HELP URGENTLY!!!!

[mrmrburke]

Hello All,

This is a very sad post for me, but im in dire need of some help...

I have a 3 year old established mature 130 gallon sps acro tank in full bloom....

I bought all my fish pre-quarantined after I lost a battle to velvet 2.5 years ago....

I have 12 fish, including some pretty rare breeds....


I bought some peppermint shrimp a week ago, and did not quarantine them, and now my tangs are showing signs of ich.

I have no method to be able to QT all these fish, and I honestly have no idea how to QT as I bought all my fish pre-QT for illnesses. I am so sad, and am at a loss at what to do. I do not have the ability to QT these fish and I have lots of little fish that I won't be able to catch.

Does anyone have any advise, or the ability to help me QT these fish. Some of my mature fish are full size and very large. Please help I am truly at a loss and deeply saddened.

 

[civics14]

Just to be clear what you're asking, you plan to pull out 12 fish, have someone treat/medicate the fish to treat ich then quarantine for 45-72 days while you go fallow?

How bad is the case of ich? You might be better off going towards ich management at this point. The likelihood that someone could do that for all your fish is very slim.

 

[civics14]

Here is some info on ich management from Humblefish: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ich-eradication-vs-ich-management.188775/

 

[mrmrburke]

Just to be clear what you're asking, you plan to pull out 12 fish, have someone treat/medicate the fish to treat ich then quarantine for 45-72 days while you go fallow?

How bad is the case of ich? You might be better off going towards ich management at this point. The likelihood that someone could do that for all your fish is very slim.

I am asking for any support.
I don’t know what to do for ich management, I don’t want to go fallow, I lost almost all my coral last time I went fallow.
I would prefer to not have to pull all the fish, but I don’t know how to manage ich in a reef tank.

 

[mrmrburke]

Here is some info on ich management from Humblefish: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ich-eradication-vs-ich-management.188775/

Thanks for the article…

things im already doing…
I am feeding more, nori, mysis, metro medication once a day…
I have auto water change my water conditions are as pristine as they can get, I am very on top of my husbandry.

I don’t have a UV but I can definitely get one, and will plan to.

I have 2 tangs, a red sea purple and an african yellow belly blue tang

all the fish seem incredibly healthy aside from the visual symptoms, none are flashing scratching or aggressive. They are fat as pigs and have been healthy for years.

outside of this im not sure what else to do

 

[civics14]

Keep them well fed, food soaked in selcon and vita-chem. I'm assuming you're doing a metro/focus soaking for food? I've read that this is not as effective as we would hope for ich. It doesn't hurt to try, but from what I gather is the amount needed to be effective, the food becomes way too bitter for the fish to eat.

If it's just visual symptoms, just keep them well fed and get that UV going asap. I heard vacuuming the sandbed in the evenings help as well.

 

[mrmrburke]

Keep them well fed, food soaked in selcon and vita-chem. I'm assuming you're doing a metro/focus soaking for food? I've read that this is not as effective as we would hope for ich. It doesn't hurt to try, but from what I gather is the amount needed to be effective, the food becomes way too bitter for the fish to eat.

If it's just visual symptoms, just keep them well fed and get that UV going asap. I heard vacuuming the sandbed in the evenings help as well.

Thank you, appreciate the tips!

 

[Adam]

Metro and Focus has killed the active Trophonts on fish for me. It's a been a few years though and I don't know if it's gotten more resistance to Metro.

 

[mrmrburke]

Metro and Focus has killed the active Trophonts on fish for me. It's a been a few years though and I don't know if it's gotten more resistance to Metro.

Thats great news! I do one scoop of each metro and focus for 2 cubes of mysis. I was doing that 2x a day the first 3 days and I went down to 1x/day. This is only day 4-5 of visual symptoms.

I will say the visual symptoms appear and dissappear almost daily, and the fish don’t seem to be phased by the dots. I hoping my fish are healthy enough to beat this outbreak but I want to cover all my bases.

 

[myvwrock]

Remember this is an ecosystem. Things do have a way of working out. Dont panic and do hasty things . deep care and thought needs to take place. Sometimes the best thing you can do is actually doing less.
Simply Keeping your hands out of your tank as much as possible.
Keep feeding with meds, garlic, selcon.

I generally feed a cocktail that i leave in the fridge and feed 5-6 drops...
1/2 cup of ro water , two cubes of emerald entree, one of brine shrimp, pellet food, garlic , selcon. The frozen cubes vary from time to time.
If you can, cut your lights off as much as possible to reduce stress. Get that u v on there. And maybe do a half dose worth of ich treatment to the tank. Read the label make sure it won't affect any Coral. Although I typically advise against using chemicals. Typically as long as the fish stay eating they will be just fine


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[mrmrburke]

Remember this is an ecosystem. Things do have a way of working out. Dont panic and do hasty things . deep care and thought needs to take place. Sometimes the best thing you can do is actually doing less.
Simply Keeping your hands out of your tank as much as possible.
Keep feeding with meds, garlic, selcon.

I generally feed a cocktail that i leave in the fridge and feed 5-6 drops...
1/2 cup of ro water , two cubes of emerald entree, one of brine shrimp, pellet food, garlic , selcon. The frozen cubes vary from time to time.
If you can, cut your lights off as much as possible to reduce stress. Get that u v on there. And maybe do a half dose worth of ich treatment to the tank. Read the label make sure it won't affect any Coral. Although I typically advise against using chemicals. Typically as long as the fish stay eating they will be just fine


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Thats very good advice. Im trying not to worry but im fearful after i lost almost a whole tank to vevet a couple years ago. I know ich can be beat (or adapted to) I will try these tips.

im currently not using any selcon or garlic as they eat well without it, but I will pick some up when i go get a uv.

