WheresTheReef October 4, 2015 Share October 4, 2015 So I bought a new flame angelfish on Thursday that went through prophylactic treatment and quarantine prior to my purchase. Because of this, I decided to put it directly into my 90g DT. Well, you know what's coming right? The fish got the dreaded white spots all over its body about 24 hrs later indicative of ich. None of the other fish (2x clownfish, 1 yellow tang and 1 lyretail anthia) are currently showing any signs. In fact, they have never shown any signs of ich so I'm really bummed right now. All of the old fish are eating aggressively and swimming around normally. The new fish is swimming around well and grazing on the rocks all day, but has yet to eat any frozen foods I have added to the tank. So what would you do? I have a 40g breeder QT set up for use... kicking myself right now. I am thinking about keeping all the fish in the DT to avoid stressing them out. I know at this point the tank is infected so I am concentrating on keeping everyone healthy and happy. I was thinking about waiting til this hopefully passes and then later taking the fish out and running them in the QT at hyposalinity. At the same time the DT would run fallow for a couple months to rid it of the ich. Looking for advice on the best course of action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k October 4, 2015 Share October 4, 2015 Did you get the fish directly from a prophylactic bath system or did it come from general population after being in the bath system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WheresTheReef October 4, 2015 Author Share October 4, 2015 Was from a vendor that handled the treatment. Not going to be specific as I'm not blaming anyone. I'm looking for advice with handling my current situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WheresTheReef October 4, 2015 Author Share October 4, 2015 In all fairness, non of my previous fish had gone through treatment so it is very possible ich existed in my tank without incident. I recommend a QT no matter the source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cpu933k October 5, 2015 Share October 5, 2015 (edited) Yeah, I never trust anyone to QT but myself. You really only have those 2 options - leave them in the DT or catch all the fish, put them in QT (best to use the tank transfer method - but that requires 2 sets of hospital tank equipment), then leave the DT fallow for 72 days. You have to weigh the pros and cons of catching all the fish, stressing them out, then having to maintain them in QT for 72 days, but having the pro of knowing you eradicated your system of ich. If you leave them in the DT, you can hope that the ich doesn't spread and hope that through diet and good husbandry, the ich will lay dormant...until you add more livestock or stress them out... Edited October 5, 2015 by cpu933k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WheresTheReef October 5, 2015 Author Share October 5, 2015 I'll definitely address the ich prior to adding more fish. I'm just scared to weaken the fish through stress at the moment. That's why I'm thinking of getting them all "healthy" before moving them over to the QT. I'm definitely open to better suggestions if this doesn't make sense. Would it make more sense to take out one/all fish now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunWyrm October 5, 2015 Share October 5, 2015 Just feed them well and keep everything low stress. It's so hard to QT everything. Possible, but very hard. It can be carried in on most anything. Rocks, cuc, corals... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sethsolomon October 5, 2015 Share October 5, 2015 Just feed them well and keep everything low stress. +1 IMO the only safe route to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WheresTheReef October 12, 2015 Author Share October 12, 2015 So the angelfish died over night. Another fish died as well. The other fish wasn't showing signs of ich, but I guess it overwhelmed it. I decided to catch my 3 remaining fish and start cupramine in my QT. The 2 clowns were flashing often and my yellow tang looked pretty bad. Hope I'm not too late to save them. If I had to do this over, I would start the copper treatment sooner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cpu933k October 12, 2015 Share October 12, 2015 I would recommend tank transfer instead of copper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM October 12, 2015 Share October 12, 2015 Eric, sorry to hear this is going on. Ugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandJ October 12, 2015 Share October 12, 2015 Would you be able to post a picture of the fish? Could brooklynella or velvet be involved also? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WheresTheReef October 12, 2015 Author Share October 12, 2015 Thanks all. This hobby is really difficult to enjoy sometimes. The yellow tang is now gone as well. I believe it's just ich from what I've gathered online, but I'm no expert. It went through the spots dropping off to reinfestation phase in a few days. The second round is doing the damage as expected. Here are pics of the angelfish about 24hrs after being first introduced. It got more spots later, but looked similar to these pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incredible Corals October 12, 2015 Share October 12, 2015 Yeah, I never trust anyone to QT but myself. You really only have those 2 options - leave them in the DT or catch all the fish, put them in QT (best to use the tank transfer method - but that requires 2 sets of hospital tank equipment), then leave the DT fallow for 72 days. You have to weigh the pros and cons of catching all the fish, stressing them out, then having to maintain them in QT for 72 days, but having the pro of knowing you eradicated your system of ich. If you leave them in the DT, you can hope that the ich doesn't spread and hope that through diet and good husbandry, the ich will lay dormant...until you add more livestock or stress them out... Very sorry to hear that you purchased a fish that was supposed to be treated but wasn't. A fish cannot be in infected and then show visible signs of Crypt in 24 hours. The part of the life cycle where it's visible takes much longer than 24 hours. What YOU can control now is: 1. Aggression - keep an eye on any aggression in the tank and make sure the angel has a good hiding spot 2. Feeding - make sure to feed quality foods - fresh over frozen but high quality frozen will suffice - don't rely on just flakes 3. Water quality - make sure to keep the best water quality possible (water changes, don't over feed, reduce temp flux, etc.