Another Ick Infection in DT

[Kimmy696]

Hi All,
I'm brand new to the group and have had my 1st saltwater tank 1 year next month. I am fairly versed with freshwater aquariums and sadly ick. I did quarantine as recommended but added a purple tang and a CB to the tank 2 weeks ago. The two spot tang who was also a fairly new lost his mind and killed my purple tang overnight. Just so this group knows, I watched for aggression every waking moment. First thing I did every morning was check the tank and on the 3rd day my PT was dead. Heartbreaking.

The original tang also harassed the angel who broke out with ick. Now the culprit that started this whole ordeal is covered. I have spent endless nights researching and I don't see any other option but to remove all corals/invertebrates into a emergency QT and copper the tank. I currently have 2 clowns, blenny, 2 gobys, 2 cardinals, dragonette, my fav Dr. Watson my filefish and the angel.

I have polylabs medic and a rush 2 day air UV on the way but they will not get here till Tuesday.

I love these animals and my question for the group is when do I know I absolutely need to pull this trigger? The tang is flashing and begging the cleaner crabs to pick but I do not see signs of ick on any other fish exceptthe angel. Should I hold off till Tuesday and try the medic and UV or should I act now, get a spare QT up tomorrow and start dosing? The infection is about 1-2 weeks in progress. Also any other recommendations are very appreciated. While I just joined I have been actively reading posts for a year.

Great group of folks with amazing experience and I'm glad to be here. Thanks everyone!

One last question. I have 2 urchins, a ton of crabs, sps and lps. I would be putting up a new QT for them. I will use live rock and sand and I have some spare media in the sump. Anything else I should do?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi All,
I'm brand new to the group and have had my 1st saltwater tank 1 year next month. I am fairly versed with freshwater aquariums and sadly ick. I did quarantine as recommended but added a purple tang and a CB to the tank 2 weeks ago. The two spot tang who was also a fairly new lost his mind and killed my purple tang overnight. Just so this group knows, I watched for aggression every waking moment. First thing I did every morning was check the tank and on the 3rd day my PT was dead. Heartbreaking.

The original tang also harassed the angel who broke out with ick. Now the culprit that started this whole ordeal is covered. I have spent endless nights researching and I don't see any other option but to remove all corals/invertebrates into a emergency QT and copper the tank. I currently have 2 clowns, blenny, 2 gobys, 2 cardinals, dragonette, my fav Dr. Watson my filefish and the angel.

I have polylabs medic and a rush 2 day air UV on the way but they will not get here till Tuesday.

I love these animals and my question for the group is when do I know I absolutely need to pull this trigger? The tang is flashing and begging the cleaner crabs to pick but I do not see signs of ick on any other fish exceptthe angel. Should I hold off till Tuesday and try the medic and UV or should I act now, get a spare QT up tomorrow and start dosing? The infection is about 1-2 weeks in progress. Also any other recommendations are very appreciated. While I just joined I have been actively reading posts for a year.

Great group of folks with amazing experience and I'm glad to be here. Thanks everyone!

One last question. I have 2 urchins, a ton of crabs, sps and lps. I would be putting up a new QT for them. I will use live rock and sand and I have some spare media in the sump. Anything else I should do?

Do not treat the display tank as you will never be able to reintroduce coral and inverts likely even with cuprisorb. A quarantine tank can be as simple as a tank from a second hand store or a starter kit from Walmart which most of the needed essentials and even a rubbermaid tub.
You will need to place fish in Quarantine tank and treat with Coppersafe or Copper Power at therapeutic level 2.25-2.5 For a FULL 30 days (do not interrupt this 30 day period) monitored by a reliable Copper Test kit such as Hanna Brand- No API brand. Also monitor Ammonia levels while in quarantine with a reliable test kit and add aeration during treatment using an air stone.
The display tank will have to be kept fishless (FALLOW) for 6-8 weeks to assure the existing parasites go through their life cycle without a host fish and die off and with occupants exposed, they too should go into quarantine

 

[Kimmy696]

Thanks and I completely agree. I'm not sure I would have entered the saltwater world for a fish only tank. I have many spare tanks on hand but I would need 2 or the tang will surely kill the angel. I am also having a heck of a time trying to catch them and ripping the DT apart would be terrible and stress the remainder of the fish. Am I correct that I now have ick in the tank unless I treat? How can I be sure the rest won't break out? What if I add a new fish in the future? Will they now be at risk? I will definitely take your advice and make this my very last resort for the better of the entire community. A crystal ball would be great.

 

[Kimmy696]

Thanks and I completely agree. I'm not sure I would have entered the saltwater world for a fish only tank. I have many spare tanks on hand but I would need 2 or the tang will surely kill the angel. I am also having a heck of a time trying to catch them and ripping the DT apart would be terrible and stress the remainder of the fish. Am I correct that I now have ick in the tank unless I treat? How can I be sure the rest won't break out? What if I add a new fish in the future? Will they now be at risk? I will definitely take your advice and make this my very last resort for the better of the entire community. A crystal ball would be great.

Scratch that response I am just realizing that I would need to quarantine the entire tank. I just do not have the resources or space for that. I will do some research to see if there would be any way to swing that. It would almost be easier to just replace my DT in the nearer future. This is a bummer

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Scratch that response I am just realizing that I would need to quarantine the entire tank. I just do not have the resources or space for that. I will do some research to see if there would be any way to swing that. It would almost be easier to just replace my DT in the nearer future. This is a bummer

Welcome to reef2reef!

Why not pull the invertebrates and run hyposalinity in your main tank? Here is an article I wrote on that:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2021 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[threebuoys]

Scratch that response I am just realizing that I would need to quarantine the entire tank. I just do not have the resources or space for that. I will do some research to see if there would be any way to swing that. It would almost be easier to just replace my DT in the nearer future. This is a bummer

You may already understand this, if you choose to use copper rather than hyposalinity, you will need to use either CopperPower or CopperSafe. Polylabs Medic is not copper and will not be helpful for treating ich.