Ick problem

I think I did all the right things with my current tank, asked lots of questions, choose the right equipment, took my time building they system very patient stocking the tank, QT my livestock (with the exception of corals and crabs/snails, maybe that's my problem), kept up on maintenance...

The tank has been healthy for ~14 months now, fish fat and happy, corals growing like crazy...I haven't added fish to this tank in almost 1 year, and bam, ick attack on my hippo tang and some signs on my yellow tang.

The question is, "is QTing/hypo really bullet proof against ick?", IMO, from this experience, no.

My tangs are on the medium to large side so hopefully they will fight it off, I'm feeding with garlic. Any other suggestions on tested remedies that do not require tearing down the tank to catch fish and QT? I've used kick-ick in the past and it seems to work, just wanted to see if there are other/better reef safe remedies out there. thanks.

 

That sucks
Did you have your DT fish free for 6 weeks?

There is some people who feel that Ick is always in your tank no matter what you do.

The only thing you could do IMO is feed your fish food with soaked garlic and try for optimal water quality or remove fish and QT for min of 4 weeks.

 

How big is your tank and what kind of equipment (lights, filter, sump, skimmer, etc) do you have?

 

After looking back at my notes and tank history, I remembered that I did add a mandarin (which I QT'd) about 7 months ago, so correction to my post above.

I QT'd my fish for ~6 wks before putting then in the DT. After I put the hippo in the display (after his 6-week QT/Hypo), I noticed a few spots but they went away within a few days and he has almost doubled is size since I got him.

Here are some recent pics of my tank:
http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-off-your-fish-tanks/updated-tank-pics-74685.html

Tank specs:
75g DT
55 g sump w/ fuge/7" DSB/ cheato algae.
~100lbs LR,
~140 lbs LS (between the fuge and display)
ASM G2 skimmer, modded
Flow: 2xK4's, 2xK1's (back of tank), MAG9 return
Lights: 6x54w T5s

 

There seems to be a lot of confusion and contradictions in the practice of Qt'ing fish to prevent ich. The truth is that if you are only quarantining the fish for 6 weeks without any treatment, you are not preventing the spread of ich at all. You see, the fish may be carrying a sub-clinical case of ich, that their immune system is strong enough to keep from spreading and manifesting. When you then add these fish to the DT, those parasites that are minimally present enter your system and wait for a time when the fish's immune system weakens, then they attack.

IMO, the only way to prevent ich is by not only quarantining new fish, but by actually treating them prophylactically with copper. I know many here will disagree with this statement. But IMO this is the only way to be sure there is no ich in your system.

BTW, the parasite could also have hichhiked into your system on inverts and corals that were not quarantined for at least 3 weeks.

 

That makes sense JJK, but it's almost impossible to QT all corals, crabs, snails (even though I haven't added any crabs/snails in a long time) without setting up a QT with lights. I didn't use copper but I did hypo which I read was suppose to be just as good. I did recently add a piece of scroll coral and I think that's where I dropped the ball...the frag was broken off a hugh coral in a display at the LFS that has lots of tangs...I didn't dip the coral!!! that has to be it...the sad part is I don't even like the that stupid coral.

 

Well, done is done. Right now you have only 2 basic choices:
1) Treat the ich with nutrition (reef safe medications generally are ineffective), and hope it goes away without harming your fish - which is possible

2) Add all the corals and inverts you want now, and then quarantine all your fish for 8 weeks, leaving the DT fallow for that time. Treat the fish with copper for 3 weeks, then paraguard for another 2-3 weeks (after having ridded the system of all copper through water changes and carbon). At that point, as long as you are not adding anything else to your tank, your tank should theoretically be ich free. And if you do make any further additions, you need to quarantine them, or else repeat the whole thing.

Personally, I opted for the 2nd option and have been ich-free for months.

 

Here is your fishes best defense and in the future prevention.
Freshmarine.com - Tropical Science Biolabs - Buy Tropical Science Biolabs Now and Save!

Marine-Max...............

 

Both the hippo and yellow tangs look much better this afternoon. Looks like they are fighting it off, I'll have to continue with the garlic feedings. I actually diced up fresh garlic into very small pieces and fed it to them. I just get the feeling that eventually I'll have to tear the tank down to get all the fish into QT again. If I have to do that I'll probably go with copper treatment this time around.

I read somewhere today about this somewhat new product call Herbtana, any experience with it?

 

Very true across the boards. It is almost impossible to not have ick in your tank dues to this and they may seem gone but they wait until things stress to make there big move. My hippo has got ick every time I have added fish even if I treated the new fish with copper so its in the tank 24/7 365 if you ask me.