23 days in hypo, have 3 ich spots

[jc74]

Have you tried Mardel's Coppersafe?
I've had fish-only tanks for years, and Coppersafe has always done the trick when ick breaks out, 100% of the time. I've always used nearly twice the recommended dose, and the ick would be completely gone within a week or so. It's extremely hard to overdose with this treatment, and more will need to be added since it tends to dissipate and be absorbed by the substrate.
I now have many inverts and need a QT before using Coppersafe again, but it's all I'll ever use. I see little point in wasting time with hypo, but this is my opinion. I guess it works for some people.

 

[balistikb]

After reading everyones posts I think I need to start a quarintine tank for myself. Can someone please tell me what I need to buy and include with this tank. My fish also have ick.
Thanks

 

[guitarfish]

Get a tank big enough for the fish you have. If you keep larger fish (tangs, etc), then obviously you'll need something larger than for clowns, for example. You'll also need a heater and filter, nothing fancy, but good water movement is important. Most recommend bare bottom, but you'll want to avoide a mirror effect on the tank bottom, so you can either put something black under it, or paint the bottom. Some PVC elbows for the fish to hide in is a good idea.
I like to put a background and also cover the sides of the tank, to lessen the frequency of startling the fish, and allow them to feel more secure.

 

[balistikb]

What about the water? I need to treat the fish starting today so I need to get a QT today as well. Should I take water from my main tank?

 

[guitarfish]

Yes, take water from the main tank, this will hopefully prevent a cycle. Feed lightly. Watch pH, it tends to drop. Check for ammonia/nitrite, be alert in case the tank starts to cycle. If you have some filter pad from the main tank that you can put in the new tank, that will help get the bio filter going.

 

[balistikb]

Ok sounds easy enough. If the ammonia/nitrite rise what do I need to do? Saltwater change or RO?

 

[|2ain]

i think all of you need to get some copper in your qt tank

 

[guitarfish]

|2AIN, if you took the time to read the thread, or even the last few posts, you'd see that I had copper in my tank for 18 days and it didn't exactly work.
jc74, I used Cupramine, which is probably the best copper treatment available, no offense to CopperSafe. In any case, ich is always gone in a week, whether you do anything or not - that's how the lifecycle works. However, it comes back in 3 weeks if it's not killed.
As far as I can tell, I'm one of the few cases where hypo didn't work - ordinarily it's a safe, effective treatment, and a lot easier on the fish. I almost killed my tang with copper, it's been 3 days since I removed it and he's just now starting to eat again.
Thank you all for your concern, this thread is about why hypo (and later, copper) didn't work on my tang, which is still a mystery. I haven't decided what to do with the tang yet, but he's not going in my main tank. Too bad I don't live in Hawaii.

 

[jc74]

GF, in my experience, ick has never appeared to go away without treatment. New cysts form as soon as the old ones "hatch", if you will, or while the old ones are hatching. There are many stages of ick in the tank at one time including free-swimming and cyst stateges at once.
Anyway, I wish you luck. Coppersafe has always worked for me and the ick never came back until I got another infected fish. I plan on setting up a QT before getting any other fish. I've never used any other copper-based remedy besides Coppersafe because I've never had to; perhaps tangs are more resistant to medication than other species.
After my last purple tang ate my shrimp while in the shoft-shell stage, I'll never have another. It ate my large, coral banded shrimp down to one leg. It was horrible. I don't believe that tangs are the most reef-safe fish on the market, at least not the ones I've had.