Very Tired of dealing with parasites...

GreenSpottedPuffer · #1 09-17-2008, 12:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robert J

Just need to set up an UV Sterilizer (more than 30W) with 55 GPH only, ich will be gone in 2 weeks. After that you still need to run for another month or so to make sure ich is gone forever. It worked for me, I never used any medication or quarantine.

Thats no different than using ozone though and actually ozone should be way more efficient than UV. I could give it a shot (and thanks for the thought) but with ozone already running, I don't really see the point. I do think ozone is the reason the ich is not as bad as it could be. The problem with both ozone and UV is that ich is that they both only kill what passes through them and Ich does not stay in its free swimming stage very long.

It may be worth a shot though. It can't hurt anything. But if I do decide to keep this tank up, I am going to just go ahead and QT them once again. Maybe for 10 weeks this time! Apparently 8 was not enough

robert J · #2 09-17-2008, 12:30 AM

Just remember the trick is can not go more than 55 GPH. Once in a while I get the ich back but with this treatment it always work for me

GreenSpottedPuffer · #3 09-17-2008, 12:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robert J

Just remember the trick is can not go more than 55 GPH. Once in a while I get the ich back but with this treatment it always work for me

Ok, well I still am not sure I need to add UV when I already have ozone running but if I decide to give it a try, I will remember that. Thanks.

GreenSpottedPuffer · #4 09-17-2008, 02:49 AM

Well it looks like the most of the ich has already dropped off the puffers again. Neither of them seem stressed at all. Of course all that means is that the ich not on them but all over the tank.

I don't know...seems like each time they get ich it drops off in a day or two. Does that mean anything? In the past I remember it always staying on them for at least a week before dropping off.

Brighteyes_13 · #5 09-17-2008, 03:24 AM

is it possible the ich could be flaring up due to being transfered in and out of quarantine? id feel pretty stressed if i kept getting booted out of my home to live in a plastic box. and now that theyre home again and settling in the ich is dropping off.

as for why its not dying off... im clueless...

GreenSpottedPuffer · #6 09-17-2008, 03:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brighteyes_13

is it possible the ich could be flaring up due to being transfered in and out of quarantine? id feel pretty stressed if i kept getting booted out of my home to live in a plastic box. and now that theyre home again and settling in the ich is dropping off.

as for why its not dying off... im clueless...

Right, this is exactly what I felt after two rounds of hypo for about three and a half months. So thats why for the past 4 months or so I have NOT QT'd but tried to let them fight it off themselves. Its worked ok and they are fighting it off to a point but it just will not go away. It had been quite a while since the last time I saw spots until last night. They are mostly gone already tonight, so a little less than 24 hrs. Thats kind of encouraging but man this is getting ridiculous!

Now I don't know...QT again! Risk some of them not making it and stress them again. Or keep letting them fight it on their own? Risking them getting really sick I guess. Its hard to figure out for me right now which is why I am still considering finding them good homes. Problem there is that how can I find people who want to take fish with ich???

Blah!

fkshiu · #7 09-17-2008, 04:04 AM

One solution is to turn your display into a QT - yank all the live rock and let it cook in a rubbermaid for a few months, then nuke the display with cupramine.

If my memory is correct, you've got an acrylic tank so there's no risk getting copper embedded into the silicone. You'll sacrifice your corals but since they're softies, I believe, they should be easily replaceable.

Cupramine was the thing that finally destroyed the ich cycle when I first got my hippo tang after going through all that other crap like hypo, garlic, cleaner shrimp, UV, witchcraft etc. etc. Going hypo may make you feel all warm and fuzzy, but darn it, do what human beings have always done when faced with an annoyance: stomp the living daylights out of it with harsh chemicals!!!

Chad · #8 09-17-2008, 04:09 AM

The trick with ich is you need to keep ALL fish out of the display for a tleast a month and a half. 6 to 8 weeks usually.

There is another method which requires you to remove the fish and transfer them to a new clean sterilized tank every week for a certain amount of time, this will eliminate the ich as well. But is a bit more stressful to the fish.

Either way, you need to leave the display empty of all fish or you will have ich present forever unless all the fish develop a immunity to ich.