Ich eradication vs. Ich management

[Paul B]

I soaked the tiny pump for my worms in bleach and I noticed that the hole in the magnet is large and egg shaped. This happens all the time with those cheap pumps and it can be fixed, at least for a while by putting shrink tubing over the shaft. That takes up the space and the pump will run for may be another year. Then you just put on another piece of shrink tubing. I have a few pumps running with tubing on them now.
I am also going to slightly add something to my worm tank. I need more eggcrate to put in the trough of the thing. For some reason the worms love to congregate in the holes and it makes a convenient place to suck them out in the correct amounts for my tank. I have some in there now, but not enough.
I am also mixing up some water for a water change as it has been a while and I have been over feeding for a long time.
I was also thinking now that I only have one clown gobi I may again add some acropora. They always do well and grow fast and now that my clown gobies won't spawn all over them, they stand a chance.
Those stupid gobies spawn almost every week and kill over an inch of coral each time. They also always pick a new, live place on the coral to deposit their eggs. I was always more excited that the gobies were spawning than keeping those corals.
They are in this video which I took to show the possum wrasse.
http://s258.photobucket.com/user/urchsearch/media/2013-07-20170924_zpsa27e514d.mp4.html?sort=3&o=383

 

[Sully]

It's really pretty easy. Hardest part will be convincing your wife or significant other if you have one, that blending them up in your blender or food processor won't leave a stink behind, lol. I don't think I'll ever switch back.

I'd love to see the reef2reef video crew do a piece on you processing a frozen clam for a feeding session.

When you have land lubbers like me out here that are so green to seafood they can't even get the frozen clam open…

But seriously…

@reefwiser ?

 

[mcarroll]

Freezing whole is supposed to be a lot better....but not if I can't open em.

 

[Paul B]

Put the clams near your stereo speakers and turn on some Rap music. They will open.

 

[4FordFamily]

Put the clams near your stereo speakers and turn on some Rap music. They will open.

Or close up depending on if they're alive and how old they are

 

[Paul B]

I am going collecting here today. I wonder if there are any parasites.

 

[jd371]

Paul, where do you do most of your collecting? Looks like the North Shore. Do you feed your fish Mussels you collect? I'm always walking by Mussel beds hiking to my fishing spots and never thought of bringing some home for the fish because I thought they were too dirty.

 

[Paul B]

I don't feed those mussels, there isn't much in them and they are not the same mussels we eat. I feed clams but I buy them as there are more clams on the south shore and you need a permit. I do collect the amphipods there along with snails. Today I came home with a bucket full of amphipods that I dumped in my reef. That area is called Leeds Pond in Port Washington, north shore. You really need a boat to get there because there is no parking. You can have someone drop you off and pick you up later. It is near Louie's restaurant in Port Washington.

 

[jd371]

I know the area. How do you collect the pods? Once collected do you do any kind of sorting to make sure nothing bad is being put into the tank or just dump them in? I kayak fish the back bays of the South Shore and find spots like this were I could collect pods.

 

[Paul B]

I pick up pieces of wood, rocks or anything else in the mud, they are normally all over the bottom of it unless it is stuck to far in the mud, then it is just hydrogen sulfide and nothing lives in that. I swirl that rock or wood in a bucket of seawater.
Here is a 10 second video.
I pick out the crabs and dump everything else in my reef.

 

[jd371]

I'm going to the South shore this weekend to drift for Fluke, and collect some pods too. Add a little diversity to my tank, thanks Paul.

 

[kevindo123]

I tried the live clam thing. It's an aquired taste for the fishes. They eat it then spit it out. I b0ught the live clams from the oriental store. The fish are eating LRS so will stick with that for now.

