Should I go ahead and QT all my fish to be safe??

[irish rage]

Hey everyone,
My Hippo came down with Ick so I am in the process of following the FAQ for Hypo-Salinity treatment in my QT tank. I am wondering if I should just go ahead and move over my two clowns and treat them as well. Reason I ask is they are not showing any signs of Ick and I don't want to stress out the hippo any more then I have to in the QT. However from this board and my other research it seems the only way I will rid my main tank of Ick is to take all fish out for 4 weeks.
Anyway just looking for some advice from the more seasoned folks out there.
PS...I'm running a 125 gal, FOWLR/LS set up.

 

[beth]

Yes, all fish should be treated. What size is that QT?

 

[irish rage]

Hey Beth,
Thanks for the reply. I will move the clowns over immediatly then.
My QT is a 30 gallon (long). I realize this may be small for the Hippo, but he is still very young and only about 2 1/2". He and the 2 young clowns will be the only fish in the QT during treatment as they are my only fish ATM.
Talk about live and learn =) I didn't have my QT tank set up b/c I'm in the process of remodeling my sun room and therefore didn't QT the hippo when I bought him. Won't make that mistake again.

Just to clarify...I plan on keeping my display tank fish free for at least 4 weeks to hopefully rid it of Ick for good. Does that sound like a solid time frame for killing off the Ick as they will not have any fish hosts during the tomite/theront stage?
Anyway thanks for your help.

 

[beth]

That size QT will be fine for those fish for the short duration.
I would suggest that you use 100% water from your display to fill the QT [as long as the water quality from the main tank is good]. Then use a few sacrifical pieces of LR to keep the tank seeded during hyposalinity treatment. Also a couple of cups of sand from your main tank can go into the QT for further seeding. That should work. As long as you use hyposalinity and no meds, the LR can be returned to your main tank following treatment, or you can just leave it in the QT to maintain cycle. LR will have to be removed for medication treatment.
Any inverts on LR will mostly die, so obviously you don't want to pick your favorite pieces.