Dreaded ICK

[ILikeTurtles]

I am so stressed... I cant have tangs in my tank. I put my fish in a hospital tank with copper let my dt sit fishless for 3 months. Put all fish but tangs in for a month with no signs of ick. Put yellow tang clear of ick in and 3 days later covered in ick. Whyyyyyyy its so stressful to do this its my 3rd time! This time i left tangs out to see and from what ive notice its the tangs! How are there so many reef tanks loaded with tangs with no ick?!!all my parameters are 0, so i know its not water quality. I cant comprehend how difficult this is to have a nice health tank! I have put so much time and money into this hobby and ick has completly ruined it. What are my options try to get what i can for my corals and run dt with copper? I cand have a tank with no angels or tangs its boring... But so is a tank with out inverts and corals ugggg plz help

[Chihuahua6]

I feel your pain. I went fallow for three months and now I am doing it again. I do quarantine everything. The first time was from a Tang from a fellow reefer. This one I did not quarantine because I trusted the source. She swore her tank had no diseases. Yeah right. This fish scratched as soon as I let it out of the bag.

The last time I had three Butterflies from a healthy two year old tank (fellow reefer). They were in quarantine for four weeks. They seemed a bit stressed and so I put them into my display tank thinking they would no longer be stressed since they had more room to swim around now. Long story short it was ich all along, just wasn't obvious because spots didn't show right away and then came and went. They never scratched.

How do you know the Tang was clear of ich? I have heard of Tangs being treated in copper for six weeks and they still have ich. It seems every Tang I have purchased in the last year has had ich, whether it's from a store or a fellow reefer. I am to the point where I don't see myself having a Tang ever again.

I now have treatment tanks all over my apartment and a display tank filled with corals and inverts but no fish. It sucks.

[ILikeTurtles]

Originally Posted by Chihuahua6

I feel your pain. I went fallow for three months and now I am doing it again. I do quarantine everything. The first time was from a Tang from a fellow reefer. This one I did not quarantine because I trusted the source. She swore her tank had no diseases. Yeah right. This fish scratched as soon as I let it out of the bag.

The last time I had three Butterflies from a healthy two year old tank (fellow reefer). They were in quarantine for four weeks. They seemed a bit stressed and so I put them into my display tank thinking they would no longer be stressed since they had more room to swim around now. Long story short it was ich all along, just wasn't obvious because spots didn't show right away and then came and went. They never scratched.

How do you know the Tang was clear of ich? I have heard of Tangs being treated in copper for six weeks and they still have ich. It seems every Tang I have purchased in the last year has had ich, whether it's from a store or a fellow reefer. I am to the point where I don't see myself having a Tang ever again.

I now have treatment tanks all over my apartment and a display tank filled with corals and inverts but no fish. It sucks.

Update! I have been soaking all food (flakes and pellets in guarlic guard and now i cant see ick at all! Tang is eating and looking healthy! Have you tried this?

[Chihuahua6]

I haven't tried it but I do have a Hawkfish that was with those Butterflies I mentioned. I was unable to catch him and decided to wait until I broke the tank down for my upgrade. Two days after the Butterflies were removed he was scratching like crazy. The next morning I was ready to tear apart the tank but he looked much better so I figured I had a few days to buy time.

Long story short, he appears to have beaten the ich. Here's the thing though. I doubt the ich died out. All it takes is one parasite hidden inside his gill or cysts lying dormant in the tank. So into treatment he goes and the contents of the tank will remain fallow for 10+ weeks.

I guarantee if I put a Tang into the tank it will come down with ich, even though the Hawkfish is seemingly ok. This disease is just too unpredictable when it will rear its ugly head and which fish it will take out. I would rather eliminate it 100% and treat all future occupants before putting them into the display.

[wooden_reefer]

Originally Posted by ILikeTurtles

I am so stressed... I cant have tangs in my tank. I put my fish in a hospital tank with copper let my dt sit fishless for 3 months. Put all fish but tangs in for a month with no signs of ick. Put yellow tang clear of ick in and 3 days later covered in ick. Whyyyyyyy its so stressful to do this its my 3rd time! This time i left tangs out to see and from what ive notice its the tangs! How are there so many reef tanks loaded with tangs with no ick?!!all my parameters are 0, so i know its not water quality. I cant comprehend how difficult this is to have a nice health tank! I have put so much time and money into this hobby and ick has completly ruined it. What are my options try to get what i can for my corals and run dt with copper? I cand have a tank with no angels or tangs its boring... But so is a tank with out inverts and corals ugggg plz help

Why does eradication of ick cause so much stress to you or your fish?

I can think of the following reasons.

1. You had not robustly cycled the medium for QT so you have to do WC to "reduce" ammonia.

2. Your QT tank is too small for mental comfort of your fish or there is not enough places set up for secure feeling.

3. You have not used UV effectively during ich eradication so bacterial infection more likely take place and you have to use a drug that harms nitrification bacteria. (UV is not effective against ich.)

4. You choose fish that do no adjust to prepared food well and condition worsens in QT, and you are not willing to accilimate before QT for these difficult fish. Some tangs do not eat prepared food well at once, many do, and many individuals do.

QT should not be stressful to you or your fish if done correctly, and it is a necessity.