Eeeek!! Ich, QT and stuff.......

[KeishaKornbread]

I was reading through posts on that other site and there was a discussion about a reefer who was battling a Blue Tang’s constant ICH infestation. Apparently, the tang had been dealing with ich for months but showed no slowing down. It maintained its health, appetite, stamina, etc….and just had ich. It’s tank mates were healthy enough that they never caught it….but we all know that it’s sitting there in that tank until someone weak enough gets stressed enough that it finally gets a hold. He didn’t have room for a QT tank and folks were flaming him for that and for his unwillingness to set one up. He wasn’t unwilling out of laziness, but instead lacked the space for one.

My question is, with many of us in this hobby, living in small apartments, condos, trailer homes, shanties, etc. who has the space for one and who doesn’t. Personally, I do not have one. I’ve been quite lucky that my fish are healthy and appear to not be infested, but I do not have Bettie Davis eyes or Microscopes for eyeballs. I still have that empty Nuvo 4 and I am thinking that I should be smart about this and just set it up as a QT tank in the bedroom, but at this point in the hobby for me, would it be too late and a lost cause? I could quite possibly be playing host to an oncoming invasion of ich already in my DT. I’ll see a fish scratch itself on the sand and then I’ll worry for a few hours, but all will be well…or so it appears. I know I’m skating on a razor blades edge…..

Also, I know UV Sterilizers kill ich, but I also hear that they decimate the population of helpful microfauna that we want in our tanks….so are they worth it? I want to get one but I’ve read conflicting stories and read through plenty debates and arguments on the subject.

What say you…what say y’all?

 

[RedDevil.258]

I guess you can say that I have a LOT of trust in the LFS that I buy my fish at...There are only three and they are all close to my area! No matter what kind of awesome deals at other local LFS I see I am very wary of buying fish from those stores. I do however dip ALL of my coral additions. I am just not very experienced in QT of fish. I am also really freaked out about FW dips for fish. Needless to say it has been a very loong time since I bought any new additions to my tank. As for the UV I have one only run it on a reverse cycle, from articles that I have read it only kills free floating parasites.

 

[KeishaKornbread]

So now I'm getting on folk's nerve!!! SO WHAT!! HA!!

 

[mlreef]

I run a UV for 24 hours ever other week. As far as a qt i had a nice 40 gallon breeder setup for a while but then it became a frag tank and now is filled with coral...

 

[ColaAddict]

I'm upgrading right now to a bigger tank and transferred all my fishes in first, and adding more fishes that I like. I have that upgrade tank in hypo right now while adding new fishes to kill off ich and other parasites. But I also have a QT that I can use now or for future additions. I've had bad experiences in the past where I lost all my fishes and will never risk not letting new additions spend some time in hyposalinity for a few weeks. Eventually if you don't QT, your luck will run out and infect your whole tank.

 

[EricTheRed]

Eventually if you don't QT, your luck will run out and infect your whole tank.

+1,000,000,000,000,000

Isaac is correct, a UV will not rid a tank of ich, it only helps slow down an outbreak. Setting up a Qt is easy and very inexpensive when compared to how much fish cost. I have a 20g long (long is better for QT) and an aquaclear hob filter, little maxijet, heater and airstone. I fill it with water from my dt after wc's. you don't need to keep it up and running all the time. Just keep a spare filter sponge at all times in the sump of your dt. That way you can immediately setup the QT when you get a new fish and the sponge will already be seeded with biological bacteria...instead biological filtration. Then drain the tank after the QT is over, throw out the sponge (never put a used QT sponge back in your dt's sump) and put everything in your closet until you get your next fish. I just finished stocking my fowlr so, as is tha case with soooooo many people, my QT is now a frag tank.....

 

[gapsaph]

I'm really starting to wish I had a QT tank! I just bought a yellow tang from MCF and it looked absolutely fine in their tank and it acted fine for the first two days in my tank but now I see it every now and then brushing up against rocks and it has two white spots, one on the dorsal fin and one on the pelvic fin.

I don't know what to do now! I have two clowns and a blue/green chromis in my tank. Should I buy a little 10 gallon tank to setup a QT for the tang or is it too late and I should does my DT with something?

