Ich

bugsrjohnx2 · Jul 5, 2023

Moved from 13.5 Evo to 60. Lost fish due to ich. We’re did that come from?

Kristopher Conlin · Jul 5, 2023

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!

Your fish most likely already had the ich parasite and moving them to a new tank stressed the fish out which can cause an outbreak. Stressor like power outages temperature drops or even adding new tank mates can increase stress and lower a fishes immune system.

vetteguy53081 · Jul 5, 2023

bugsrjohnx2 said:
Moved from 13.5 Evo to 60. Lost fish due to ich. We’re did that come from?

There are many causes for ich. As simple as stress or addition of a new fish, absence of quarantining as prevention is the best protection you can offer, Afterall disease is on the fish owner, not the fish itself. In many cases, its transmitted. Low water temp and poor water quality and even purchased water can introduce ich.

MnFish1 · Jul 5, 2023

Curious - did you Qt your additions before - if not - as said above - your fish could have been passing Ich between themselves at low level - and the stress caused it to manifest.

I'm curious though - did you ONLY add the stuff from the 15 gallon to the 60 gallon or was there something (anything else) added

bugsrjohnx2 · Jul 6, 2023

Kristopher Conlin said:
Welcome to Reef2Reef!!

Your fish most likely already had the ich parasite and moving them to a new tank stressed the fish out which can cause an outbreak. Stressor like power outages temperature drops or even adding new tank mates can increase stress and lower a fishes immune system.

Thanks so much. I don’t think treatment is a option because of corals and anemones. What would be the recommendation so I can put new fish in?

jsker · Jul 6, 2023

Kristopher Conlin · Jul 6, 2023

bugsrjohnx2 said:
Thanks so much. I don’t think treatment is a option because of corals and anemones. What would be the recommendation so I can put new fish in?

Did ich wipe out all of the fish? If so you can leave the tank empty(known as going fallow) for 76 days. Inverts can stay but no fish. This allows for all the ich cysts to hatch and the trophonts(think larval stage) to starve since there isn't a host to attach too. If you add fish back in sooner the ich will survive and can cause an outbreak in the future.

If you still have some fish left it would be best to remove them to a hospital tank and treat them in some manner. You could treat with copper or if they are fish sensitive to copper you can try a tank transfer method. I have successfully used tank transfer in the past and it works great.

You would still need to leave your main tank fallow for 76 days otherwise the ich may survive dormant and spring back up when they have fish to host added back in.

Kristopher Conlin · Jul 6, 2023

If you want to add new fish I would recommend quarantining them yourself, paying for fish that are already quarantined properly or at least setting up a tank to keep them in for observation for a few weeks before they are added to your display. Diseases can be invisible until the fish is stressed in some way so it's best practice to treat every fish that comes in proactively.

bugsrjohnx2 · Jul 6, 2023

Kristopher Conlin said:
Did ich wipe out all of the fish? If so you can leave the tank empty(known as going fallow) for 76 days. Inverts can stay but no fish. This allows for all the ich cysts to hatch and the trophonts(think larval stage) to starve since there isn't a host to attach too. If you add fish back in sooner the ich will survive and can cause an outbreak in the future.

If you still have some fish left it would be best to remove them to a hospital tank and treat them in some manner. You could treat with copper or if they are fish sensitive to copper you can try a tank transfer method. I have successfully used tank transfer in the past and it works great.

You would still need to leave your main tank fallow for 76 days otherwise the ich may survive dormant and spring back up when they have fish to host added back in.

Yes all fish except 3 little damsels because I had just put theam in. They looked good this morning but I got a feeling they will go as well. That will leave me with just my corals and anemones. It will be hard to control myself for 76 days but will do. Lol. I love having my fish in there. Here is a pic of better days

MnFish1 · Jul 6, 2023

bugsrjohnx2 said:
Yes all fish except 3 little damsels because I had just put theam in. They looked good this morning but I got a feeling they will go as well. That will leave me with just my corals and anemones. It will be hard to control myself for 76 days but will do. Lol. I love having my fish in there. Here is a pic of better days

I would remove the damsels and treat them - you can use a fish trap to remove them. Then - do the fallow period recommended (protocols vary from 45-76 days) - which you can do while the fish are out of the tank. (You would do the treatment with copper (pick your brand, and watch the levels closely). You could then also treat with Prazipro - per protocol - after the copper.

When you re-stock your tank - watch the stocking density - the more 'surface area' of the fish the more ich can grow exponentially out of control. Hope this helps

bugsrjohnx2 · Jul 10, 2023

MnFish1 said:
I would remove the damsels and treat them - you can use a fish trap to remove them. Then - do the fallow period recommended (protocols vary from 45-76 days) - which you can do while the fish are out of the tank. (You would do the treatment with copper (pick your brand, and watch the levels closely). You could then also treat with Prazipro - per protocol - after the copper.

When you re-stock your tank - watch the stocking density - the more 'surface area' of the fish the more ich can grow exponentially out of control. Hope this helps

It definitely does!! A set back up my 13.5 Evo instead of selling it. I will use it as treatment tank/holding tank. I put about 10 pounds of cycled wet sand in there. (Not from the ick tank but from another tank that I was having no issues with that I was breaking down to sell. I also took some of the filter media). Yesterday I put a 5 pound live rock chunk in there and a medium sized maroon clown. I was thinking while he is new if I put one of my anemones (green bubble ). I would have a better chance of getting him to go in it. The problem with that is if I do that I can’t put any copper in there to treat a sick fish. I would half to wait for big tank to be safe to put the clown in. Also, if you don’t mind me asking, what is your opinion on UV sterilizers? I have gotten so many different opinions. Thanks so much!!