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incredible Corals October 12, 2015 Share October 12, 2015 So the angelfish died over night. Another fish died as well. The other fish wasn't showing signs of ich, but I guess it overwhelmed it. I decided to catch my 3 remaining fish and start cupramine in my QT. The 2 clowns were flashing often and my yellow tang looked pretty bad. Hope I'm not too late to save them. If I had to do this over, I would start the copper treatment sooner. Just noticed this update. Sorry to hear bout your loss. If it was my take I would probably just let everything be for a few months. Focus on corals and really interesting inverts for a few months. When you feel everything is happy, eating and looking healthy that try adding another fish or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WheresTheReef October 12, 2015 Author Share October 12, 2015 I would recommend tank transfer instead of copper. I have the two remaining clowns in the QT running cupramine and will let it run its course this time. I need to look into the tank transfer method more for future additions. Seems like a viable solution for ich, but what about other external parasites that copper also addresses? Very sorry to hear that you purchased a fish that was supposed to be treated but wasn't. A fish cannot be in infected and then show visible signs of Crypt in 24 hours. The part of the life cycle where it's visible takes much longer than 24 hours. What YOU can control now is: 1. Aggression - keep an eye on any aggression in the tank and make sure the angel has a good hiding spot 2. Feeding - make sure to feed quality foods - fresh over frozen but high quality frozen will suffice - don't rely on just flakes 3. Water quality - make sure to keep the best water quality possible (water changes, don't over feed, reduce temp flux, etc.) Interesting to know this... Yes all those white spots showed up just under 24hrs after introduction. Just noticed this update. Sorry to hear bout your loss. If it was my take I would probably just let everything be for a few months. Focus on corals and really interesting inverts for a few months. When you feel everything is happy, eating and looking healthy that try adding another fish or two. The DT will run fallow for a few months so hopefully everything is eradicated. No other fish will enter my tank w/o running thorough my QT regardless of the source! I also plan to setup a fishless QT for all inverts. I always inspect and dip my corals and luckily have never had coral parasite issues, but I'm tired of losing livestock. The coral/invert QT will hopefully allow any fish parasites to be starved out and not bypass my quarantine/treatment of future fish purchases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incredible Corals October 12, 2015 Share October 12, 2015 I have the two remaining clowns in the QT running cupramine and will let it run its course this time. I need to look into the tank transfer method more for future additions. Seems like a viable solution for ich, but what about other external parasites that copper also addresses? Interesting to know this... Yes all those white spots showed up just under 24hrs after introduction. The DT will run fallow for a few months so hopefully everything is eradicated. No other fish will enter my tank w/o running thorough my QT regardless of the source! I also plan to setup a fishless QT for all inverts. I always inspect and dip my corals and luckily have never had coral parasite issues, but I'm tired of losing livestock. The coral/invert QT will hopefully allow any fish parasites to be starved out and not bypass my quarantine/treatment of future fish purchases. Don't add fish a day before 90 days. If you can wait 120 I would do that. Great idea on invert QT. it can always be a nano tank for corals and inverts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangros October 18, 2015 Share October 18, 2015 Why 90? I believe the standard is 72 days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime October 19, 2015 Share October 19, 2015 In all fairness, non of my previous fish had gone through treatment so it is very possible ich existed in my tank without incident. I recommend a QT no matter the source. Going forward you understand that you must QT everything that goes into your tank if you are going to start with fish and inverts, etc? Adding a fish that had gone through QT into QTa tank that had not had anything QT'd prior, eliminates the point of the process. It seems like you have a good handle on it, just wanted to make sure. I went through a similar situation, with more fish, and took on the daunting task of QT'ing all my stock in a 55 gallons for two months. I learned a lot, but I never want to have to do it in an emergency like that ever again. Why 90? I believe the standard is 72 days? Better safe than sorry. Why put 72 days into something and find out it wasn't enough time? An oz of prevention is worth a lb of cure. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cpu933k October 19, 2015 Share October 19, 2015 Since your DT will be fallow (fishless) for at least 72 days, might as well put the inverts in there now (just restart the clock when you put them in). No need for a separate invert QT at this time. Any ich cysts hitchiking on the inverts will be starved out and die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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