Ick Problem

[angelap]

Ok, I was stupid and didn't set up a quarantine tank. Now, I have lost about $100 worth of fish to ick. I was able to save my tang with a freshwater dip. But does this mean I will always have ick in my tank? If so, how can I get rid of it without hurting my inverts? I am going to set up a q-tank before adding any more fish. I have a 10 gallon tank that I am going to use. What type of filter or other hardware do I need for it? Do I have to have a substrate? Or can it just be bare bottom? I have a whisper 3 filter that I was thinking of using. Would this be to much for a 10 gallon tank? Also, do I have to have rock or anything else in the tank? I would like to have a bare tank so the fish would be eaiser to catch when It comes time to move him over to the big tank. Any suggestion would really be appreicated.
Thanks,
Angela

 

[carrie1429]

The ich will remain in your main tank as long as it has a host, being the fish so if you take out the fish then the ich will die off. If you plan on using the Qtank for a hospital tank as well then you should have nothing live in it except the fish, like no LR or LS, you could have fake rock for the fish to hide. But if you are using the tank just for a Q tank then you can have rock and stuff. Its very easy to setup a q tank, they don't require anything but a filter and a heater. Thats all I have on my tank. You can just use a hang on filter. Then the fish must stay in the tank for 4-6 weeks for the icj to completely die off. Any questions?

 

[ocellaris_keeper]

I wouldn't put them into a hospital tank unless you plan on keeping them in there for about 3-4 months. Ichthyophthirius and to a lesser extent lymphocystis WILL survice in your tank as long as there is ONE fish forever and can live without a host in a dormant state for 3-4 months sometimes.
remove the fish and enjoy your reef tank for a while. Focus on new corals and plan on medicating any fish you want to add to the tank from now on.

 

[kimry1]

I bought a UV light filter. It makes all of the parasites sterile so they can't reproduce. It was worth it for me. Everytime I add new fish, I turn it on for a week or so to filter out the water. It wasn't a very expensive purchase, but overall I have never had ick since. Saved me money and stress fish wise.
Kimberly