Ich in reef aquariums (why it doesn't scare me like it used to)

[fiji4118]

Please keep in mind that this is IMHO so don't treat this as gospel. So, back when I began this hobby the word "ich" sent terror through me. At the first sign I was pulling fish, putting them into QT, dosing the latest "reef safe" meds to kill it etc. I was probably causing more stress and death each time. When I moved my 72 to a 150 I let it sit fallow for 12 weeks to kill the ich so that it would not be there when I brought the fish back in. QT'd the fish with copper while it was fallow. Dropped the fish in and my hippo had ich the first week. So frustrating!!!! Sooooo, it's in my reef after working to make sure that I did everything I could to keep it out. Now what? Well, I decided on mostly nothing. Keep the fish fed, keep the water as pristine as possible and let them work through it on their own. Recently as some of you know I decided to add a few fish that are both aggressive and not necessarily reef safe. Juv emperor, aussie harley tusk, banana wrasse and an 8 lined. Sure enough, stress of the new fish iched out both my purple and hippo tangs along with a few others. Oh what to do! I increased their feeding (algae outbreak!), added some carbon and GFO, made sure that the water was still clean. Then NOTHING. Everyone worked through it fine. So at this point several of my fish have battled ich successfully while I allowed them to do so. If I see it again I'll ramp up the feeding, continue to check water parameters and let it run its course. Just food for thought.

Cheers!

Adam

 

[bush8984]

oh man. not that gorgeous reef tank.

I remember when you were treating the big tank back when you had the puffers in it.

Good luck and lets hope it stays gone.

 

[fiji4118]

That predator tank was a completely different story. I never got the water to stay pristine. It always had a nitrate problem that I could never lower. And I dosed trying to kill the ich. And took the fish out. Probably why it did not make it....

 

[sethsolomon]

Yah +1 to the fat and happy cure for ich

Note: this is not effective in nano tanks.

 

[jda123]

It is also not effective when fish won't eat or with some new additions. I don't think that most reef tanks will ever be ich free since it can come in on rock, coral, etc. I do still think that QT is very good, not for disease eradication, but to get fish eating, unstressed and ready to fight on their own... as well as to wait until any initial signs are gone. If you add a new fish to a tank, then if it will not eat then it can become a breeding ground for disease and can become a jerk to existing fish, which leads to the trifecta of doom: 1). fish won't eat to help the disease, 2). fish propagate the disease and 3). the new fish will stress your existing fish.

I do agree that healthy fish can easily fight it off. I also think that in-tank acclimation to captive life is risky still and will eventually get you in the long term - it only takes one. Some fish, like wrasses and some butterfiles will die in a true QT tank (hypo or copper), but they can be isolated in reef-type water until they are eating and show no signs of disease.

Of course, FO tanks are a lot easier since you can keep your water at 1.018 or 1.020 and even use some organic copper (safe and easy to remove if you need to).

 

[fiji4118]

Agree on initial QT. Too many other things can be present. I was just referring to what I am doing about treatment once they hit the DT.

 

[jda123]

Somewhat on the same topic, I think that initial QT is also imperative to get the fish eating pellets. You can soak up a whole lot of garlic extract into a pellet whereas something like mysis won't absorb it at all. I know that garlic does not kill ich, or anything, but I do think that it can help a fish to fight it off for a while. The vitamins in a high quality pellet can also keep them more healthy too, IMO.