ICH in my new tank?? WTF?

[disco bay jn]

I just set up my 180g tank, added 100#'s of LS and 200#'s LR. I waited a few weeks for it to cycle, then when the reading dropped down to 0, added my clean up crew, and 2 Percula clowns. They have been in there about 5 days, and now I see little white spots on one of them. ICH I imagine. My question is this, WHAT DO I DO? I'm getting my 10g QT tank set up today.
1. What type of filter should I use for my QT tank, I was told just a small skimmer. Is that correct?
2. Should I use the water from my DT for the QT?
3. I also have a Naso tang in the tank, will it get ICH too?
Thanks in advance! I thought I wouldn't need a QT tank for the first fish I put in!

 

[disco bay jn]

Oh yeah, I have 3 cleaner shrimp, and two peppermint shrimp as part of my clean up crew. Should the shrimp take care of some of my problem?

 

[mx mr bean]

Well first off all fish have a slight amount of ich on the inside. When they are stressed which may be the case now, ich will become visible on their bodies. Eventually it will go away after your cleaner shrimp pick a few specs off. It also helps to feed them garlic flakes because the garlic heals ich at the source (on the inside of the fish). Another good supplement to put into your tank about one to two time a week is stress coat. I'd give you the link but its forbidden on this site. Just google it. The stress coat helps replace slime coats to combat ich and any other diseases, repairs damaged fins incase any of your fish get nipped on (it happens), and helps the quality of your water by dechlorinating it. Hope i could help with the ich problem. Good luck with your new tank.

 

[nicetry]

Originally Posted by Disco Bay JN
I just set up my 180g tank, added 100#'s of LS and 200#'s LR. I waited a few weeks for it to cycle, then when the reading dropped down to 0, added my clean up crew, and 2 Percula clowns. They have been in there about 5 days, and now I see little white spots on one of them. ICH I imagine. My question is this, WHAT DO I DO? I'm getting my 10g QT tank set up today.
1. What type of filter should I use for my QT tank, I was told just a small skimmer. Is that correct?
2. Should I use the water from my DT for the QT?
3. I also have a Naso tang in the tank, will it get ICH too?
Thanks in advance! I thought I wouldn't need a QT tank for the first fish I put in!
Set up the Qt for the clowns. Use a small hang on filter or sponge filter with some cultured media (leave it in the main tank for a few days). The naso has been exposed and may likely be infected as well. You need to quarantine all new fish before placing them in the main tank. The 10 gallon is too small for the naso. You can either set up a larger quarantine tank for it or even a rubbermaid bin with tank water and a similar filter/heater. Read the FAQ thread at the top of trhis forum for info on treatment and quarantine.

 

[nicetry]

Originally Posted by mx Mr Bean
Well first off all fish have a slight amount of ich on the inside. When they are stressed which may be the case now, ich will become visible on their bodies. Eventually it will go away after your cleaner shrimp pick a few specs off. It also helps to feed them garlic flakes because the garlic heals ich at the source (on the inside of the fish). Another good supplement to put into your tank about one to two time a week is stress coat. I'd give you the link but its forbidden on this site. Just google it. The stress coat helps replace slime coats to combat ich and any other diseases, repairs damaged fins incase any of your fish get nipped on (it happens), and helps the quality of your water by dechlorinating it. Hope i could help with the ich problem. Good luck with your new tank.
This is not accurate. All fish do NOT have the parasite and it is not stress induced. It also will not eventually go away with the aid of biological cleaners. Ich is a parasite that must be introduced into a system. It is treatable and it is entirley possible to have a system without the presence of the illness through proper quarantine of all fish before adding them to the display.

 

[mx mr bean]

stress definately plays a partial role on ich.

 

[nicetry]

Originally Posted by mx Mr Bean
stress definately plays a partial role on ich.
Not exactly. Stress can weaken immune function, just as it does in people, however if the parasite is not present to begin with, even stressed fish will not contract it. Oftentimes, fish that live in relatively stress free environments can contract ****** if an infected fish is introduced into the tank.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by nicetry
Not exactly. Stress can weaken immune function, just as it does in people, however if the parasite is not present to begin with, even stressed fish will not contract it. Oftentimes, fish that live in relatively stress free environments can contract ****** if an infected fish is introduced into the tank.
Correct, ich is not caused by stress directly. The parasite has to be present first. Fish are much more susceptible to ich when they are stressed out because their immune system is lower and they are unable to fight the parasite off.
Disco, unfortunately all of your new fish have now been exposed to ich and all of them need to be treated while letting your display run fishless for 6 weeks. It is unfortunate, but everytime a new purchase is added directly to the display without quarantining first you run the risk of something like this happening.

