Ich Situation Remedies

[jacuglietto]

I recently came home to find that the only two fish I currently have in my 100 gallon FOWLR (Tomato Anemonefish and Skunkback Pseudochromis)are beginning to get Ich. My tank has tested in the preferable range for all of the standard tests, however I fear the dissolved oxygen levels might be low due to a quick water change I had to do with my RO/DI water. I have been letting air into the tank using a venturi valve on a powerhead.

I am going to go to the pet store today and pick up a 15-20 gallon hospital tank set up (tank / heater / PVC Pipe) and some copper medication. In the mean time, I have raised the temp of the tank to 78F and have made sure to inspect the eating habbits, which have been great.

My plan is to get these fish into the hospital tank, preferably with a divider and treat with the copper. I will use a powerhead/quickfilter that has been running in my tank as a filter and keep it on low speed, as I do not have a sponge filter on hand to pull out and use for this purpose.


My questions are:

Would a powerhead quickfilter be acceptable to use in place of a sponge filter since i have to get them out ASAP?

After keeping the fish in quarantine for about 4 weeks, will the Ich parasites still be thriving in my display tank with no hosts to attach to?

I also have a shipment of snails and macroalgae coming in in about 12 days, would it stilll be prudent to add these livestock?

Any advice would help.

[leebca]

You need to learn about this parasite as fast as possible. Please read this closely and remember as much of it as you can: Marine Ich - Myths and Facts

I don't know why you increased the temperature of the water the sick fish were in. Was the temperature too low? Was it your intention to get them more sick? or to more quickly infect the other fishes? I'm not clear about this action.

With regards to your questions:
Sick fish don't do well with powerheads. Too much water movement and draw. Many sick fish get stuck and die in the intake.

Yes. You need to let your display tank go fishless for 8 weeks.

Feel free to add any invertebrate and non-fish marine life form you want to the fishless system. HOWEVER the 8-week clock begins when you've made the last addition.

Good luck!

[jacuglietto]

Apologies, but by only two fish, i mean i currently have only two fish, meaning only two fish are infected. I understand that at the moment the entire system is contaminated.

I am also worried about quarantining these fish together. Ideally i should quarantine them separately i know, but it is not feasible for me to properly filter two QTs with no pre-seeded filter material. hopefully, if I spring for a 20 gallon QT rather than a 15, i can find some sort of partition to keep them apart/ thus reducing potential stress.

additionally, if anyone could direct me to some good material on maintaining macro algae in a display tank (i am expecting flame algae, codium and a mermaid's fan) it would be greatly appreciated. I have done a good amount of research on teh topics, but i find that contributions from reefland.com usually prove to be the most helpful and complete.

[leebca]

Quarantining the two fish together is okay in this case. It is new fishes you don't want to quarantine together because of many reasons. But in this case 'all the fish' have the same condition and thus they can be treated together.

If the fish don't get along, a partition is a good idea -- if the fish don't get along. If they get along, a partition isn't needed. I don't know how large these fishes are, so I can't say what size QT is best suited for them.

Remember this is a fish forum. For your macro algae questions, you should post them in the Reef Forum to get others there to help.

[jacuglietto]

Lee,

Thank you for your help.

Last night I was able to get the two little guys out of the display, relatively easily. They are each 1 inch or less. Put them both in quarantine and made sure they ate.

I tested the water this morning, and there (knock on wood) is no sign of ammonia, although my pseudochromis is afraid to leave his spot in the corner underneath the quickfilter. I also began using coppersafe in the QT, and will continue that treatment.

So now I suppose I wait it out and continue to monitor the QT and feed the display every couple of days. Is there anything else that I should do to help the Display along, or should i let it just hang out for a while?

[leebca]

I really only wish you weren't using CopperSafe. I and others have had negative results. Not that it won't take care of the Marine Ich parasites, but it has been known to harm fishes. This is anecdotal information, however.

With those sizes of fish, the 15g would be okay.

Keep the display running as usual. Keep temperature, lighting, circulation and the entire routine, the same. If the inhabitants will handle it, keeping the temperature at 78 to 80 is good. However, this is not essential if there is any marine life that might be sensitive to the temperature.

Feed the live rock, worms, snails, crabs, etc. that may be in the display tank. Then. . .just wait the full time. ;)