 

[mrmrburke]

sorry duplicate post

 

[Adam]

Also try alternating between Selcon and Vitachem. Brightwell Vitamin M is a good multi vitamin too.

 

[Cook]

Sorry you are suffering through this. Humblefish moved to his own site, link below. If you can't / won't remove all the fish from the tank then there is no chance to eradicate the ich within the tank as @civics14 has said. UV will help and is necessary in my opinion to keep the fish from being overwhelmed as the ich life cycles continue. I believe BRS has a video for recommendations on how to plumb the UV for protazoa like pulling the water from the bottom of the tank as opposed to the sump, etc....

Marine Ich

Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans) - Updated 6-9-2023 What You Need To Know: * Fish parasite which is sometimes managed in a DT by utilizing a UV Sterilizer, Ozone, Diatom Filter, Oxydator, herbal remedies, enhanced nutrition, etc. etc. * Can be treated in a quarantine tank by using...

humble.fish

 

[mrmrburke]

Sorry you are suffering through this. Humblefish moved to his own site, link below. If you can't / won't remove all the fish from the tank then there is no chance to eradicate the ich within the tank as @civics14 has said. UV will help and is necessary in my opinion to keep the fish from being overwhelmed as the ich life cycles continue. I believe BRS has a video for recommendations on how to plumb the UV for protazoa like pulling the water from the bottom of the tank as opposed to the sump, etc....

Marine Ich

Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans) - Updated 6-9-2023 What You Need To Know: * Fish parasite which is sometimes managed in a DT by utilizing a UV Sterilizer, Ozone, Diatom Filter, Oxydator, herbal remedies, enhanced nutrition, etc. etc. * Can be treated in a quarantine tank by using...

humble.fish

I understand it’s not possible to completely rid the tank of ich while there are fish still in the system.

since I don’t have the ability to qt all 12 fish outside the tank i guess im just hoping to manage the outbreak so my fish survive. Ive heard it is possible for the fish to coexist with ich with proper actions, but of course any stressor could cause the ich to return and be fatal.

I have read at this point with the tank being so established with such large fish and a large population, it's best to try and manage the ich as opposed to eradicate it. I don't plan on adding any new fish so im hoping I can do this method.

also if anyone had the ability to QT 12 fish and help me remove them, I would be very grateful and willing to pay for the service and all medication. I am not confident enough in my testing and QT methods as I have not done it before, and would rather someone with more experience handle my fish, and I also don't have enough spare tanks/equipment to house these fish. I do have 2 tanks ready for QT (a 10 gallon and 20 long) with seeded sponges from my current tanks, but I have lots of fish I don't think I personally would be able to catch.

 

[myvwrock]

In my opinion the worst thing you can do is move those fish

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[mrmrburke]

In my opinion the worst thing you can do is move those fish

Sent from my LM-K500 using Tapatalk

I like that answer

Update: I have purchased a 25 watt aqua violet UV and some vita-chem. This thing is MASSSIVE (lol) I plan to get it plumbed up and running this afternoon.

 

[sharis100]

So UV will help control if run at proper flow levels, but it will not irridicate or remove all ich or cure current outbreak. Managing ich is the best choice in my opinion. Realize ich is always going to be a possibility and learn to deal with it as best you can. Keep your fish fed and happy and as stress free as possible. Healthy fish can handle this no problem. See above for advice and look on Humble fish for tips etc.
Ich is not a death sentence and can be successfully managed. Also, don’t get overboard in using the UV, figure out your flow and schedule based on what you want to accomplish.
The ich might have been in your system already and the shrimp might have nothing to do with it. Tangs are very prone to show signs one day if ich and nothing the next if they are healthy. Slow and steady wins… and don’t pull your fish or stress them more.

 

[mrmrburke]

So UV will help control if run at proper flow levels, but it will not irridicate or remove all ich or cure current outbreak. Managing ich is the best choice in my opinion. Realize ich is always going to be a possibility and learn to deal with it as best you can. Keep your fish fed and happy and as stress free as possible. Healthy fish can handle this no problem. See above for advice and look on Humble fish for tips etc.
Ich is not a death sentence and can be successfully managed. Also, don’t get overboard in using the UV, figure out your flow and schedule based on what you want to accomplish.
The ich might have been in your system already and the shrimp might have nothing to do with it. Tangs are very prone to show signs one day if ich and nothing the next if they are healthy. Slow and steady wins… and don’t pull your fish or stress them more.

excellent, thanks for the advice!!!

I am going to plumb the UV to a gate valve off my return line manifold so I can manage the flow. I don't have a flow meter, so im not sure how I can gauge what's best for my situation, any thoughts on that?

 

[sharis100]

excellent, thanks for the advice!!!

I am going to plumb the UV to a gate valve off my return line manifold so I can manage the flow. I don't have a flow meter, so im not sure how I can gauge what's best for my situation, any thoughts on that?

So if you don’t have a flow meter, then you are going to have to use you best guesstimate based on setting of return pump and use of the valves, and watch your tank to see what changes are occurring and make sure things are going the way you want. Depending on size of return pump and setting, you should not have to have valves open very much to get flow into the UV sufficient for ich etc…