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Horrible Ich Outbreak


diablovt750

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I noticed 2 nights ago a few white spots on my fish. Yesterday they were covered and breathing heavy. This morning all four fish dead and stuck to the overflow box. From the first ich spot to all the fish dead in around 48 hours. I don't know what to do anymore. I'm thinking of getting out of the hobby because I'm tired of having everything healthy and then in a blink of an eye everything gone. Either that or not keeping any fish anymore only coral. Just thought I would share my hardship.

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oh man I'm sorry to hear that. I'm actually dealing with an ich problem now too, but I guess I got lucky as none of mine have died yet and are currently all being given the hyposalinity treatment. I really don't think you should give up though, personally I couldn't imagine my life without aquariums. Just be more careful the second time around and quarantine your fish first. And not just for like a week or two but a few months to make sure there's absolutely nothing wrong with them.

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That doesn't sound like ich. It killed too fast and spread too quickly. Regardless don't get out of the hobby. Run the tank fallow (no fish) for 6-8 weeks and treat the tank heavily with formalin. That will kill off any organism that requires a fish for a host. Follow the directions on the label for formalin use.

 

Do a 100% water change then gradually reintroduce fish over the span of several weeks monitoring for outbreak and you should be good to go.

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Could it be possible that he didn't notice it up until that point? This is my first experience with marine ich and I noticed some white spots on my fish a few weeks ago, but they disappeared that night so I just let it go. But once I saw it again I started researching and found that ich apparently can do that.....so maybe he just didn't watch his tank at the right time and that wasn't actually when the first spot appeared. Just a thought.

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I constantly watch my tank, I would have noticed. I have had any new additions to the tank in over a month other than corals and I dont put the water from the LFS in the tank. Over a month ago my angel and my Damsel were fighting and they had a couple of spots but I rearranged the rock work and the fish stopped fighting. When they stopped fighting the very few white spots that they had went away and I thought that they had gone away for good but I guess not. Is ich know to just flare up out of nowhere like that? Either way Im done with fish for awhile. For now I am just going to concentrate on filling my tank with corals and then worry about stocking it with fish after the tank is the way I want it.

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That doesn't sound like ich. It killed too fast and spread too quickly.

 

Run the tank fallow (no fish) for 6-8 weeks and treat the tank heavily with formalin. That will kill off any organism that requires a fish for a host.

 

I am 100% sure mine was ich. It came, infected, and killed that fast.

 

+1 to the 6-8 weeks suggestion. As for formalin.....risky! Why not just do the 6-8 weeks with no chemicals? Same impact with less risk.

 

 

 

 

 

Ohhh.....and another thing that I discovered about the 6-8 weeks with no fish.....Pod EXPLOSION ;) Added benefit of normal tank (no chemicals) running with no predators for a while.

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I noticed 2 nights ago a few white spots on my fish. Yesterday they were covered and breathing heavy. This morning all four fish dead and stuck to the overflow box. From the first ich spot to all the fish dead in around 48 hours. I don't know what to do anymore. I'm thinking of getting out of the hobby because I'm tired of having everything healthy and then in a blink of an eye everything gone. Either that or not keeping any fish anymore only coral. Just thought I would share my hardship.

there were prob stressed when fighting over territory hence the ick presenting itself. That really sucks you lost your fish though :(

dont get out of the hobby, just be patient and do things slowly. most of us had to deal w one of these outbreaks at some pt or another so chalk it up as experience

 

oh man I'm sorry to hear that. I'm actually dealing with an ich problem now too, but I guess I got lucky as none of mine have died yet and are currently all being given the hyposalinity treatment. I really don't think you should give up though, personally I couldn't imagine my life without aquariums. Just be more careful the second time around and quarantine your fish first. And not just for like a week or two but a few months to make sure there's absolutely nothing wrong with them.

 

+1 gj in taking the 6-8 weeks to hypo. i too introduced a little fish that brought ick to my tank. he died in 2 days and i immediately pulled the fish n put them in a hypo tank. def did not want too and it was a PITA, but in the end TOTALLY worth it.

 

I am 100% sure mine was ich. It came, infected, and killed that fast.

