Thoughts on Ich eradication run fallow 3 months vs start over in a FOWLR
- Thread starter mvallee
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mvallee
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never heard of it in reading up on puffers as a common thing, the porcupine puffers are know for a strange blue sparkle in there eyes and ours was real bright and sparkly before this episode and the dogface really clouded over to the point of hardly being able to see, tough to know if it is internal or external infection and how or what to treat with, I have some more reading to do after I get everything setup tonight. I think I am an ich expert now though
Just got the 90g QT tank and filling it up now, if all goes well they will be in there tomorrow, I hate to do it but I think a FW dip before anyone goes in is a good thing at this point and then we go down to Hypo. I sure hope I get all this right.
Just got the 90g QT tank and filling it up now, if all goes well they will be in there tomorrow, I hate to do it but I think a FW dip before anyone goes in is a good thing at this point and then we go down to Hypo. I sure hope I get all this right.
I think you will stress out your fish and make it worse.
If the fish are not stressed and eat a lot, the ich will be gone soon. My tang used to get ich every time it got stressed. 3 times and it never died. Last time all my fish got ich and none died. I just fed them more.
You wont get rid of ich, no matter what you do. One drop of water can bring it back. One stressed out fish can get an outbreak.
If your fish are in a reef tank, you will risk bringing ich back with every coral.
If the fish are not stressed and eat a lot, the ich will be gone soon. My tang used to get ich every time it got stressed. 3 times and it never died. Last time all my fish got ich and none died. I just fed them more.
You wont get rid of ich, no matter what you do. One drop of water can bring it back. One stressed out fish can get an outbreak.
If your fish are in a reef tank, you will risk bringing ich back with every coral.
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FIWIW this is a FOWLR system. I won't try to get into hair splitting, but I suspect that it's harder to succesfully "manage" ick in a non reef tank.
While it takes significant effort to rid a tank of ick and then keep from re-indroducing it, it's simply misinformation to say you can't rid a tank of ick. Many to most aquarists accept it and live with it, but it can be eliminated.
While it takes significant effort to rid a tank of ick and then keep from re-indroducing it, it's simply misinformation to say you can't rid a tank of ick. Many to most aquarists accept it and live with it, but it can be eliminated.
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stingythingy45
Well-Known Member
I have a hippo and a yellow tang in my tank.
Suppose to be "ich magnet". They've never had ich in my care.
My 90 gallon tank has never had the parasite.
I QTed all fish until I was fully stocked.
Suppose to be "ich magnet". They've never had ich in my care.
My 90 gallon tank has never had the parasite.
I QTed all fish until I was fully stocked.
CoralJunkie
John
I agree with john k, also the op had mentioned in another thread that he's lost fish and some are not eating...I'm currently in the middle of treating ich with two clowns, they stopped eating and were in rough shape so I started up a hospital tank and treated them with coppersafe and after a few days they were both eating like hogs in a couple weeks I'll be removing the copper from the tank meanwhile my dt will remain fallow for a couple months
What does FIWIW mean?
Also, the first post mentioned mushrooms and "cool stuff". Or maybe I misunderstood?
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OP
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mvallee
Non-member
I did lose fish and struggling to keep my puffers eating at this point, an episode after a water change seemed to kick everything into high gear and that was when I realized that maybe ich can be managed but unexpectedly can rock your water world.
My goal is to make my tank Ich free not sure if it's possible but from everything I have read I think it can be, between QT, tank transfer methods and diligence there is no reason it can not be. My fish of choice at this point puffers are sensitive to coppers so copper is out of the question as a quick fix even though I am not running a reef tank. We also really like tangs. we added a Naso Tang super sweet lots of personality and somehow has seemed to be impervious to all the bad things going on in the tank. We had also added a Powder Blue that may have been our biggest downfall, it was small but so active and I think it was stressful to the rest of the fish prior to the water change incident causing a small ich outbreak all by itself.
The current plan is to transfer all my remaining fish a Dogface Puffer, a Porcupine Puffer, Naso Tang, yellow tang, Blue Hippo Tang, small long horn cowfish and a pajama cardinal to a QT tank for Hypo and leave the DT tank fallow for three months after going Hypo in the QT tank for 6-8 weeks I will then do the tank transfer method back out the the DT to match up with the three month Fallow period. I will then add any additional fish after adequate QT and tank transfer methods.
