Help with some questions I have about a quarantine/hospital tank

[jworth]

I have some ich in my main display tank. I want this GONE. Its too big of an investment to be worrying about some silly parasite killing my fish. I have read the only method of treatment is removal of fish and starvation of the parasite. I cannot do any treatment to the display as I have MANY inverts in there including corals.

My plan of attack is to move a filter over from my display to my 75 gallon and begin using that as my hospital quarantine tank while my fish are treated. After all treatments this will remain saltwater long term. All the while leaving no fish in my display with only inverts remaining for 8 weeks to sufficiently kill off the ich in the display. Does this sound correct?

Will my live rock still be sufficiently "live" as I return the fish after the 8 week period?

The quarantine will be bare, will I need any sort of buffer? I plan to change water in there at least 15 gallons a week.

What is the best method to attack the quarantine tank? Hyposalinity over a certain period of time or copper meds?

 

[FLESHY]

Hypo salinity and temperature to speed up the life cycle of the parasite.

Put some PVC piping in your QT to make the fish not stressed.

What are your water params in your main taink...what is size...stocking...etc

Is there anything noticibly stressing your fish?

When ich arrises...there is usually another issue.

 

[jworth]

I cannot use hypo salinity in main tank because of the inverts and corals.

Tank is standard 125. Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate less than 10.

Temp currently at 82.

Only fish with the ich is my hippo tang. But obviously its in the tank. There is 2 ocellaris clowns, pink spot shrimp goby, 3 chromis, 1 bangaii cardinal,1 clarkii, sixline wrasse, flasher wrasse and a yellow tang, plus a bunch of snails and hermits. I have pulled a couple dead snails out (margarita) but the water quality hasnt seemed to suffer.

I would love to avoid taking all of the fish out, but i see no other way.

 

[jworth]

since I have added my light is when the ich arrived, if my memory serves me right and caused a bad diatom bloom but, dont think the ich was related. Though still not sure what thats about.

A couple days after the ich exposed itself, the yellow tang and hippo tang are exhibiting odd behavior towards each other. The blue tang gets on her side next to the yellow tang. But no chasing or any other types of aggression. Before this they have been almost inseperable. No aggression whatsoever.

 

[nonstophoops]

I cannot use hypo salinity in main tank because of the inverts and corals.

Tank is standard 125. Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate less than 10.

Temp currently at 82.

Only fish with the ich is my hippo tang. But obviously its in the tank. There is 2 ocellaris clowns, pink spot shrimp goby, 3 chromis, 1 bangaii cardinal,1 clarkii, sixline wrasse, flasher wrasse and a yellow tang, plus a bunch of snails and hermits. I have pulled a couple dead snails out (margarita) but the water quality hasnt seemed to suffer.

I would love to avoid taking all of the fish out, but i see no other way.

Temperature is good, I agree I would hyposalinity with the inverts and corals. Also agree that 8 weeks is a good time frame for leaving the tank fallow.

That is quite a few fish, I hope you have at least 2 QT tanks. My reasoning for this is both to alleviate stress from overcrowding and ability to treat. Your clowns and goby are sensitive to copper so they will need to be treated with something besides it. A lot of people recommend medicated flakes along with hyposalinity. The tangs, wrasses, chromis, and cardinal all can and should be treated with copper. I like cupramine because it is less harsh than others.

 

[jworth]

Temperature is good, I agree I would hyposalinity with the inverts and corals. Also agree that 8 weeks is a good time frame for leaving the tank fallow.

That is quite a few fish, I hope you have at least 2 QT tanks. My reasoning for this is both to alleviate stress from overcrowding and ability to treat. Your clowns and goby are sensitive to copper so they will need to be treated with something besides it. A lot of people recommend medicated flakes along with hyposalinity. The tangs, wrasses, chromis, and cardinal all can and should be treated with copper. I like cupramine because it is less harsh than others.

You would or would not use hyposalinity with corals and inverts? If so, then that would negate the need to take everyone out and just use that method and begin quarantining in the future.

 

[jworth]

You would or would not use hyposalinity with corals and inverts? If so, then that would negate the need to take everyone out and just use that method and begin quarantining in the future.

Did some more reading. I could just use hyposalinity in the quarantine and would negate the need for 2 quarantine tanks. The tank I will be using is a standard 75 gallon, bare tank, with PVC for cover and shelter.

I do have a 10 gallon tank that I can use for the goby and clowns for a hyposalinity treatment if you feel it would be best to treat everyone else with copper as opposed to just treating one tank with hyposalinity.

 

[jworth]

I have had a lawnmower blenny and a royal gramma "disappear" in this tank with no trace to be found. Now lets just assume they are dead obviously. Will the ich be able to feed off of the carcass' of these fish during the 8 week isolation period and survive? This has been several weeks on the blenny and about two on the gramma. I have had a ton of stone crab problems, so I assume these were casualties.

 

[nonstophoops]

You would or would not use hyposalinity with corals and inverts? If so, then that would negate the need to take everyone out and just use that method and begin quarantining in the future.

Sorry, I meant NOT. I would not hypo in the main tank.

 

[knifegill]

Use the three tank method. Get three heated tanks and every three days, move the fish to the next tank. The trophonts exhaust themselves in the nine days the fish are gone and the ich dies by failure to find a new host. Just move the same filter tank to tank and clean out/dry out the most recently filthied tank as you go. No chemicals needed, ich dies naturally. This does work.