What do you do when your whole tank gets ich?

[Guest beatle]

I noticed that recently my midas blenny has been flashing a lot against the gravel. He's had ich off and on, (mostly off) brought up by stress from when I upgraded the tank and later when I reaquascaped. I haven't done anything recently, but I did add a new baby ocellaris clown a few weeks ago. Now everyone has it. It doesn't seem to be very prevalent - just a few specks, but it's not going away. I don't have a QT big enough for all the fish that have it (2 clowns, midas, royal gramma, 2 firefish). My flame angel, mandarin, and gold head sleeper goby don't have any signs of it. I've read about treating with copper and ruining live rock and killing inverts, so that's not an option. Hypo on the whole tank isn't an option, I don't believe, as that would also kill the rock and probably do damage (kill?) to my corals. Any suggestions?

[jason the filter freak]

uv sterilizer?

[Guest beatle]

Yeah, I've considered one of those for some time now. I wonder how difficult it would be to set up on its own closed loop. I wouldn't want to use it on the return, as I have a hungry mandarin to feed with pods from the fuge.

[jason the filter freak]

you could set one up hob

[steveoutlaw]

Go talk to johnny at BRK. He carries them and can give you some good options on how to set it up.

[NightOwl]

Hey Matt,

Not sure if you are treating all your food with some form of garlic or not but my yellow tang use to be an ich magnet. I started treating all food with garlic before feeding. Its suppose to help their immune system and seems to work. For my frozen food I let it thaw overnight soaking in garlic and sometimes Zoe or if im lazy about 10-15 mins before feeding. There is also some stuff called Kick-Ich by Ruby-Reef I have used several times that will not harm your biological filter or kill off any pods. Whatever you decide to do make it fast because ich multiplies really fast!

 

Good luck,

 

Henry

[miller]

You need alot of UV to kill ich. Here is some info on it uv info

 

If i see a little ich on my fish im just feed them more and maybe add a little garlic or selcon to the food

Edited April 5, 2007 by miller

[flowerseller]

Get a UV!

 

Most claims by people saying the negative are those that do not use them and are only going on what someone told them or the little they have read. (and actually understood)

 

Does it kill good stuff?

YES

Does it kill bad stuff?

YES

Does the good outweigh the bad?

Yes,

at least for the last 15+ or more Bulbs.

[miller]

I agree the good out weighs the bad and I use one on my system and have for some time. I just dont think they do much for killing ich

Edited April 5, 2007 by miller

[VicSkimmr]

Is one brand of UV sterilizer leaps and bounds better than another? I'm in the market for one, and want to get the best one possible.

[Guest beatle]

I'm considering the Odyssea 36w unit because I'm cheap, it comes with a pump, and I think 36w would be enough to nuke anything in the tank. I'm going to order today unless there's another reasonably priced alternative.

[VicSkimmr]

I was considering this http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/catalog/p...roducts_id=1052 but I just wish I knew how reliable they are. Chip, what kind are you running?

[Gatortailale]

Chip and I both use this current usa model http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_uv_ult...mma.asp?CartId=

 

Model 1403; 40W; inlet/outlet =2" Slip; Max GPH flow = 2880gph

 

I have 2 manderins in my tank + 3 wrasse, no ill effects on pods - pods likely to get hurt by your return pump as they are by uv.

[Lee Stearns]

I have had Ich on and off over the years on my three tangs. The worst case has been with my Achilles, but I am certain that it is stress realted as he is low man in the pecking order. I am equally certain that Chip is correct and that a UV sterilizer would help. I am on the frugal tank side of the equasion. By feeding several times a day and trying to keep the vitamin level up in what I feed- I am hopefully preparing these guys to weather the occasional ich outbreaks. I did get one of BRKs neon gobies, which has been a far better cleaner of ich that my pair of cleaner shrimp. The gobie will search both sides of any fish that will hold still. All my Tangs get cleaned by him. The Anthias on the other hand prefer to stop in with the cleaner shrimp. I have not lost a fish to ich since I have set up reef keeping again, about 4 years.

[Bendalat]

I just bought this Aqua Ultraviolet Classic 57 Watt a week ago.

 

http://www.aquaultraviolet.com/products3.cfm?id=5

 

the ich was gone from all fish after 3 days, and the water is much clear

However, some of my fish could not make it.

Perhaps they were to sick to recover?

I don't have any experience with the UV, but I think it works, (I trust Chip).

I'm going to add another tang soon, will see what happen.

 

Khanh

[flowerseller]

Chip and I both use this current usa model http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_uv_ult...mma.asp?CartId=

 

Model 1403; 40W; inlet/outlet =2" Slip; Max GPH flow = 2880gph

 

I have 2 manderins in my tank + 3 wrasse, no ill effects on pods - pods likely to get hurt by your return pump as they are by uv.

 

This is correct.

I used the 1" thread reducer bushing and push around 600gph.

I also replace the buld each year and clean the quartz sleeve 2-3 times per year as it builds up CA deposits.

I looked around and like the T5 size and quartz sleeve this unit uses. I bought it belieiving it was the best and still think it. Like UV use, that's up for debate.

I'm a long term UV user and as I've said in many other friendly conversations, "I still can't imagine why people don't use them"

 

Miller, (is it Tom? I hate refering to you with your last name...

Tom,

I'm interested in why you use UV and feel it doesn't help much with ick. Is your use for clarity purposes?

 

UV will clean your water up at make it cystal clear.

[kngfisher]

 

"To ensure sterile water using UV light, first start with clear water, and have a lamp and flow rate that are sized to deliver the correct amount of irradiation for the target organism (see exposures list). If a UV light is flow rated for 15,000

[Guest beatle]

Well, I ordered the 36w Odyssea from an ebay seller. Price was better than Aquatraders as it came with a powerhead and tubing. I figure I'm probably losing a bit on efficiency with the Odyssea, but 36w should be enough to annihilate any nasties in the water column.

[VicSkimmr]

A 40 watter would be severe overkill for a 75 gallon tank, no? I was thinking the base price unit would be more than sufficient for my needs, but maybe not.

[Guest Mark Powell]

 

so given this UV unit rated at Max. Flow @ 30000