The big challenge, not sharing anything between any of the non DT systems and the DT, nets, buckets, filters etc.. seems like a lot of work but I think once everything is stabilized everything should get easier.
My goal is to make my tank Ich free not sure if it's possible but from everything I have read I think it can be, between QT, tank transfer methods and diligence there is no reason it can not be. My fish of choice at this point puffers are sensitive to coppers so copper is out of the question as a quick fix even though I am not running a reef tank. We also really like tangs. we added a Naso Tang super sweet lots of personality and somehow has seemed to be impervious to all the bad things going on in the tank. We had also added a Powder Blue that may have been our biggest downfall, it was small but so active and I think it was stressful to the rest of the fish prior to the water change incident causing a small ich outbreak all by itself.
The current plan is to transfer all my remaining fish a Dogface Puffer, a Porcupine Puffer, Naso Tang, yellow tang, Blue Hippo Tang, small long horn cowfish and a pajama cardinal to a QT tank for Hypo and leave the DT tank fallow for three months after going Hypo in the QT tank for 6-8 weeks I will then do the tank transfer method back out the the DT to match up with the three month Fallow period. I will then add any additional fish after adequate QT and tank transfer methods.
The big challenge, not sharing anything between any of the non DT systems and the DT, nets, buckets, filters etc.. seems like a lot of work but I think once everything is stabilized everything should get easier.
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OP
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mvallee
Non-member
I do consider my tank FOWLR but acquiring live rock for the setup from fellow reefers I have some interesting additions that I hope my puffers leave alone, mushrooms and some interesting soft corals like Kenya trees as well as a few critters like worms and small starfish looking things not the primary focus of the tank but interesting hitchhikers
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mvallee
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For anyone following along all fish have been removed from the DT and into their 90 gallon QT. Holding salinity same as DT for a couple days making sure everything works out as most of the equipment in the 90 was stuff I had from my freshwater tanks but so far everything is working as it should.
Reading up on puffers and cloudy eyes it is fairly common and Melafix was a recommended fix, pretty benign treatment and also treats bacterial infection which could not hurt at this point.
I did lose 2 fish in the process, my beautiful Naso tang stopped eating yesterday even before the move but still looked ok but was very easy to catch for transition to new tank so I knew she was off. She had ich spots on her when I started this thread and seemed to disappear a couple days later but she had darker splotches on her sides, she seemed unphased and was the first one to eat every time I put the seaweed clip in but like everything else with what I have been dealing with they get hit hard and fast.
neither of the puffers have eaten in 2 days and my DF is still looking rough though he did seem more alert last night and the porc has been very active so I am hoping she is turning the corner too. They both seem to keep their mouths open though and breathing hard, I did try freshwater dips on both of them 2 days ago looking for flukes or other parasites and found nothing though the porc had long stringy things rising up off her like snot so not sure if that was anything.
The blue hippo tang tiny little thing has knocked on deaths door twice during all this and pulled through both times and the yellow tang other than losing color is unphased and really the only one eating normally.
Still afraid I am dealing with something other than ich but no way to really tell at this point and carrying on
Reading up on puffers and cloudy eyes it is fairly common and Melafix was a recommended fix, pretty benign treatment and also treats bacterial infection which could not hurt at this point.
I did lose 2 fish in the process, my beautiful Naso tang stopped eating yesterday even before the move but still looked ok but was very easy to catch for transition to new tank so I knew she was off. She had ich spots on her when I started this thread and seemed to disappear a couple days later but she had darker splotches on her sides, she seemed unphased and was the first one to eat every time I put the seaweed clip in but like everything else with what I have been dealing with they get hit hard and fast.
neither of the puffers have eaten in 2 days and my DF is still looking rough though he did seem more alert last night and the porc has been very active so I am hoping she is turning the corner too. They both seem to keep their mouths open though and breathing hard, I did try freshwater dips on both of them 2 days ago looking for flukes or other parasites and found nothing though the porc had long stringy things rising up off her like snot so not sure if that was anything.
The blue hippo tang tiny little thing has knocked on deaths door twice during all this and pulled through both times and the yellow tang other than losing color is unphased and really the only one eating normally.
Still afraid I am dealing with something other than ich but no way to really tell at this point and carrying on
