Upset

I am so beyond upset - mostly with myself right now - for being so stupid as to purchase a fish and not quarantine it first. I last year I spent 3 months and a lot of money dealing with ich when I stupidly purchased a fish from a local not very reputable store and put him directly in my tank. I was brand new to the hobby and didn't realize I needed to quarantine so I chalked that up to a learning experience - albeit expensive and time consuming.

So fast forward to this year - I have a local shop that quarantines for at least a month all new purchases. They charge and arm and a leg for all of their fish, but I figured (based on some other customers reviews and suggestions) that it was safe to purchase from them and place directly in my DT. They have a great reputation as a LFS and have been in business for 20+ years. Love shopping there.

So tonight I purchased a yellow tang. The lighting wasn't the best, and we were in a bit of a rush but I did do a careful inspection of the fish and he looked fantastic. So we got him home, acclimated him into the DT and he was off and swimming....right down to my cleaner shrimp who spent the next 20 minutes working him over. After he came up under my T5's, my daughter (who has better eyes than me) noticed the ich. It was ALL over him - just very very tiny spots that were only visable under the intense light and at certain angles.

Complete disaster. I can't catch him without completely taking apart my tank. I do have a tank downstairs that I just filled and have heating up - and have a filter on it. But its not cycled, and even if I can catch him and put him in there its going to stress the heck out of him with a non cycled tank. Plus the rest of my fish have now been exposed, and I can tell you its insanely hard to catch them and I DO NOT want to go through that whole process again.

But when it comes down to it - this was all MY fault. I should have quarantined, and I want this to serve as a warning to others - there is NO fish shop that sells fish that are ok to go directly into your DT. Yes you might get lucky, and may dodge the bullet completely. But I sure didn't, and now honestly I'm just thinking of getting out of this hobby entirely. I am not willing to nuke my display tank with Cupermine killing my live rock that I've worked so hard to cultivate. I just invested in an extensive clean up crew, copepods, set up a refugium, bought a new reef octopus skimmer, installed a Reefkeeper system - and now it's all a waste due to freaking ich.

So upset right now.

Any chance if I get the yellow tang out I might avoid spreading it to the the other fish? I do know that ich probably exists in most systems lying dormant - and I know it ususally spreads when the parasites burst from the fish so maybe they will be ok if I can just get the tang out and treat him?

Sorry for the rant - just so tired of dealing with ich. Anything else I can handle, but this is just the worst.

 

http://www.3reef.com/forums/diseases/ich-101-noob-noob-128391.html

 

Oh I am sorry. So very frustrating.

Hopefully you are close to being done with stocking the tank, that should eliminate tank stress down the line some what.

Issues with disease and fish is what makes me not buy fish any longer, corals are so much easier in that respect.

Sure hope the issue resolves without too much intervene and further loss of money and sanity.

 

relax man! There's a school of thought that suggests no matter what you do, you will always have ich, no matter how careful you are, you can't get rid of ich! read the link from vinnyboombatz! So your tang has ich, OK, deal with it! no need to worry, not the end of the world! I just brought my tang back from the brink of death! Get some garlic extract, selcon, and nori/seaweed sheets! keep them eating! he was stressed from the move, no need to stress him out more! the key here is eliminate stress! maybe turn the lights out, let him fing a home in your tank! but relax! chances are your tank already had ich, almost 100% it did! so now, lets manage it!

 

http://www.3reef.com/forums/new-hobby/simple-rules-avoid-ich-126326.html
I have had fish tanks of all kinds for 29 years. Good luck I hope it turns out O.K. What size tank is this and could you please list the inhabitants?

 

BTW IMO i wouldn;t do anything! The ich is in your tank, let it be! Moving your fish is only gonna hurt at this point! Get some selcon and garlic! keep them eating!

 

vinny! I highlighted your thread in mine because i think its how to go! check out the updates if ya don't mind!

 

Man, I feel your pain. About 10 years ago I experienced a similar thing and know how frustrating it is to deal with.

One thing to keep in mind here, is even if an LFS quarantines for an appropriate period of time, many of these parasites are still on the fish but they do not get to the point of infecting them because they fish is not stressed and their slime coat acts as a barrier against infection.

Once they are stressed (for example by scooping them up, putting them in a bag, moving them to a new environment with different water params, etc. it may stress them enough to shed enough slime coat and let the parasites take hold. From what you described, it is entirely possible that when you picked up the fish it was fine, but after the stress of the move it gave the parasite enough chance to take hold. Tangs seem to be especially prone to this type of infection IME.

Yes, it could have helped if you QT'd it, but that is either here nor there now.

You've got a few options and it is a judgement call. First, you could move it to the established QT and treat it. Keep an eye on your other fish, and try to reduce any kinds of stressors while providing them while high quality foods. you can use garlic to entice them to eat, soak them in Selcon to help get them some good vitamins and other nutrients to help keep them healthy. If all goes well, they should continue to resist the ich. Once your new guy is all healthy, you can then move him to DT, follow the same process and eventually all will even out.

Or, and this is where some disagreement comes in, you can leave him in your main tank. Keep feeding them using the same recommendations I mentioned above. If he keeps eating, is not being picked on and settles in then in many cases they can fight off the infection themselves. Odds are that ich is in your DT anyway since he has been in there, but if you give him and your other fish a healthy environment they should be able to stay healthy. You just will want to pay particular attention to them at times of stress to make sure you don't see any outbreaks in the future.

Lot's of folks have found they can live with ich in this way. I know it is frustrating, but don't give up hope! There may be no need to give up or throw in the towel!

Not sure, but hope that helps.

 

I'm so very sorry.

 

Let's not act like this is a death sentence! Let's manage this and keep the fish alive and kicking! do what all above suggested and chances are they will pull through! good luck to ya! keep em eating and you should be OK! Tangs are prone to this and moving them brings it on! Mine made it through this bout, i'm gonna keep the stock down to hopefully not have to battle another bout!