 

+1 to the 6-8 weeks suggestion. As for formalin.....risky! Why not just do the 6-8 weeks with no chemicals? Same impact with less risk.

 

Ohhh.....and another thing that I discovered about the 6-8 weeks with no fish.....Pod EXPLOSION ;) Added benefit of normal tank (no chemicals) running with no predators for a while.

 

 

+1 to ^

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I just had the same thing happen to me. First ever sw aquarium. Everything was going great added the cuc and a pair of Allardis. Second night in the tank noticed one acting funny and had white specs. Yesterday only one.was acting strange. When I got up this afternoon and looked both fish were very lethargic and laying on the bottom of the tank.. The lfs sold me some garlic drops to add to the food. Imo the fish was sick when I put him in. I would imagine by the tim I get home they will both be gone. I researched everything before I started and my params were correct. Could I have caused this some how? lfs is too g to help me out and replace my fish when its time, everything else is doing great. Coraline starting and lots of new growth on my two corals,xenia and mushroom. Just curious if I caused it somehow.

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OClownsandNanos
I just had the same thing happen to me. First ever sw aquarium. Everything was going great added the cuc and a pair of Allardis. Second night in the tank noticed one acting funny and had white specs. Yesterday only one.was acting strange. When I got up this afternoon and looked both fish were very lethargic and laying on the bottom of the tank.. The lfs sold me some garlic drops to add to the food. Imo the fish was sick when I put him in. I would imagine by the tim I get home they will both be gone. I researched everything before I started and my params were correct. Could I have caused this some how? lfs is too g to help me out and replace my fish when its time, everything else is doing great. Coraline starting and lots of new growth on my two corals,xenia and mushroom. Just curious if I caused it somehow.

 

No, if it was marine ich the only thing you should've done differently was QT before adding to your main tank so you could have treated with hypo. Marine Ich will reproduce very quickly in an enclosed system at reef level SG and a fish does not need to be stressed to be infected.

 

You'll want to keep your main tank fishless for the next six to eight weeks to get the marine ich out of the system, BTW, if that's what it looks like it is. If you don't do that it can surface at any time. You should seriously consider QTing next time.

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I guess by enclosed systems you mean a biocube or various other units. If so then yes I am running an enclosed system. I guess now that I have 6-8 weeks before fish I guess ill go get me a ten gallon and set it up for a qt for the next go round. Now should I be waiting to add more coral or could I be building my reef as I am waiting for the ick to get out? I do plan on doing this the correct way, I enjoy the hobby and will not just let a bad taste ruin it for me.

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OClownsandNanos
I guess by enclosed systems you mean a biocube or various other units. If so then yes I am running an enclosed system. I guess now that I have 6-8 weeks before fish I guess ill go get me a ten gallon and set it up for a qt for the next go round. Now should I be waiting to add more coral or could I be building my reef as I am waiting for the ick to get out? I do plan on doing this the correct way, I enjoy the hobby and will not just let a bad taste ruin it for me.

 

No, to be clear by enclosed system I pretty much mean almost any hobbyist's aquarium vs. the ocean. There's nowhere for fish to get away from MI in a reef tank. The smaller the tank the quicker it will likely show itself, but whether we're talking 10 gallons or 120, it's still the same basic principle.

 

No, you don't need to wait on coral. MI needs fish for hosts, it cannot be hosted in other types of life. You can stock in the interim, but remember it's best if you dip if you do not QT the coral (for other pests).

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Thank you very much for your help. I am very disappointed that my fish are dieing I honestly feel horrible. I guess now that this has happend ill build my reef to what I have envisioned. Kind of a bummer. :( I just don't like the fact I took a life in my hands and wasn't capable to keep it alive.

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But can't ich also be present in the water column? If you maybe get a new cuc member from an ich infected tank....even if you dont pour bag water into your tank...its not really possible to dry the snail or crab of the water which could carry in a tiny bit ich. It could even be on a turkey baster you forgot to clean or maybe some tweezers. So how would it be possible to be 100% sure of ich free livestock. I guess quarantine would work but I've never heard of people qting cuc

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