because you can not see does by no means mean it is gone.

Good Luck.

 

If you can, keeping your tank at a lower temp. like 76-78 degrees will help as well.