Disease in a Reef Tank

[sucram]

I know this is more of a Disease and Treatment question, but there seem to always be special rules in reefs. I have a Regal Tang that had been doing very well in my 90 gal for over 6 mos. After having to make a new stand for the tank, I put everyone in the tank through a lot of stress. About a week after I retuned everyone back to the tank, my Regal got Ick. I tried the garlic method before and it worked well, then it came back. I had to go out of town and hoped it would stay alive long enough to remove and treat with copper. When I got home, it looked a lot better than before (it was almost completely covered with parasites before). None of the other fish show signs of infestation. My Regal also has not changed it's behavior; it doesn't rub on the rocks, breath excessively, and it eats as well as before.
My question is this. Should I remove him even though he may be improving? Can fish recover from infestation on their own in a reef tank? I know putting him in a quarantine tank will add significantly to his stress, but would it be worse than leaving him alone?
I know the theory that those parasites are always present in a reef tank, and that fish only get infested when they get sick or stressed by either poor water quality or other environmental stresses, but what happens when they do get it? I have a hospital tank set up, and I just have to catch the fish and put it in there.
Any recommendations or responses? ASAP would be great.
Thanks.

 

[andymi]

Don't put the fish through any stress if you dont have to. I would look into getting a couple of cleaner shrimp as they have done a great job in my tanks. Just keep an eye on him and let him be for now as long as no one else is getting it and the fish is doing alright.
-Andy

 

[pudd'ntang]

I would remove the fish and treat the fish with copper. As long as you have any fish in the display tank the ick will continue to live in the tank. The tank must be void of fish for approximately 23-30 days before the ick virus will die. And usually if one fish has the disease the remaining fish will get it as well, as long as they stay in the display tank. Cleaner shrimp do Okay for the short term, but the virus needs to die in the display tank. I hope I answered your question. Maybe one of the sharks, can give you better advice.

 

[joetst2]

Well I had a minor outbreak of ick on my Kole Tang....no other fish showed any signs of it. I bought 3 cleaner shrimp today and in less than four hours it's all gone. FYI...I have two intakes to my sump, one of which has a 25 micron bag. This fine micron rated bag will trap free floating ick that haven't yet found a host. I am very confident that given excellent water quality and no other fish showing signs of ick that 2-3 cleaner shrimp will take care of the problem.....but make sure your water quality is not a problem. In closing, I would save chemical treatments as a VERY last resort.
[ September 09, 2001: Message edited by: JoeTst2 ]

 

[burnnspy]

Topic moved to the Disease forum.
BurnNSpy

 

[sucram]

Thanks for the info.
I have been feeding with garlic for a few days now, and I don't see any more parasites. What should my next step be? Should I take all of my fish out of the display for 30 days and treat them? Should I just keep feeding with garlic for some period of time and leave them in the tank?
Isn't it true that ich can come back even after these treatment measures are taken, even if done correctly? What about the theory that ich is always present in a system, and just lies dormant untill conditions are such that it can take advantage of it? If my conditions are good (all zero's), shouldn't I just let it be untill the next stressfull event presents itself?