i have ick...

[peckhead]

ok so i really think my pakistani butterfly has ick...
it has a bunch of little pin point dots on it.
im going to set up a hypo tomorrow with a 20g or so and a aua clear filter.
i really dont want to but i guess its the only thing ican do...
do i need to put every one of my fish in the qt? i dont ever want to deal with this again and i want the ick out of my system.
so here are my questions...
1. if my pakistani butterfly has ick...are all myfish prob going to get them?
2. will my snow flke eel get ick? and if i leave him in my tank for 6 weeks with out fish just him and the 2 shrimp, will that be ok if im trying to get ick out of my system completly?
3. when preforming hypo, how much water should i be taking out and replacing with ro water?
thank you for the help..

 

[ophiura]

If you want ick "out of the system" then you must remove all fish, leave the tank fishless for around 6 weeks, and then do a FULL QT (IMO with hypo or copper treatment) on any new fish that you wish to add.
It is not a guarantee that all the fish will get it. If the b'fly is stressed, that is a reason it might have ick...how well is it eating?

 

[peckhead]

the butterfly was eating well. it will really eat anything, or at least pick at anything. it eats purple seaweed, mysys, krill, clam, flake.
do eels get ick?
what would you recomend doing? taking out all the fish and putting them in a qt?
i ahve a humu humu, sfe, blue spotted puffer(that might also have ick), mandarin, clwn fish, and brackish puffer.

 

[peckhead]

oh and none of the fish seem stressed at all. the closest thing to stress that i have seen is the humuhumu slam himself into the rocks which might make me think he has a parasite on him that he is trying to get off..but he doesnt appear to have ick

 

[gmford1979]

i had a bout with ich. my snowflake didn't get it. i didn't take him out either. my tank is now ich free. the only problem that i had was when my fish had been in QT for a few weeks, then i put them back in DT. the eel didn't like the "new" additions and ate a few fish.
to my knowledge (which is very limited), ich only gets on fish with scales. eels don't have scales.

 

[myrtle beach]

There are alternatives such as cleaner fish/shrimp and a lot depends on what else you have in your tank as far as corals.

 

[renogaw]

the mandarin does not get ich either. cleaner shrimp will not clear the tank of ich.

 

[symon]

It's not a guarantee with a cleaner shrimp that the fish will allow it to clean them, I also have a cleaner goby and some of my fish will not let him clean them either! But leaving your tank fallow ( i think it's called) for a 6-8 week period will allow the ick to cycle out!

 

[shogun323]

Originally Posted by Myrtle Beach
There are alternatives such as cleaner fish/shrimp and a lot depends on what else you have in your tank as far as corals.
This is not true. Cleaner shrimp will pick off the ich spots off the fish at best but will do nothing to the population of ich residing in your tank. Basically you will be playing the "survival of the fittest" game. The only way to break the cycle and be ich free is hypo and QT'ing new arrivals.

 

[symon]

Originally Posted by shogun323
This is not true. Cleaner shrimp will pick off the ich spots off the fish at best but will do nothing to the population of ich residing in your tank. Basically you will be playing the "survival of the fittest" game. The only way to break the cycle and be ich free is hypo and QT'ing new arrivals.

HI there shogun323, just wanted to shout at ya, I was born and raised out there in Clearwater, don't see many folks from that neck of the woods!

 

[peckhead]

so do eels get ick?
and should i hypo all my fish ifim going todo one?

 

[renogaw]

Originally Posted by peckhead
so do eels get ick?
and should i hypo all my fish ifim going todo one?

you should hypo all but the mandarin, not sure about the eel. Ask aaw2x3 in the aggressive forums. Seriously, this thread should get moved to the disease forum where beth and Septulan tend to hang out more. their advice will get you great results.

 

[peckhead]

Originally Posted by renogaw
you should hypo all but the mandarin, not sure about the eel. Ask aaw2x3 in the aggressive forums. Seriously, this thread should get moved to the disease forum where beth and Septulan tend to hang out more. their advice will get you great results.
i have a thread in that forum too but it takes a long time to get a answer there and i dont want this to get out of control.
is it ok to use a net to get the fish out?

 

[peckhead]

and is my qt going to cycle if i use some foam and bio balls in a hang on filter and water from my dt?
instead of taking out water when im doing hypo im going to get a larger container, about 30-50g and im going to put 15g of dt water, and then add ro water to lower the salinity...will this work, will it cycle?

 

[lion_crazz]

Eels can get ich in rare situations, so they need to be quarantined and treated with hyposalinity as well. You cannot treat an eel with copper, however.
I would recommend against using a net to catch your fish, if at all possible. Using a net can be stressful, but if you cannot catch them any other way, it is better that you catch them with a net and treat them than not.
As long as you are moving a sufficient amount of biological material from your display, you should not see a cycle in your quarantine. However, pay close attention to your water parameters and do a water change if necessary.
I am not sure what you are saying with the last comment you made, however.

 

[peckhead]

ok, im going to take 15 gallons out of my dt and put it into a 30g qt. since the 30g will only have 15g in it, im going to add ro water to lower the salinity down to 1.009 instead of filling up the 30g with water from my dt then removing the water and adding ro water...
make sense now?
and will i need to treat the qt qith copper or will hypo work better? i dont ever want ick again

 

[lion_crazz]

Hyposalinity will work much better since you have sensitive fish. Butterflies, eels, etc. cannot really be treated in copper (eels definitely cannot).
The way you are going to do it does not sound ideal. You want to drop the salinity over a period of 48 hours. That method sounds like it will drop your salinity to 1.009 quite quickly. Fill the 30 with the same salinity as your display and drop it the salinity very slowly, only dropping it a few points every few hours.

 

[peckhead]

well i would only add ro water every few hours. i think it would work just the same. i wouldnt fill the qt all the way right away. i would fill it about half way with dt water, then slowly start adding r/o water over 48 hours...

 

[nemo02]

not to steal your tread or anything but, i too, hav a ich problem i believe. had blue hippo for about 3 weeks everything seemed fine, then saw white spots on her one mourning, an di lost her after a week of trying to get rid of it, my occellaris clown looks very healthy and all looks well, neon goby im not sure seems to have a few spots on him but still very active and moving around and everything, these are the only 2 fish im my 75g, any suggestions on what to do. i have an empty 10g never used and a 29g that was my old tank, and 15#sand and about 2-3in of water on top that, been setting like that for about 2 months, thanks for all help

 

[shogun323]

Originally Posted by nemo02
not to steal your tread or anything but, i too, hav a ich problem i believe. had blue hippo for about 3 weeks everything seemed fine, then saw white spots on her one mourning, an di lost her after a week of trying to get rid of it, my occellaris clown looks very healthy and all looks well, neon goby im not sure seems to have a few spots on him but still very active and moving around and everything, these are the only 2 fish im my 75g, any suggestions on what to do. i have an empty 10g never used and a 29g that was my old tank, and 15#sand and about 2-3in of water on top that, been setting like that for about 2 months, thanks for all help
You'll need to do hypo. Put a post in the disease and Treatment section. Sepulation, Beth and Lion_Crazz will get you all set.