Itch problem

[caribbean guy]

Does anyone know to get rid of this problem I just started my tank and after three months I had to move to a new house and since the move I have had nothing but trouble with this disease. I have a protein skimmer and a filter going in the tank the heater keeps the temp at 75degrees. I do regular changes but for some reason there is always fish coming down with the problem I have lost too many fish right now and beginning to feel bad about picking up this hobby. I need help fast I am down to one fish a domino damsel and I do not want to put more fish in there with out a solution. Should I start over from the beginning? help!

 

[tucker3940]

What you'll want to use for ich is hyposalinity treatment. Search the forum for 'hypo' and you'll get more info than you could ever want. Note: you can't use it if you have corals, lr, inverts. If so, you will have to move them to another tank to treat.

 

[caribbean guy]

how long does it take before I can reintroduce the crabs and inverts?Thank you by the way for your suggestion

 

[col]

How long was the tank empty for while you moved?
What size tank is it, what fish were in it and what were the water readings?
I would think about giving the damsel away and starting over.
Also 75 degrees is a little on the cold side.

 

[caribbean guy]

The tank was empty for no more than 45 minutes and the tank at that time only consisted of one yellow tang and a few blue leg herm crabs and a chocolate chip star fish ( My girl friend loves him). The readings were all normal I had that checked onced the fish started showing icth signs. LFS said to dip in nox-ich but still fish died. I think I will take suggestion and start over do I need to get rid of gravel and live rock and crabs too as well?

 

[col]

What water tests did you do and how big is tank.
How many and which fish have you lost and how long since you moved?

 

[cells]

maybe the parasite is from the source where the fish was bought. You might want to QT new fishes before introducing them into your tank. I read that the itch parasite can't survive more than 2 days without a host (fish). So I guess you might want to QT your domino, and let the tank sit for a few weeks, before introducing it back to the tank.

 

[caribbean guy]

We tested nitrates ph alkalinity salinity etc and he did some other tests as well he said thatthe salinity was perfect . I am running a 30 gallon with 25 lbs of live rock a protein skimer and a filter. So far I ahve lost 4 damsels and one tang and one clown(Obviously they have been at different times of the tanks life). It was doing well with the one tang til we moved and then when I added the damsels the tang died and then the damsels followed we dropped the salinity to 1.08 and it seemed to do the trick so a few weeks later we added a clown and then it started again. I am baffled at this point.

 

[col]

Do you (not the LFS) have test kits and do you test the water often?
You do not mention Ammonia or NitrItes, unless you mean these as etc
Have all your fish had ich and died?

 

[itchy]

sorry to chime in here with some other bad news but....having a yellow tang in a 30 gallon is enough to stress the fish out which would only weaken its immune system and making it more prone to diseases. Tangs need alot of room to swim so if you really want to add these animals to a tank may I suggest a larger tank. The other inhabitants, the clown and the damsels are all fine in that size tank. Chances are something you bought was ill and introduced the parasite into the tank, then the tang became stressed and provided a place for a host. Sounds as though you are in a great position now to let the tank go fallow for 6-8 weeks and this should take care of the parasite. In the meantime if you set up a qt tank you can buy 1 or 2 fish depending on size of qt and add them once the display has been empty for the 6-8 weeks cycle. Then not only will you not have problems with parasites in the display you will have a place to quaranteen new fish and treat them before every putting them into the display. I am still battling an ICH breakout from the very beginning of my cycle. I since have had to do hypo on my display tank and take my chances with what survived the parasite to irradicate the problem. Good luck and any questions on a qt tank can be answered by doing a search on this board. Good Luck

 

[dazed1]

Originally posted by jwtrojan44
If you only have the one fish, you can easily get the problem under control. Cryptocaryon (sw ich) is an obligate parasite that needs a host in order for it's life cycle to continue. No host=no parasite. As crytpo does not affect inverts, the easiest method would be to isolate the damsel and leave the display tank without fish for a period of about 6 weeks. The crabs, snails, shrimp, etc can remain and will not be affected. You can quarantine the damsel in a ten gallon hospital tank and treat it if you plan on keeping him. After the prescribed period of time, you should be able to safely introduce fish to your display tank. As mentioned, it's advisable to quarantine all fish for a period of three weeks, using hyposalinity, prior to placing them in your display tank. Hobbyists that do this religiously rarely if ever have outbreaks or even incidents of sickness. I'd say take out the damsel, let your tank re-establish itself w/o fish, and then start again. This is also a good opportunity to make any changes to the tank you'd like, without the risk of stressing your fish.

Ok, now I have a 20L and one of my 2 clown's died this weekend from ITCH. I believe it came from the LFS (bought it tuesday). I plan on giving the other clown away before it get's sick or it dies.
Since i DO plan on going out of town for a period of 6 week's, i was going to have my room mate feed the fish and do top-off's. Guess this is a good idea to just leave the tank empty with the shrimp, snail's and crab's for that period ? Is there anything additional I should add ?