[Groovebox303]

I have a 75 gallon aquarium that recently got ich courtesy of a blue tang introduced about 2 months ago. I have tried everything so far to cure in the DT (seachem metro, focus, garlic xtreme, frequent water changes, raising temperature) but it doesnt seem to be working. So instead of hoping for it to go im getting and setting up a quarantine tank where I will do hypo salinity to treat the fish since now i see spots on some of the other fish as well. I havnt done this before and have already spent a lot recently trying to get the DT setup so had some questions regarding what im thinking for the setup and what to do with my DT can you please answer the following, it would be extremely appreciated. its going to be a 30 gallon QT.

1) I am thinking about setting it up with 50% DT water and 50% fresh saltwater, can i introduce the fish immediately after putting the water in? and running the filter? whats the proper way of moving them from the DT to QT?

2) QT Equipment: 30 gallon QT, Aquaclear 70 HOB filter, heater, thermometer, PVC pipes, is a 30 gallon QT going to be good for the following for (4-6) weeks (3 inch Blue tang, 3 inch flame angel, 3 inch 6 line wrasse, 2.5 Royal gramma, small azure damsel and 5 chromis) is everyone going to be ok there for the 4-6 week treatment period? I think 30 is the biggest QT i could get since i dont have the luxury to look for a bigger used cheap tank and wait for a deal but didnt want to put them all in a 15-20 gallon....please let me know if you think if thats sufficient for the period?

3) What do i do with the invertebrates in DT (FOWLR)? (cleaner shrimp, 5-10 hermit crabs, 5-10 snails)...do i need to feed them anything? once all the fish are removed do they need to be fed? if so how frequently and what? do i still do water changes in the DT?

4) I found a deal on a aquafuge 2 HOB refugium, (aquafuge 2 small) and have been thinking about getting one of those to increase pods/decrease nitrates in the DT..... can i set this up on DT while the fish are in QT and get it started maybe seed it with pods as well or does it need to have fish in there to feed the pods

 

[Geoff]

Welcome to TRT!!

:wavey:

quarantining ich is about impossible. i would not quarantine for ich. to quarantine against ich one must keep all water, all LR, all inverts, all substrate, all fish, and all corals that are coming into the tank from another living system in quarantine for 60 days.

ich is a sign of stress. if one can keep the stress down, then fish are able to fight it off quite easily. it is very common for people to get ich in systems that are under a year old because the systems have not stabilized and the aquarist has not learned to maintain the system consistent.

G~

 

[Groovebox303]

Quarantine for marine ich

Hi Geoff,

thanks for your reply. From what i understand you are an experienced poster over here, i am interested why you suggested not to quarantine them. I actually did not have another tank to setup as a hospital tank but after everything i have been trying recently to treat to fight it somehow in the DT I felt like treating them in a hospital/quarantine tank might be more effective in the long term rather than risking them dying, since I plan on adding more expensive live stock and DO NOT want to relive this at a later stage to have ich come back. Almost every where i have read has recommended to remove all the fish for atleast 4-6 weeks which would guarantee that ich then dies off in the DT. The blue tang seems to be getting better in the last week but one (royal gramma) already died from ich I need to setup and move the QT in the next day or two so would like someone who has tried to treat ich with copper or Hypo salinity before and their opinion on it. Thanks again

 

[zack11]

If you only have one fish left I would just take it out of your display and qt it for 6 weeks. That way your display will be clean. Then just make sure you qt everything new you put in.

 

[OHBA]

If it is ich I would tend to side with Geoff. You need to remove the stress from the tank. Try to keep your hands out of the tank as much as possible and make sure all the fish are on the correct diet. A QT tank is always good to have running, but to try and solve ich problems with it I feel you are just going to bend over backwards for the inevitable. Unless the stress is reduced the ich will continue to come back.

I recently quarantined all my fish for marine velvet. 9 weeks in the QT. No fish in DT for 9 weeks. I ran a UV and did 4 50% water changes during the 9 weeks. The QT was treated with cooper, but shortly after the fish were reintroduced to the DT I had a quick bout with ich. The fish were stressed from the change. I reduced my light schedule 30% for a week and made sure each fish was getting the correct diet. Ich gone.