Well I really messed up an bought a Regal Tang from a member and did not quarantinethe fish first. I put him in the tank on Sunday night and yesterday I noticed he has Ich. I am now (I know) setting up a quarantine tank. I am wanting to know if I have to take out all fish or can I just take out the infected fish? Thanks for your help.
Ich question
- Thread starter phnman372
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Removing the one fish presenting symptoms wont remove the infestation in your display tank 
You'd need to remove all fish to a separate tank and allow the display to remain fallow, or try and treat the entire display tank. Depending on the severity, I'd start lacing food with Seachem's Metro and Focus.
You'd need to remove all fish to a separate tank and allow the display to remain fallow, or try and treat the entire display tank. Depending on the severity, I'd start lacing food with Seachem's Metro and Focus.
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+1 once you have the disease in your tank its impossible to know if any of the other fish are infected or not and the only way to make sure that it does not spread is to qt them all.
The above solutions are the best for sure. But..... If you feel confident you can keep a good regiment there is another way.
Feed the Metro and Focus laced food at least three times a day. Add garlic guard to it to entice all fish to eat.
This will boost the immune system in the fish and help them fight it off. In doing so they will become stronger and be able to fight off the patria ire better in the future. Doing this means any eggs will lay dormant in the tank and reinvest but if you are prepared with the meds on hand you can react quickly.
I have 3 tangs in my tank. Whenever they get stressed (like when a new fish is added) they breakout with a small case of ich. I feed meds starting a day or two before introducing a new fish and every time they beat it back.
I am going on a cruise.....on my lawnmower around my yard.
Feed the Metro and Focus laced food at least three times a day. Add garlic guard to it to entice all fish to eat.
This will boost the immune system in the fish and help them fight it off. In doing so they will become stronger and be able to fight off the patria ire better in the future. Doing this means any eggs will lay dormant in the tank and reinvest but if you are prepared with the meds on hand you can react quickly.
I have 3 tangs in my tank. Whenever they get stressed (like when a new fish is added) they breakout with a small case of ich. I feed meds starting a day or two before introducing a new fish and every time they beat it back.
I am going on a cruise.....on my lawnmower around my yard.
Great info guys! Thanks
Cleaner shrimp do nothing to combat Cryptocaryon</em>. They may eat dead skin/scales from an infection but they do not remove the protozoan.
The only way to reasonably eradicate ich from a display tank is to remove all fish and allow the tank to remain fallow for a minimum of 8 weeks (some now are saying even longer). The fish should be treated with either copper or tank transfer method to remove the parasite in all its life stages before the fish are returned to the display. There are some other chemical treatments that are showing promise but not well proven. Quarantine all new fish and inverts going forward to keep from reinfecting your tank.
I am going to try this method. I went to The Fish Garden in Newnan and talked to Eric about what I had and he recommended it also. The Regal is the only one that is showing any signs of infection as of yet. He only has a couple of spots and is eating very, very well. I will watch him and if it changes then I will try a different approach. I just think the stress of transport and a new tank is what brought this on. We will see.:fing02:
sorry folks! that's just what I was told by the fish store years ago. I use garlic guard in my feeding regimen so maybe that's what caused it to disappear (along with my cleaner shrimps:doh
. I have never taken any fish out whenever I had an outbreak since it would be a nightmare if I tried, but it always went away after a few days.Rich, I do understand that. Thanks. I have heard this approach from more than just one person. I think this is a good start being that he is eating and swimming strong. I do not like the idea of taking all the fish out just to put them in a new, and barren, enviroment. I would think that this would be more harmfull in a way. I understand most of the risks either way. If he shows decline or others start to get infected then I will change course. Just glad that I can get input from those who have delt with this also.
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Let's keep in mind that ich is a parasite that normally comes in on an infected fish. That fish then infects the tank, and will then infest any other susceptible, stressed, or weak fish.
