Hlep Ich!!

[kat 4]

I think we have ICH in our tank - Our pajama cardinal is covered in white spots. Our other fish have been dying. Only thing left is the 3 cardinals, a cleaner shrimp and hermit crab. I don't have an isolation tank...what should we do? If it's in the water in our tank do we have to start over?? Don't want to treat the water "cause of the filter...Thanks for any help!

 

[usinkit]

Well the only thing you can do is setup a qt tank and treat in their. Once all of your fish are out of the tank you have to let the tank sit fishless for atleast 6 weeks to let the ick cycle die off. HTH

 

[beth]

What type of tank do you have? If it is FO, you can easily do hyposalinity in tank, trouble-free. If you have LR, you can remove the rock to a larger rubbermaid with mechanical circulation, and still do the hyposalinity in tank.
Take a look at the FAQ Thread in the Disease Forum, and the info there on ich and hyposalinity.

 

[usinkit]

Beth, dont you have to remove the inverts also?

 

[kat 4]

Beth:
Thank you very much. In addition to my three cardinal fish I have a hermit crab and a cleaner shrimp. What do I do with them in the process? Can they survive hyposalinity?
Kat 4

 

[usinkit]

If your putting the live rock in a rubbermaid container you can put them in their also. Just make sure you have a powerhead and heater in with them also.

 

[uberlink]

I'd say bite the bullet and set up a qt. Just go to Petsmart and buy a crappy 10 gallon glass aquarium with a simple heater, filter, and light. I'd also suggest an air bubbler or small powerhead for circulation My guess is you can get all that for about $50 if you buy one of those little 'starter kits.'
Put something in there for the fish to hide in, like a piece of PVC pipe or the like. No sand. No live rock. Then fill the aquarium with water from your own tank (like you're doing a water change). Give it a day or so with the filters and heaters running and you should be good to go.
The thing is, if you're pulling out your live rock and inverts and putting them into a rubbermaid, that's a lot of trouble (remember, you have to keep the water warm and circulated) and really only gives you the hyposalinity as an option. If you set up a qt tank, you can do hyposalinity, but you can also do other treatments if that's not working that would certainly harm your inverts. You can't do those treatments in the tank, because the chemicals will get into your sand and rock and your inverts won't survive when put back into the tank.
Get a QT!