 

[Burcu]

I have tried powder blue tang 2 times. Both of them got ich and died about in one month, taking 5-6 of my fishes with them. (The others were recovered.) At the last try I had a powder brown tang in the tank and added blue tang (ich bomb). Second day all of the fishes had ich again. I had been hearing about the madicine but I could not trust if it is reefsafe of not. (I have lots of SPS, lps and soft corals including a clam)

I bought Prodibio spots and velvets and tried in my tank. It says that it is reefsafe but I was not sure. I was soo fed up ich disease, I risked the tank. In one hour all the white spots on the fish, became black spots, In 3 hours black spots were gone, nothing on the fish. It has a long treathment program changing according to tank size. The digitatas opened its half polyps during the treatment, but the other corals were healthy. The mysis shrimps-pods were ok at the refigium, snails and conchs were ok. I losted my red se star but after 2 month I am not sure if it is related.

The important matter is; this madicine is resetting most of the bacteria in the tank including some useful ones. ( as a half new setup) So after treatment, bacteria addition is necessary. I believe medicine will protect the tank long time.

 

[1stNoel]

1stNoel, IMO I would forget the Selcon and Garlic and start feeding foods every day that have live bacteria in them. Like worms and clams if you can get them. Fish need live bacteria in their gut at every meal. That is the only way fish can become immune from all these silly disease so many tanks are plagued from.
Just my opinion of course.

I feed LRS Fish Frenzy mixed with additional Brine Shrimp & PE Mysis on a daily basis, but I also pre-soak it in Selcon, Bio-Viv M, and Garlic (I take one week's worth of food and mix it in a small container). About once a month I splurge and buy fresh clams (but it's a bit expensive to make it a daily ritual).

It's been 2 months since my last post on this thread, but I haven't spotted a single white spot in that timeframe. Of course, I haven't added any new fish or coral in that same time...so the true test will be when I add new fish and stir up the pecking order (everyone peacefully co-exists right now, but I only have 9 fish in a 300 gallon tank). I need more; I want more!

 

[edosan]

IME with clams, I freeze them and then a put it in the DT (1 every other day), in 1 hour is half open, copperB love it, and other fishes too.

Also are great to remove excess or fire or bristle worms, if you have excess, they will gather under the clam, and with a net you can remove them.

As for managment vs erradication...it is a pain, I have try erradication and fallow without success, so now I am trying Paul B theory, ich is stable I see it some days, but no fish have real problems so far. Feeding clams (live some times, usually freeze), live whiteworms (I can not get blackworms here), live grindal, live copepods & live Brine Shrimp (live food with guts, breeding feed), also nori & freeze self made preparation (mix of seafood), and COBALT food (flakes and pellets) since they have probiotics. All my fishes are big and fat (at least my friends say so jaja) and I have Ich magnets like, puple tank, powder blue tang, Achiles Tang, Japonicus Tang, Doris Tang jejeje (among others)

And I will start to gather "sea dirt" soon to put it in the tank, we have very cold waters here, but some bacteria and other livings migh survive (probably?)

 

[Paul B]

Sounds like a good plan to me

 

[Bob Escher]

I believe I have ICH on my royal gramma and maybe a chromis. Just observed in the last few days ( less than a week) don't know where they came from either from sanails that I picked up about three weeks ago or from some hammer coral I picked up. No fish have been added in the last 2 1/2 months.
I have couple questions
Can ICH be spotted on the tank walls? I have some white spot on my back wall corner ( will try to take a picture but I wiped some off)
If I use one of several methods ( heat for example) will raising the heat to 82 degrees hurt my crabs, snails and shrimp?
Thanks

 

[Tahoe61]

Freshwater ich and Marine ich are two different entities. Raising the temp will only speed up the life cycle and is not an effective treatment for Cryptocaryon irritans.
You should not be able to see the parasite with the naked eye, you're probably seeing some type of zooplankton such as copepods.
The parasite has probably been present all along, a stressor has caused the fish to become symptomatic.

 

[Bob Escher]

So the last fish? Added shows no symptoms ( actually the last four fish added ( from April to June) show no signs.
Show I guess it doesn't matter when or how. Other than normal water changes and tank glass cleaning nothing to speak of

 

[Tahoe61]

The parasite lives within the gills of the fish, a fish can carry the parasite and not show any signs or symptoms.