Garlic, metro, and focus are very useful tools, but don't actually kill the ich. Remember. The ich now infests your tank and not just one or two fish. What garlic metro, and focus do are they entice the fish to eat, and help medication get into the fish by making it stick to the food. This keeps the fish's appetite strong (thereby keeping the fish strong), and helps keeping them eating through the infestation. One of the first signs of infestation are the fish stop eating. The aforementioned helps remedy that part of the ich symptoms. Though very helpful, it is not a cure. The ich parasite still lives in the tank and eggs of future generations of ich are waiting to hatch...
Cleaner shrimp also don't eat the actual parasite as it spends a good amount of time under the skin, in the gills, etc... The ich parasite aggravates the skin of the fish which leaves dead skin behind. The cleaner shrimp relieves the fish by cleaning the irritated skin, and sometimes gills. It is more of a comfort than a cure. The ich parasite still lives in the tank and eggs of future generations of ich are waiting to hatch...
Ich lives and shows itself in cycles. Often times you will treat your fish, and think that you have gotten rid of the ich because the white spots are no longer showing on the fish. As the ich life-cycle repeats itself, the ich will show back up in a week or two. Sometimes it takes longer, but it will show.
To totally eradicate the virus from your tank, all fish must be removed from the tank, treated with copper or (even better) cuppramine for 30 days minimum, and the tank must sit fallow for a minimum of 8 weeks (I'd shoot for 10 to be sure). Look at it this way. With the tank sitting fallow for 10 weeks, your fish can be treated for ich for 30 days, and the rest of the time in QT can be used for observation to be sure they all are cured. Sure this will be stressful, but it will only be stressful for 2 months. Keep in mind that living with ich is stressful too...
I've seen many active tanks with ich, and the fish seemed to be thriving. I'm not saying they are wrong. They have definitely had better success than me at managing ich, and my hats are off to them as their experience yields them success at something that I've failed at many times. This is why I choose to totally eradicate it and QT any fish that ever enters my DT.
Keep in mind that the wrong fish at the wrong time, can cause a tank-wide outbreak that can affect all of your fish. Ich multiplies very quickly. An ich outbreak can stress your fish out more than a 2 month trip to a QT (or HT)...
Can you tell that I hate ich, and have had to learn my opponent in order to be able to outsmart it so it has a small chance of ever returning to my tank? It crashed my 120g and killed many fish very shortly after I set it up. It was my first tank, and taught me a hard lesson. There is always a chance of ich getting into your tank by other methods other than an infected fish, but minimizing the risk is normally worth the effort.
Best of luck, Man. Keep us posted...
Garlic, metro, and focus are very useful tools, but don't actually kill the ich. Remember. The ich now infests your tank and not just one or two fish. What garlic metro, and focus do are they entice the fish to eat, and help medication get into the fish by making it stick to the food. This keeps the fish's appetite strong (thereby keeping the fish strong), and helps keeping them eating through the infestation. One of the first signs of infestation are the fish stop eating. The aforementioned helps remedy that part of the ich symptoms. Though very helpful, it is not a cure. The ich parasite still lives in the tank and eggs of future generations of ich are waiting to hatch...
Cleaner shrimp also don't eat the actual parasite as it spends a good amount of time under the skin, in the gills, etc... The ich parasite aggravates the skin of the fish which leaves dead skin behind. The cleaner shrimp relieves the fish by cleaning the irritated skin, and sometimes gills. It is more of a comfort than a cure. The ich parasite still lives in the tank and eggs of future generations of ich are waiting to hatch...
Ich lives and shows itself in cycles. Often times you will treat your fish, and think that you have gotten rid of the ich because the white spots are no longer showing on the fish. As the ich life-cycle repeats itself, the ich will show back up in a week or two. Sometimes it takes longer, but it will show.