I feel your confusion chgoblknazn, I don't know what to do either! =)

By the way, the corals I got from you are doing great, thank you!!!

 

[EricTheRed]

You can setup a QT tank after a fish gets sick, it's just called a hospital tank You won't have any biological filtration going so you will need to monitor your ammonia and do frequent (daily) water changes, which shouldn't be a big deal on a 10-20G tank. You can always give it a few days and see what happens. From what I gather, "reef safe" crypt remedies are not 100% effective.

I'm really starting to wish I had a QT tank! I just bought a yellow tang from MCF and it looked absolutely fine in their tank and it acted fine for the first two days in my tank but now I see it every now and then brushing up against rocks and it has two white spots, one on the dorsal fin and one on the pelvic fin.

I don't know what to do now! I have two clowns and a blue/green chromis in my tank. Should I buy a little 10 gallon tank to setup a QT for the tang or is it too late and I should does my DT with something?

I feel your confusion chgoblknazn, I don't know what to do either! =)

By the way, the corals I got from you are doing great, thank you!!!

 

[ColaAddict]

I'm really starting to wish I had a QT tank! I just bought a yellow tang from MCF and it looked absolutely fine in their tank and it acted fine for the first two days in my tank but now I see it every now and then brushing up against rocks and it has two white spots, one on the dorsal fin and one on the pelvic fin.

I don't know what to do now! I have two clowns and a blue/green chromis in my tank. Should I buy a little 10 gallon tank to setup a QT for the tang or is it too late and I should does my DT with something?

I feel your confusion chgoblknazn, I don't know what to do either! =)

By the way, the corals I got from you are doing great, thank you!!!

I have a spare 10 gallon tank and filter that I keep in my sump to keep it cycled. Let me know if you want to borrow them to set up a hospital tank. I'm in Northbrook and work out in Lake Forest, or I can meet you at MCF this saturday.
If you don't have any inverts/corals in your display tank, I would just hyposalinity your whole display tank to make sure you also treat all the other fish and treat the whole tank.

 

[gapsaph]

I have a spare 10 gallon tank and filter that I keep in my sump to keep it cycled. Let me know if you want to borrow them to set up a hospital tank. I'm in Northbrook and work out in Lake Forest, or I can meet you at MCF this saturday.
If you don't have any inverts/corals in your display tank, I would just hyposalinity your whole display tank to make sure you also treat all the other fish and treat the whole tank.

Thanks for the offer! Think I'll just buy a 10g tank so I can eventually use it for something pretty! =) Time to setup a hospital tank I guess..

 

[ColaAddict]

Thanks for the offer! Think I'll just buy a 10g tank so I can eventually use it for something pretty! =) Time to setup a hospital tank I guess..

okay. Yeah, LFS's usually medicate their tanks to keep ich levels low and unoticeable. They also have gigantic UV filters to prevent heavy outbreaks. That doesn't mean the fishes don't have ich. once they leave the medicated water and UV, ich tends to come out and can end up killing all your fishes.

 

[rosko23]

I actually setup my QT last night for my first 2 fish. I know most of the times fish look good and we want to trust our LFS, but it's impossible for them to know if the fish has ich or another disease. Better safe then sorry. I plan on qt all my fish for 3-4 weeks minimum.

 

[gapsaph]

I actually setup my QT last night for my first 2 fish. I know most of the times fish look good and we want to trust our LFS, but it's impossible for them to know if the fish has ich or another disease. Better safe then sorry. I plan on qt all my fish for 3-4 weeks minimum.

Wish I would have done the same! I guess I was being lazy and crossing my fingers!

 

[rosko23]

Wish I would have done the same! I guess I was being lazy and crossing my fingers!

Hopefully u caught it soon enough and can set up hospital tank to save fish. At minimum u saved ur others maybe.

 

[Funlad3]

I didn't at first. Lost four fish and around $100. And had one of the most stressful weeks of my life. QT is worth it. I tore down my 44 gallon pentagon corner tank, and my yellow tang and goby seem to like their temporary home just fine.

