ick returns!

[anaconda22]

My purple tang got ick over a month ago. I treated it with copper, formalin, and clout in a QT tank. It must have been in the QT for at least 6 weeks, and it must have been spot free for at least the last two weeks. But, lo and behold ick again! It's been in the display tank for probably less than a week and we see spots again. What shoould we do? We have a 55g FOWLR and LS. We have a wet/dry and a protein skimmer on it.

 

[lefty]

What else do you have in your tank? It's possible that someone/something may still be carrying the parasite. If this isn't the case, you may want to have your fish undergo hypo instead of treating with the copper and other meds. I have heard that some tangs do not react well to copper. Long term use of it has been known to hurt them.
-lefty

 

[anaconda22]

I have 2 clowns and a neon dottyback, as well as live rock and 3 cleaner shrimp in my display tank, so I know that I cannot do hypo to the main tank. The problem is that is where i believe the ick is (most probably in the live sand). Is there an invert safe way to treat the tank and wipe out ick from my tank and my tang?

 

[lefty]

In my opinion, no. There are products on the market like Melafix that claim to be safe for all tank inhabitants, but they are not a surefire way of taking care of ich. Your best bet would be to remove all of your fish and put them in QT(s) and allow your tank to go fallow for about a month. The inverts can stay in there, as they cannot contract ich.
-lefty