Ich treatment question! please help

[dhmx220]

ok so every fish in my tank now has ich, except my yellow wathchman goby. The gramma now is not eating so I think its time to put all the fish in the qt tank.

My questions
1- Do i put the yellow watchman goby in the qt tank too? Even though he isnt showing signs of ich?
2- Should I leave my tank without fish for the reccomended 8-10 weeks to kill off the ich or will treatment with copper for a few weeks be fine?
3- If i do take out all the fish, excluding the goby, unless I need too. Will the tank start to become unbalanced? I have tons of clean up crew members so I would be worried they wouldnt have food.

Thanks

 

[rdnelson]

All fish need to go to QT if any do. Tank needs to stay fallow for 6-8 weeks to break the life cycle of the ich. Not sure on the copper treatment because I have never used that method.

Another option is to leave them all in the display and feed heavy and often with food mixed with metro and focus. It may help them defeat it themselves. However, in a few weeks you may see another outbreak and will have to feed metro and focus again. A strong fish with a good immune system can fight it off.

 

[dhmx220]

THanks for the response. I have fed metro and focus for 5 straight days 3 times a day and have only seen things getting worse. SO i figured its time for the qt.

 

[rdnelson]

dhmx220;830912 wrote: THanks for the response. I have fed metro and focus for 5 straight days 3 times a day and have only seen things getting worse. SO i figured its time for the qt.

Yup sounds like it. Are you sure it is ich? Could it be brook? If so metro and focus won't work. I believe copper won't work either but I am not sure. Either way, good luck. Hope they all pull through.

 

[dhmx220]

Well the fish are all rubbing against the glass and theres white spots all over them. Prett positive its ich

 

[rdnelson]

Brook looks very similar to ich. Hard to tell the difference. Either at, get them in QT because both copper or formalin based treatments are not reef safe. Take the best close up pics you can and post here. Hopefully someone who knows more than me will chime in.

 

[cedzaquaddiction]

rdnelson99 is right with his advice. Set up a quick QT tank, and get ready to be patient. I'm on the tail end of a copper treatment and 13 week fallow period (i made the mistake of adding a fish in the middle of QT, and had to add more time for the treatment).

You can feed heavy with success, but, you will run the risk of having ich remain in your tank. Make sure you QT first from now on...

Best of luck, Man. Keep us posted...

 

[nsconductor]

My understanding is that Copper is not effective for Brook. Formalin based treatments or as a safer alternative Seachem's Paraguard are effective for Brook. Both are not safe in the DT and must be used in QT. I also think a lot depends how badly infected the fish are if the treatment will be effective at all. Like Rich said, someone that knows more should chime in as I've been out of the hobby for a long time. The other thing is that Marine Velvet can appear similar to Ich, although the white spots are much finer - think powered sugar. CU should work for MV. The challange is identifying the disease - which sometimes comes down to best guess.

 

[rdnelson]

Nsconductor is right on the mark. The two most knowlegeable people on this site tried to help me. One said ich and one said Brook. Neither was sure. To this day I am not sure and neither are they. But, we keep trying and most times we has success. Another option available is IchX. It is said (by the makers) to be reef safe and will help with either brook or ich. Not sure about marine velvet. I have not used it in a reef because the person who tole me a bout it said she had never tried it in a reef.

Living in Milton, you should make a trip over to Sea Atlanta and talk with Jaremy (jamannypanda). He will give you a ton of good info. Or, take a trip over to Canton and talk to Jenn (JennM) at imagine ocean. Both are fantastic when it comes to helping sick fish and can be a huge help to you.

Good luck. Hope you win the battle.

Edit: Man, I really should use spell check should't I. Sorry for all the errors.

 

[silver surfer]

To give them temp relief you could do a freshwater dip before they go in qt.

What type of fish do you you have?

 

[dhmx220]

I have a flame angel, small maroon clown, royal gramma, and watchman goby in my 20 gallon qt tank.
I added them this morning and so far they are all swimming around. I am dosing seachem stability for 7 days too.