 

[EricTheRed]

QT has more benefits than just disease diagnosis/treatment. It also creates a low-stress environment where the fish can learn to take prepared foods without competing with other tankmates. Some people medicate their tanks ALL the time while others just do it if they see signs of illness. Personally, I run copper and praziquantel (for worms and flukes) ALL the time. What a lot of people don't realize is that crypt infiltrates the fishes gills and can be very damaging long before the white spots appear. It is possible to put a calm fish in a QT for 4 weeks (without copper) and see no signs of ich. Then you add him to your dt and WHAM!! The stress of the new environment lowers the fish's immune response and the ich takes over...killing your fish....and potentially everyone else. I dose the prazi-pro because I learned that ~30% of all wild caught fish have some type of worm in their gut and I don't want any worms eating my fishfood. That stuff is too darn expensive!! (plus some worms/flukes can kill the fish). You also want to do a little research on your new fish. As an example; some people will also treat all wild-caught clowns for brookynnella (sp) and most lion fish are severly affectd by copper (to the point it can kill them).

 

[mlreef]

QT has more benefits than just disease diagnosis/treatment. It also creates a low-stress environment where the fish can learn to take prepared foods without competing with other tankmates. Some people medicate their tanks ALL the time while others just do it if they see signs of illness. Personally, I run copper and praziquantel (for worms and flukes) ALL the time. What a lot of people don't realize is that crypt infiltrates the fishes gills and can be very damaging long before the white spots appear. It is possible to put a calm fish in a QT for 4 weeks (without copper) and see no signs of ich. Then you add him to your dt and WHAM!! The stress of the new environment lowers the fish's immune response and the ich takes over...killing your fish....and potentially everyone else. I dose the prazi-pro because I learned that ~30% of all wild caught fish have some type of worm in their gut and I don't want any worms eating my fishfood. That stuff is too darn expensive!! (plus some worms/flukes can kill the fish). You also want to do a little research on your new fish. As an example; some people will also treat all wild-caught clowns for brookynnella (sp) and most lion fish are severly affectd by copper (to the point it can kill them).

Totally Agree "QT has more benefits than just disease diagnosis/treatment. It also creates a low-stress environment where the fish can learn to take prepared foods without competing with other tankmates"

 

[KeishaKornbread]

So I have decided to setup a treatment center in my tiny flat. I will have to remove an art installation to make room for it, but oh well. It’s the cost I will have to pay for not setting up a proper QT tank initially. I plan on running two tanks in the space, one dedicated to hypo and the other for use with copper if needed. I want to make sure that my setup is TOTALLY free of any possible ich so I am trying to be proactive. I want to leave my tank fishless for 2 months, which should kill off any possible marine ich in the tank if there is any. My tiny angel showed white spots the day after I picked him up from MCF but they did disappear that night. I have been told it could have been calcium deposits, salt, etc., but My tank is doing so well and I have model citizens at the moment, so I do not want to lose any of them.

My plan is to remove all of my fish and QT them in my hospital center. I have two little angels, and I have read that they should NOT be QTed in copper but instead be setup in a hypo tank. The main QT tank is the same size as my DT and will use a Marineland power filter that will have the filter media changed daily. I am also looking at getting a small HOB skimmer for additional filtration and for aeration. Tanks will be bare with PVC for temporary homes and caves and they will have a basic hood and light. My DT will be fishless and will only house my inverts and corals with the setup remaining unchanged.

I have read that copper can be pretty brutal to the fish and that hypo is a less traumatic treatment for fish and will not suppress their appetites. So I am wondering if I can just acclimate them to hypo and keep the whole lot together in treatment. Two months in this setup should disrupt the life cycle of ich and kill any if my tank is in fact infected.

Am I being paranoid…or a model reefer?

 

[poidog]

That sounds like a very nice hospital/QT system.

Be aware though that people have let their tanks run fallow 2+ months, doing everything right (so they report) and ich returns. Search RC on it. There are about half a dozen very detailed threads about it.

 

[KeishaKornbread]

That sounds like a very nice hospital/QT system.

Be aware though that people have let their tanks run fallow 2+ months, doing everything right (so they report) and ich returns. Search RC on it. There are about half a dozen very detailed threads about it.

WHAT!!! Then how do we get rid of it?