 

[disco bay jn]

Yeah, I thought with the first fish i could get away with it. Lesson learned. I'll quaranteen my fish tonight, and start the agonizing process. After placing my fish in my QT, when should I start to Hypo them?

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by Disco Bay JN
Yeah, I thought with the first fish i could get away with it. Lesson learned. I'll quaranteen my fish tonight, and start the agonizing process. After placing my fish in my QT, when should I start to Hypo them?
Is your qt tank cycled? Do you have a refractometer? If yes to both of these then you can begin tonight. Have you read the directions on how to do it? If you are unsure of anything, feel free to ask

 

[disco bay jn]

I'm going to use the water from my DT tank to fill up my QT, I will also add a small piece of LR and a cup of LS, How long should my DT tank take to cycle? I'll soak my new filter media in my DT before also.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by Disco Bay JN
I'm going to use the water from my DT tank to fill up my QT, I will also add a small piece of LR and a cup of LS, How long should my DT tank take to cycle? I'll soak my new filter media in my DT before also.
Ok, that sounds good. You should go to the lfs and get a sponge filter. They hook up to a regular air pump and gather bacteria (faster than a sponge you just set in the tank)plac that in your display for a few days to gather a large amount f bacteria. I recomend getting as much biological filtration into the qt as possible before putting your fish in there. Tank water is good, but unfortunately biological bacteria is not found in the water column itself. It colonizes on porous material/surfaces.

 

[good alex]

Ich is a disese that is in all fish and when a fish gets stressed out the ich comes out, and stess coat is a liquid that is put in the tank and helps the fish get a thicker slimecoat to prevent any future diseases. Garlic and stresscoat can help you rid of ich and prevent it form happening

 

[mx mr bean]

see ive found some one with similar experience as me. I highly agree with goodalex

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by Good Alex
Ich is a disese that is in all fish and when a fish gets stressed out the ich comes out, and stess coat is a liquid that is put in the tank and helps the fish get a thicker slimecoat to prevent any future diseases. Garlic and stresscoat can help you rid of ich and prevent it form happening
Ich is a parasite and is NOT in all fish. Please check out the common treatments FAQ for information on ich. Stress coat and garlic will not kill off ich by any means at all.

 

[nicetry]

Originally Posted by Good Alex
Ich is a disese that is in all fish and when a fish gets stressed out the ich comes out, and stess coat is a liquid that is put in the tank and helps the fish get a thicker slimecoat to prevent any future diseases. Garlic and stresscoat can help you rid of ich and prevent it form happening
This is simply not true, and scientifically has been proven to be untrue. Unfortunately some hobbyists have been led to believe this by other misinformed folks or lfs owners who don't know better. The use of garlic as a preventative is anecdotal. It is reported to aid as an immune booster but this is not proven. Stress coat does nothing to treat c. irritans. This type of information should not be perpetuated as it is really misleading.

 

[good alex]

Dont put words in my mouth, i said that garlic and stress coat will help rid of ich I dident say that it would kill off ich, and it will help prevent ich from your fish by putting a thicker layer of slime on the scales of your fish which will make it much harder for the ich to embed itself betweed the scales, and the garlic will help the immune system of the fish and help prevent other diseases. If ich isent in a fish then you should be able to take a fish that has never come in contact with an ich infested fish and put it in water with no ich and when the fish gets stessed out, then no ich would appear right?
Wrong
The ich would be on the scales of the fish and thats where the garlic and stess coat comes into play.

 

[sepulatian]

If ich isent in a fish then you should be able to take a fish that has never come in contact with an ich infested fish and put it in water with no ich and when the fish gets stessed out, then no ich would appear right?
Absolutely. Most experiencd hobbiest have no ich in their system whatsoever. If the fish has not been in contact with ich they will not get ich. Plain and simple. Stress coat can clog the gills if used in excess. Bottom line is quarantine all new purchases (not just fish) and ich will not be an issue.

 

[nicetry]

Your logic is flawed and I'm thinking you don't know about the etiology of the parasite and it's life cycle.
I didn't put words in your mouth, You stated that "garlic and stresscoat can help you rid of ich and prevent it from happening." Garlic and stresscoat will do nothing to get rid of the parasite once it is introduced to the system. Please explain how your claim is any different from saying it kills ich? Isn't that the same as getting rid of it and preventing it from happening?
A fish that has never been exposed to the parasite can not contract it unless another fish is introduced that is infected. It only dies off completely without the presence of a fish host. There are two proven cures (read "killing it off") and those are copper and hyposalinity. The parasite is very capable of attaching to a fish in spite of a good slime coat. Puffers have some of the thickest mucous coats and are among the most susceptible.

 

[hanzo26]

You say you should QT everything you introduce into your aquarium (not just fish), but can you elaborate? I was under the impression that you cannot hypo your corals and what not. Thanks for the info...