i dont want ick ever again...

peckhead

peckhead

Active Member
im switching to reef with in the week once my lights get here. the problem is i still have ick. the bufferfly that had ick, died before i could qt him. now my clown fish has ick it looks like. he has tiny white dots on the clear part of his rear fin. non of these fish had ick until the butterfly came. now i guess they are all carriers.
i know to get rid of ick, i would have to have no fish in my tank for 6 weeks...
my questions are,
1 can i keep shrimp in the tank?
2can i keep the snow flake eel in my tank?
3 can i start to add coral while there are no fish in the tank?
what is the best way to handle this? i dont ever want ick again. im always going to qt now. this sucks so much and i hate dealing with this.
thanks in advance...
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by peckhead
im switching to reef with in the week once my lights get here. the problem is i still have ick. the bufferfly that had ick, died before i could qt him. now my clown fish has ick it looks like. he has tiny white dots on the clear part of his rear fin. non of these fish had ick until the butterfly came. now i guess they are all carriers.
i know to get rid of ick, i would have to have no fish in my tank for 6 weeks...
my questions are,
1 can i keep shrimp in the tank?
2can i keep the snow flake eel in my tank?
3 can i start to add coral while there are no fish in the tank?
what is the best way to handle this? i dont ever want ick again. im always going to qt now. this sucks so much and i hate dealing with this.
thanks in advance...

Put all fish into the qt, if they are not there already, including the eel. Your inverts will be fine. Durring this time, add corals, whatever to your reef. Once your fish are back in the DT you will need to quaranine all new specimens for 3 weeks if they are not fish. Ich can ride in on ANY hard surface. If your fish are comfortable in the qt, then leave them in there while you stock your reef.
 
peckhead

peckhead

Active Member
how should i treat the fish with the eel in the tank too? im worried that he will eat the fish maybe? or they will all jsut be really uncomfortable...
if i was to put the eel in a different tank, what would the best way to qt him be? hypo?
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by peckhead
how should i treat the fish with the eel in the tank too? im worried that he will eat the fish maybe? or they will all jsut be really uncomfortable...
if i was to put the eel in a different tank, what would the best way to qt him be? hypo?
You coud set up a seperate qt for the eel. Yes, you should hypo him. Being eels don't often get ich, but they could You may just want to observe him for the 6 weeks. Use a magnifying glass and look him over REALY well durring this time. I almost feel wrong to even suggest not hypoing him, but eels are resistant to ich. If it were me, I would hypo him. You don't neccessarily have to though.
 
peckhead

peckhead

Active Member
if i was to take out the rock and inverts would it be a bad thing to keep my sand in the tank and do a hypo? it was teh agra sand or whatever its called. it wasnt live when i got it but im sure its live now. if i left it in would it cause problems if i hypoed with the sand in the tank? i think hypo in the dt would be the easier thing to do as long as it didnt kill any biofilters or anything. how does this sound?
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by peckhead
if i was to take out the rock and inverts would it be a bad thing to keep my sand in the tank and do a hypo? it was teh agra sand or whatever its called. it wasnt live when i got it but im sure its live now. if i left it in would it cause problems if i hypoed with the sand in the tank? i think hypo in the dt would be the easier thing to do as long as it didnt kill any biofilters or anything. how does this sound?
That sounds perfect. The live bacteria will not die and you will have enough biological filtration. There will be no stressing the fish by moving them. This idea is ideal for the fish and for you.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by peckhead
sweet ace. thanks sepulatian. you are da bomb.
LOL why, thank you! I am here whenever you need me!
 
peckhead

peckhead

Active Member
also over how long of a period should i lower the salinity? my lfs, which isnt really that good said i should lower to 1.014 the absolute lowest and over the period of 2 weeks?!?! and also, once the salinity is down (to1.009 is what i think your gonna say) how long should i keep it this low before there is no more ick in my tank... thanks again
 
cgj

cgj

Member
Originally Posted by myreef05
Peck, are you really a shark?

Peck is the most beautiful shark I'VE ever seen ***)
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by peckhead
also over how long of a period should i lower the salinity? my lfs, which isnt really that good said i should lower to 1.014 the absolute lowest and over the period of 2 weeks?!?! and also, once the salinity is down (to1.009 is what i think your gonna say) how long should i keep it this low before there is no more ick in my tank... thanks again
There are complete directions in Beth's Common Treatments FAQ located at the top of the disease and treatment forum. You lowerer the salinity to 1.009 over 48 hours. Less drastic is best. Small amounts of fresh RO water added all day. I have done hypo before with great success. Don't do large water changes using RO water. Remove a larger portion of your water, but dribble in RO all day long. If you work all day then add some in the morning, then dribble it in all evening. Test the PH of your RO and buffer as needed before it has to go into the tank. Test the ph in your tank frequently as well. Test the SG every time you add the RO. You will quickly be able to figure out how much to add each day. It should take 48hrs to bring it down to 1.009 DO NOT rush it.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
how long should i keep it this low before there is no more ick in my tank... thanks again
It usually takes a week or less for all of the ich to drop off. Once you see no ich at all (look real close with a magnifying glass) then you begin to count three weeks.
 
darthsimon

darthsimon

Member
I buy pre mixed salt water from my local fish store.. Also dropping mine to 1.009. When I bring mine back up, do I just add that salt water back slowly to bring up to 1.023??
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by DarthSimon
I buy pre mixed salt water from my local fish store.. Also dropping mine to 1.009. When I bring mine back up, do I just add that salt water back slowly to bring up to 1.023??
No. If your sg is 1.009 then you make you water up at 1.012 and so on. If you buy it pre-mixed then you could pull out a gallon of water, then dribble in the mix. That is not as gradual though. It is better to mix the water to a few points over what you are at to bring it up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top