wattsupdoc
Active Member
A couple years ago I had a bad outbreak of ich. I lost everything in my 135.
Since then I kicked around some different methods of treating for ick before adding any new arrivals. This is what I am currently doing now and has worked for me for some time now. It seems as though it is more complicated and maybe a little more involved. But in reality it is not very difficult at all. Actually pretty simple in fact. It gets the fish into the DT sooner and has SO FAR proven very effective for me.
I use a combination of hypo and the transfer method for treating for ick. With a FW dip as a kicker.
I have 2 ten gallons in the bench of my 135. I keep a good sponge in my fuge, letting it get good and mucky.
When the fish arrives I acclimate it to the 135. Do a 10 gallon change on the 135 and add that water to the QT. Plop in the sponge and other necessary stuff. Then when the fish is ready, I do a FW dip in a 1/2 gallon pitcher with temp and PH matched FW and methylene blue. This helps calm the fish some during this. Then plop it into the QT. I'll let the fish remain for 1 day like that. Then I'll start going into hypo. This performs water changes for the next 2 days to help if my sponge isn't really kickin in...Once in hypo, down to 1.008 on my refractometer, I'll start dosing amquel for any ammonia I might have and start prepping the other 10. After 7 days in the QT at hypo. I fill the other 10 and match it's parameters exactly to the 10 the fish is in. Catch the fish, usually by hand, and drop it into the second 10. No need to acclimate, it's already the same. After a day in the second tank, I start bringing the fish out of hypo. I'll take around week doing this, using the amquel if need be. I do this doing water changes from the 135. About 2,1 gallon changes a day until the tank is matched with the DT. After the tanks are matched, I plop in the new fish to the DT.
I have done this now for about a year and a half and not had a single outbreak. My powder brown just made it into the DT about a week ago. Looks beautiful.
My logic behind this is the transfer method works as does hypo. Only the transfer method doesn't actually kill anything. It' just times when the parasite is not on the fish. And relocates the fish so as to not be exposed to it again. Likewise, hyo kills the parsite usually, but never seperates the fish from it. This makes me nervous. Usually you would be required to do 4 transfers every 4 days apart. Drying one tank after it has been used. Now whenever you receive a fish, either from a LFS or the Internet, you are doing a transfer. AS long as the fish is not exposed to the parasite when added to the QT, the only possible parasite can be what is already on the fish. So you wait a day and start going into hypo. It is important that you be in hypo relatively quickly. This will insure that the cycle is broken if the parasite should reach the stage to re-infest the fish. Then exactly 7 days after hypo has been reached we transfer the fish, this ensures now that no parasites remain on the fish and no parasites can reinfect the fish. It is IMO at this point a safe fish. We have done a dip to knock off at least some of the parasite, a transfer, then a week in hypo, then another transfer. Total of around 17 days. Now it is important to note that raising the SG back up is very important to do very slowly. If the fish hasn't begun eating during this flip flip of hypo fun, then a longer stay in the QT may be a good idea. I cant say that this provides an absolute guaranteed cure for ich. But neither does hypo alone, though a properly done hypo usually does. I do feel very comfortable doing it though as it combines both methods that are both proven to treat it effectively.
This is just what I do and what has been working for me.
I use a combination of hypo and the transfer method for treating for ick. With a FW dip as a kicker.
I have 2 ten gallons in the bench of my 135. I keep a good sponge in my fuge, letting it get good and mucky.
I have done this now for about a year and a half and not had a single outbreak. My powder brown just made it into the DT about a week ago. Looks beautiful.
My logic behind this is the transfer method works as does hypo. Only the transfer method doesn't actually kill anything. It' just times when the parasite is not on the fish. And relocates the fish so as to not be exposed to it again. Likewise, hyo kills the parsite usually, but never seperates the fish from it. This makes me nervous. Usually you would be required to do 4 transfers every 4 days apart. Drying one tank after it has been used. Now whenever you receive a fish, either from a LFS or the Internet, you are doing a transfer. AS long as the fish is not exposed to the parasite when added to the QT, the only possible parasite can be what is already on the fish. So you wait a day and start going into hypo. It is important that you be in hypo relatively quickly. This will insure that the cycle is broken if the parasite should reach the stage to re-infest the fish. Then exactly 7 days after hypo has been reached we transfer the fish, this ensures now that no parasites remain on the fish and no parasites can reinfect the fish. It is IMO at this point a safe fish. We have done a dip to knock off at least some of the parasite, a transfer, then a week in hypo, then another transfer. Total of around 17 days. Now it is important to note that raising the SG back up is very important to do very slowly. If the fish hasn't begun eating during this flip flip of hypo fun, then a longer stay in the QT may be a good idea. I cant say that this provides an absolute guaranteed cure for ich. But neither does hypo alone, though a properly done hypo usually does. I do feel very comfortable doing it though as it combines both methods that are both proven to treat it effectively.
This is just what I do and what has been working for me.
