Ich advice..

[luvtangs]

I recently had a yellow tang die of an internal parasite. I think it was because I got him to early and he became stressed. In the tank I also have a baby hippo. I saw to spots of ich on him last night, but I guess my goby got them. My LFS guy told me to get the tang out while he was dying, and to not do anything tothe tank for a month and ich should be fine. I can't treat the tank with copper becuase I have 2 stars. Guess my question is , could i take the stars out and do copper to the main tank? Wouldnt that kick ish's ass and stop it from getting the other fish? I heard it messes up the water levels? Is that true? WHat to do? I also saw one spot on my clown. The fish are eating really well and look happy. But I want to stop this.. I really would like to treat the whole tank. what are the pros and cons?

 

[ruaround]

you shouldnt ever treat a show tank with copper...it will leach and kill corals and inverts...it will always be in your tank so you will not be able to put corals or inverts in there. do a search on ich treatment...good luck!!!

 

[ruaround]

"Ich is a simple parasite, not the boogie man. LOL Yes it can be killed. Hyposalinity or copper will kill it very effectively. If treatment is correct, then fish and tank can be cleared of ich. It is not lurking in the tank, it is a fish disease/parasite that is totally depended upon FISH for its existence. Hobbyist introduce ich by not practicing appropriate quarantine procedures. If the hobbyist QTs their fish appropriately, treating ich as it arises in the QT, then a display need never ever have ich. And that's a fact you can bet on."
-Beth
shark
hyposalinity is droppint the salinity of your tank to 1.015 to 1.009 the parasite cant live...IMO you should do this in a QT tank.

 

[luvtangs]

Thanks for advice, but what if I dont have corals or inverts. I have a fish only tank,. I can give the star fish away, would coper be ok to treat the tank if I do this? I dont think i want corals anyway, I like the fish only???

 

[promisetbg]

Copper can be harmful to tangs if used for long.
You will never be able to have any inverts...no snails or any other part of a clean up crew if you put copper in the tank.A tank without a clean-up crew will always have problems.
Do hypo-salinity in a QT tank..it is the most effective and safest method.

 

[luvtangs]

Thank u, what if all my 5 fish get it? I have two right now with it. I;m sure the rest will get it. Do i put them ALL in the QT???

 

[drea]

take the inverts out, lr out, do hypo to the main tank, my fish are all healthy and doing great, i'm waiting 8 weeks b4 i put my lr back in

 

[luvtangs]

how long after treating w/copper can i put the inverts back in???

 

[ruaround]

you cant put inverts in if you treat your main tank with copper...you should put the fish that have ich out and put them in a hospital tank...using hyposalinity

 

[luvtangs]

Ok so if I have 5 fish in my 60g and 3 have ich, take the three out and put them in the qt? Can I treat those 3 with copper when they are in the qt? HOW long do they stay in there? do I need any rockwork, sand,in the qt or can it be pretty empty?

 

[danedodger]

Ok so if I have 5 fish in my 60g and 3 have ich, take the three out and put them in the qt?
Right

Can I treat those 3 with copper when they are in the qt?
Yes.
HOW long do they stay in there?
Opinions may vary but I'd say wait till you see NO spots whatsoever on any of them then wait at least a week before moving them back into the main tank. Make sure you acclimate them to the QT tank and then acclimate again to the main tank.
do I need any rockwork, sand,in the qt or can it be pretty empty?
You need at least SOME things in there to help reduce the fish stress, they need hidey spots but you don't want as much as in your main tank otherwise it'll be torture getting them back out again. I think the best choice for a QT tank where you will be using medications is a few fake corals or something and many people use PVC pipes.

 

[luvtangs]

Thank you guys so much. I am going to get a qt tank today. HERE'S A PROBLEM. My flame has been doing AWESOME and then all of a sudden her wont come out. He's hiding behind a rock. THis is weird to me because he always swimmed all over the tank, very active and eating well. IS IT TOO LATE FOR HIM? My hippo has a few more dots of ich, but is still VERY ACTIVE AND EATING. I guess what I am saying if what if the flamee dies in the qt with the tang, will this affect the tang's treatment?
This is my first time using a qt so thanks for all your help!

 

[gordie9]

just FYI, I've heard that flame angels are very sensitive to copper

 

[luvtangs]

ok guys, got the qt set up and my little Dory is in there. I used water from my display and got the temp to 80. Should I lower the salt level, if so what should the hydrometer read? Also, I lost the flame angel, ALREADY.He was very active and eating last night, today I found him floating on the bottom.
SUCKS! I loved the flame, but I dont think I will get another. I heard the were too delicate too.

 

[danedodger]

In the diseases forum here there's a sticky at the top of the page that tells you a lot about ich and how to do a hyposalinity treatment.
Some animals are more sensitive to copper than others but basically copper is bad for all marine animals. People use it to treat things like ich on the theory that you dose in low enough levels to poison the ich but not enough to kill the fish. So you can use copper medications if you want but be aware of the risk involved and follow the directions on the package to the letter!
The hyposalinity treatment does seem to be the safest method for treating the ich that I've heard of so far.