To totally eradicate the virus from your tank, all fish must be removed from the tank, treated with copper or (even better) cuppramine for 30 days minimum, and the tank must sit fallow for a minimum of 8 weeks (I'd shoot for 10 to be sure). Look at it this way. With the tank sitting fallow for 10 weeks, your fish can be treated for ich for 30 days, and the rest of the time in QT can be used for observation to be sure they all are cured. Sure this will be stressful, but it will only be stressful for 2 months. Keep in mind that living with ich is stressful too...
I've seen many active tanks with ich, and the fish seemed to be thriving. I'm not saying they are wrong. They have definitely had better success than me at managing ich, and my hats are off to them as their experience yields them success at something that I've failed at many times. This is why I choose to totally eradicate it and QT any fish that ever enters my DT.
Keep in mind that the wrong fish at the wrong time, can cause a tank-wide outbreak that can affect all of your fish. Ich multiplies very quickly. An ich outbreak can stress your fish out more than a 2 month trip to a QT (or HT)...
Can you tell that I hate ich, and have had to learn my opponent in order to be able to outsmart it so it has a small chance of ever returning to my tank? It crashed my 120g and killed many fish very shortly after I set it up. It was my first tank, and taught me a hard lesson. There is always a chance of ich getting into your tank by other methods other than an infected fish, but minimizing the risk is normally worth the effort.
Best of luck, Man. Keep us posted...
You make very good points. However, I believe you make a conclusion that may not always be fact. If all of your statements are 100% accurate, how would you explain that my tank has had absolutely no sign of ich in over 6 months? I did not leave the tank fallow and I did not medicate the fish with either of the meds you suggest. You method is a good one but not the only one. I believe heathy fish can fight off the parasite to the point where even the eggs do not survive. But of course, I could be wrong.
I am going on a cruise.....on my lawnmower around my yard.
At the right strength, with a long enough exposure yes. But, not all water flows through the UV at any given time and only the parasites that are suspended in that water will be killed. Those in the sand and rocks are unaffected. But, it is way to reduce the numbers substantially.
I am going on a cruise.....on my lawnmower around my yard.
CedzAquAddiction
"This keeps the fish's appetite strong (thereby keeping the fish strong), and helps keeping them eating through the infestation. One of the first signs of infestation are the fish stop eating."
That is just it. He is eating like crazy now and before. Heck he has even put weight on since I have had him. His belly was sunken in a little. Now it is filled out and he is nice and thick. If it wasn't for the spots you wouldn't think he had anything. That is the strongest reason that I am not taking them out. Yes it may kill all of them, which is not what I (or anyone else) wants to happen. But then again it may kill him by moving him again which is what I believe started this in the first place. Please don't think that I think you are wrong or I do not want to listen, that couldn't be more wrong. I want the best for them. I am still very new to the saltwater world. I have always had some type of freshwater tank for many many years. I read and ask question on things. I talk to people both on this forum and off to try to find the best answer I can come up with. Worry about it day and night.Nobody wants to get it wrong. Even the best approaches fail. So here is to not failing and trying.
"This keeps the fish's appetite strong (thereby keeping the fish strong), and helps keeping them eating through the infestation. One of the first signs of infestation are the fish stop eating."
That is just it. He is eating like crazy now and before. Heck he has even put weight on since I have had him. His belly was sunken in a little. Now it is filled out and he is nice and thick. If it wasn't for the spots you wouldn't think he had anything. That is the strongest reason that I am not taking them out. Yes it may kill all of them, which is not what I (or anyone else) wants to happen. But then again it may kill him by moving him again which is what I believe started this in the first place. Please don't think that I think you are wrong or I do not want to listen, that couldn't be more wrong. I want the best for them. I am still very new to the saltwater world. I have always had some type of freshwater tank for many many years. I read and ask question on things. I talk to people both on this forum and off to try to find the best answer I can come up with. Worry about it day and night.Nobody wants to get it wrong. Even the best approaches fail. So here is to not failing and trying.
