Moving Live Rocks, Treating Ick

[jassz]

I have not been having great luck with my tank lately. You can read some of the previous history in this thread. http://canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=54655

Last week we had a record breaking heat wave here. The tank temp stayed around 85.8 for a few days. Not sure if it's relevant, but I thought I'd mention it. It's never usually ever that hot.

I went out of town for a few days, and the neighbour came over to feed the fish. When I got back yesterday, I could see that Fabio (the lionfish) was covered in white spots. Pretty sure it's ick. No doubt brought on by the stress of missing me.

So, the last time I treated a trigger fish for ick, it was a bit of a disaster. First I treated him in the main tank, which was really hard on the rocks. Then I tried to quarantine him, and he was dead by morning.

So this time around, I decided to move the rocks instead, and treat the main tank. I bought a gynormous rubbermaid container, and put some of the rocks that had the most growth on them. I left the rest in the main tank. I hung a plant light over top of the container (not specifically an aquarium light, just a light for growing indoor plants. I've had it over the sump and there is a lot of growth near that light), and I put in a silicone tube from a bubble maker to keep the water moving. I moved the cowrie snail and a few of the hermit crabs as well. I took out about 20% of the tank water to cover them with.

I then treated the main tank (which just had a 20% water change as a result of moving the rocks) with petcetra Ick treatment, and I plan to add more every 24hours.

Does this seem like a reasonable course of action? I really want to improve my success rate with treating fish! Do the rocks require a lot of water movement, or just some? I can get a video of the setup, if that helps.

Thanks!
jassz

[PuffLuv]

If it were me, I would move all the fish to a quarantine tank and keep the live rock in the display. I would treat the fish with either copper or hyposalinity for a few weeks, and leave the display tank fishless for at least 6-8 weeks. This way you could probably eradicate the ich. If you leave the rock wet (unless you isolate it for weeks- fishless), it will keep the ich alive and could infect your fish again in the future, especially when they get stressed. Most people don't like to treat their display with medications, however if you plan on keeping only fish in the future, it should be okay. Just my 2 cents.

[icecool217]

not to threadjack but a relevant question though. when you isolate the fish, do you move the LR over as well? if not then what do you use as a biological filter?

[jassz]

I move the Fluval 404 from the main tank to the QT tank. It's overkill, as my QT tank was 10g. Which is why I can't do as PuffLuv suggested. What if left half the rocks out for 6wks, then moved the other half out for another 6wks? I guess the ick still be in the gravel anyway?

When I move the Fluval to the QT tank, I leave the filtering to the live rock and protein skimmer (except that isn't working due to the medication). I was told I could get rid of the Fluval, but I haven't done it yet. It has been helpful having it with the various problems I have had.

Thanks again,

[jassz]

I was just reading that dropping salinity to below 1.010 is a good way to treat ick. Would this be better than the blue medicine? Would it kill it off the rocks etc as well, and get rid of it for good?

[Myka]

Personally, I don't treat ich unless the fish is in a QT before it heads to the display tank. If it gets in the display then it's on its own. I am sure to feed a high quality diet with vitamin drops and garlic. I haven't had an ich outbreak since...hmm, since under gravel filters were the in thing.

In your case, if you're insistent on treating it I would use hyposalinity (you need a refractometer to do this) instead of medication. Many medications actually cause permanent damage to a fish's immune system, and god only knows what else. In your case, I would move as much rock out as possible (since hypo will damage the nitrifying bacteria) into a container with a heater and powerhead (it's fine with no light...will lose coralline, but it comes back fast), then use hypo on the tank with the remaining rock. I wouldn't worry about the rock containing more ich since ich can't attack unless the fish is stressed or otherwise compromised. Plus, if you ever add another wet thing (rock, coral, fish, inverts, etc) to that tank you will be reintroducing ich anyway, so who cares? Most if not "all" tanks have ich present, it just isn't attacking the fish.

[PuffLuv]

A couple things you might consider...

Many medications actually cause permanent damage to a fish's immune system, and god only knows what else.

I'm just asking here...has it been proven that 4 weeks or so of hypo, doesn't negatively impact the fish's health in the longer term?

Plus, if you ever add another wet thing (rock, coral, fish, inverts, etc) to that tank you will be reintroducing ich anyway, so who cares?

I'd like to think that by using a quarantine tank, it greatly reduces the chances of reintroducing ich. Also, by using a quarantine tank you could prevent other parasites that kill faster such as the protozoans that cause brooklynella. Also, if in the future you decide to setup a reef tank and add corals, you might prevent parasites from entering your display and attacking other corals which may have taken years to grow.

That being said, like Mindy was leaning toward, I don't think ich is a huge problem to deal with, and the extra precautions may not be necessary. (keep the water quality pristine, feed garlic & selcon, etc., mixed opinions on UV sterilizers...)However, I don't think ich is always the main concern.

I was just reading that dropping salinity to below 1.010 is a good way to treat ick.

I would personally aim for 1.0085-1.009 to compensate for any evaporation.

Again, just my $0.02

Matt