I am NOT likeing this hobby! ICK AGAIN

[bluephi115]

Okay....so my tank is 6 weeks old. I put a couple testers in a few weeks ago and one got ick...so i took the fish back and let the tank continue "maturing" for a couple more weeks. Saturday I put in a yellow tail damsel and see he has freaking ick already! I have 60 lbs live rock and a whole shipment of inverts coming in thie week from this site! Everything I read says ick is in my aquarium with or without fish!
So do I seriously have to take out the live rock and ALL inverts to take care of this crap. I mean if I have to remove all that then why would I not have to remove the substrate on the bottom and scrub the sides? I just dont get this. Then do i copper the inverts also....the live rock....YES i read hte thread on it and it scatters all over. I mean with fresh water you just add medicine and its gone. I just cant believe that I am going to have to now purchase another freaking tank. So do I need to remove EVERYTHING into the quarantine for 3 or 4 weeks???
thanks...im just so mad.

 

[debbie]

Do you have a spair tank that you can put just the FISH only in? This is what I did when I first started. I had ick on my two green chromis. I took them out of the tank and put them into a plain tank with nothing but a filter and heater and of course the salt water from the main tank. I did use a copper based medication to treat the ick, I left them in this with water changes of course for 3 weeks. The ick was gone and when I put them back into my main tank I made sure that I did not put any of the water that contained the ick medication in that tank. Copper will kill your inverts but from what I have been told, I hope someone corrects me if I am wrong, ick cannot be passed to inverts and they do not bring it in to your tank. It lives on fish and if there is no fish in the tank the ick soon dies as it has nothing to live off of?????
Don't do anything else to your tank by taking it apart or you will have to start a cycle all over again. Just put the fish into a plain tank with the medication. Also do not use the same net that you put in the medication tank into your main tank. I hope this helps and hopfully someone else can either correct me or add to this for you.
This worked for me and I have never had a problem since.
Good Luck.....Deb

 

[murph145]

ive only had an ick problem once about 2 years ago..... thats when i had a fish only tank and i used copper to cure it which worked well.... but that wasnt the real problem .... my water quality wasnt to where it should be.... my ammonia and nitrates were high and ph was a little low.... all of these caused the fish stress .... and when fish are stressed out they get sick or ick.....
what are your water parameters???
ammonia
nitrate
nitrite
ph
temp
those are the main things that affect fish....
and also how did u acclimate your fish probably should let them sit for about a half your then add half your water to the bag and let sit another 15-20mins....
you dont ever want to add copper to a future reef tank.... it will kill all your live rock it will kill all your inverts and you will basically have to start over since copper will stay in your system for a long time....
tell us more about your tank and lets see whats goin on....

 

[bluephi115]

thanks debbie. I thought i would have to mess with the water in my main tank also....i guess i need to go purchase a basic filter and tank....10 gal i guess.
Thats good that my inverts coming in will be safe then.
I just hate that I have to set up another tank like this and then leave mine with no fish for another 3 weeks. gggrrrr haha
So i need to do NOTHING to my main tank once I remove the fish..correct?

 

[bluephi115]

murph..i had the water checked about 3 days ago
ph is a little low..about 7.9
nitrate about 2
ammonia is 0
nitrie about .05-.10
temp is about 76-78

 

[murph145]

check your main tanks parameters .... fish dont just get ick for no reason.... if they come clean to you they should be fine in your tank.... ick will be caused by stress like i said earlier ....
i now run a uv filter on my tank and havent had a problem with ick now but i also have a very stable mature tank now....
you can do like debbie says but id check the main tank first for possible causes that you can fix so you dont need to set up another tank....

 

[hnkthetank]

UV STERILIZER

 

[debbie]

I have a different look on things, I am not a huge fan of water readings. But do post your water parameters for Murph145.
If you can get a 10 gal that would be great for having it on hand for a hospital tank.
If you readings are good in the main tank then I would leave well enough alone in there and put your inverts in when they arrive. Move your fish as soon as you can though and start treatment for them. This is the pain with saltwater, freshwater you can treat the whole tank but you will get the hang of it soon. I have a 5 gal I use for my hospital tank if needed for both my salt and fresh fish if needed. I did not get a fancy filter for it and use a sponge filter with a heater and bare bottom with no sand, gravel or coral leave it bare and it works great for me.
Do read all the posts to this reply and not just mine, I am new to saltwater and can only tell you what worked for me.
good luck and keep us posted ....Deb

 

[murph145]

i would work on raising the PH to at least 8.1-8.2
and lower some of the others too that might be a reason why your fish were getting ick they could be stressed from that.... most fish will be fine at 8.0 ph but any combo of those can cause enough stress on a fish to make them sick....

 

[murph145]

i do agree a hospital tank is a good idea....
but to me its just easier to fix the problem first.... your fish should get ick for no reason fish only get ick if they are stressed out for some reason and most times its due to water quality issues.... but i do agree that a hospital tank is always a good idea in case you do have a problem with a fish you can seperate tham from the rest and treat them seperately from the tank....

 

[bluephi115]

so murph...are you saying if i get the water levels corrected then i dont need to move this fish?
debbie....so I could get a VEY basic filter..like a inexpensive freshwater carbon type filter like from wal mart then?

 

[murph145]

yeah im saying if your water levels become a little more stable and where they belong i would see no reason that your fish should get ick.... as long as u acclimate them right and levels are within where they should be then you should be fine

 

[bluephi115]

but one of them already has ick though.....i def see what you are saying about the levels though. but what about my yellow tail now?

 

[ricks280]

blue, all you have to do is take the damsell back, put your inverts in just dont put any fish for four weeks and thats it (no fish no ick) after those weeks, put your fish in.

(rick)

 

[wanabebell]

theres two easy ways two get rid of it
one lower your salinity to .021 .019
or go to your lfs and by a couple of cleaner shrimps they always do the trick

 

[fishmamma]

I don't know if anyone mentioned this yet, but I would say return any fish and let tank run fallow for 6 weeks. You can add your rock and inverts and the ick should die in that time. My time table may be off, but someone can give you more info I am sure. This would also give you plenty of time to make sure your parameters are stable. You can add cleaner shrimp, crabs etc. during this period, just no fish. Then before adding any new fish QT them for at least 2 weeks, preferable 4 to enusre you do not contaminate your tank again. Some fish will get one or two spots of Ich from the stress of moving but can fight it on their own with excellent water parameters and nutrition. Good luck to you, hang in there!

 

[teresaq1]

also try feeding fish food soaked in garlic. helps built ammuin system

 

[lennon]

Originally Posted by bluephi115
Okay....so my tank is 6 weeks old. I put a couple testers in a few
thanks...im just so mad.
Hey there..
Just curious as to how things worked out for you.

 

[murph]

If it were me I would take any fish out of the tank. When your inverts arrive (I assume this is a clean up crew) go ahead and add them provided you have not added anything to the tank to kill the ick that will also kill the inverts. Wait at least two months. If ick does not have a fish host it will die off.
When you do eventually add fish to the tank again make sure temps are stable. IMO rapid fluctuations in temperature or fluctuations of more than 4 degrees in a 24 hour period are the main cause of ick.

 

[hot883]

Originally Posted by wanabebell
theres two easy ways two get rid of it
one lower your salinity to .021 .019
or go to your lfs and by a couple of cleaner shrimps they always do the trick
I'm sure someone else will chime in here to. But hypo is 1.009 NOT .019-21