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Well let this be a lesson to guys who listen to their wives on where to shop for fish. She wanted to try this new place and she found a pink square anthias for a really good price(now i know why it was so cheap).

Well the fish didn't look good that night so i fished him out. He croaked the next day so i took him back and they gave me credit. Well as of 2 days ago My ENTIRE tank has a ich outbreak now. Everyone in the tank has ich now. I purchased a skunk cleaner shrimp but he can't keep up w/ everyone. The spots have gone down but I think i'm going to try dosing the tank now. If all the info. I collected is correct I should be in the ich stage now where it is most vulnerable. I'm going to start dosing it tonight. Here is the site where I got the info. If anyone else has any good tips and tricks also for stupid ich please let me know.

Does this also mean any fish that is added down the road will pick up ich right away now too?


Here is the site w/ the info.

http://www.aquamaniacs.net/ich.html


Man ich sucks

Wow.. That really stinks, jkalfsbeck, and I'm really sorry to hear about it..

Have you checked your water parameters?? Generally speaking, a healthy fish should be able to resist ick.. That the entirety of your stock has managed to pick them up makes me wonder if there are problems with your water quality that may have made them more susceptible..

Also, here are links to WWM articles that will be a little more helpful when dealing with saltwater ick infestations:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ichart2mar.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ichartmar.htm

I think they will be a bit more beneficial for your situation..

I'm going to start dosing it tonight

What exactly are you planning on using on your tank?? Any of the copper based medications are an extremely bad idea in a saltwater setup if you've got liverock and/or inverts.. I'm not a big fan of dosing any kind of medication to a saltwater tank and would treat in a hospital tank if the need became absolutely necessary.. Those links will give you a few other options in regards to treatment and I'd go with any of them before medicating..

If anyone else has any good tips and tricks also for stupid ich please let me know

1.) Quarantine tank for new purchases.. Especially if the fish are coming from a supplier that you are unsure of.. You can't get any better advice on how to ensure that the animals that are being introduced into your system are healthy than a good observation period in a controlled environment..

2.) Maintain your water quality.. Nothing compromises the health of a fish more than living under poor water conditions.. If it turns out that you are having some issues with the water quality, partial water changes will help..

3.) Cleaner shrimp.. I have 3 of them.. They are wonderful and I love them.. You mentioned you had one of them.. Get more if your tank can handle them.. They are social by nature anyway.. I've never had to treat my tanks with any kind of medication and I give alot of credit to my shrimp and their hard work.. However, again, if it's a water quality issue I'd hold off on more of them until you get it under control..

Does this also mean any fish that is added down the road will pick up ich right away now too?

No, it does not.. There is always a possibility that your fish can bring the parasite into your system, but that does not have to mean that they'll automatically develop ick..

Good Luck to you.. I hope everything works out..

[span class="edited"][Edited by Oleta 2004-08-31 08:06][/span]

Thanks Oleta,

My parameters are:
Ph-8.2
Amonia-0
Nitrites-0
Nitrates jumped between 40-60 for some reason when the ich spots were really noticeable. But after the water change Nitrates went back down between 5-10.

My fish were very healthy prior to this and even covered w/ spots you wouldn't be able to tell they are affected by it. They still have a appetite and I have them on the formula one pellets w/ garlic right now. And I did have a small quarantine tank until it broke out in the garage.

The cleaner shrimp is very helpful and I plan on getting 2-3 more but my dilema is a nasty bananna wrasse that I have right now. I bought 1 cleaner and 2 peppermint shrimp (to take the aggretion off of the cleaner) and no sooner when the shrimp hit the live rock he was picked off. I have a friend who is willing to take the wrasse for the time being and quarantine him but thats all he can hold right now.

Just curious but if I individually fished each one out that has white spots and did a fresh water dip would that be better?

And how long do you do a dip for? I've heard 1 min. 3 min. 8 min. or til the fish starts to stress.

I figured anything is worth a shot right not b/c if I lose these guys I'm probably getting out of the hobby. Have too much in this and don't have the finances to get back to where I am now. Plus this is too stressful and couldn't think about going through this again.

also forgot to ask but if I go w/ the fw dip will I have to change out the fw after each fish is dipped?

A FW dip is a mater of opinion. It will remove many of the cysts, but not all of them. It will also stress the fish more, something you want to avoid at this time. If the fish seems strong, the a FW dip may help. If the fish seems even a little weak, stressed, or is gasping, do not do a FW dip. Your best bet is to keep stress levels down. Keep your hands out of the tank, have the lights on less during the day, things like that. You can also turn teh tank temp up a bit, perhaps 1 or 2 degrees each day until you get to about 84 or so. In about a week or so the cysts should fall off for the most part and the fish will look better, but the ick is not gone. You need to kep things stress free for the next few months so they can build up a natural imunity.

Dan

It will remove many of the cysts but not all of them
This is correct as the fish that is being attacked will secrete a film over the cyst that actually protects the cyst from treatment.

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/marineich.html
Check this out it helped me clear a few things up.
I am in the last two weeks of the Hyposalinity treatment!

boy, i tell you some people have all the luck.

I get my tanks through hurricane charley, then a ick breakout in my 125 gal. tank. Now hurricane Frances is headed my way again.

Will water movement still help even if there are meds in the tank water? Or am I pretty much screwed if the power goes out for a while? I'm trying to keep the fish as stress free as possible. They do look like they're clearing up but I'll keep everyone posted. Still no deaths yet and 4 days into the ick phases.

4 days should put you just over the hump. As for the power, an hour or so should be OK, but after that you will start to run in to problems. Do your best to keep the water moving, even if you use a stick ever now and then.




Dan