So I have this powder brown that I put in my tank. Well he got ich or had it. I went fallow for 6 weeks put my fish in a 10 gallon hospital tank and ran copper. I then transferred them to a 30 gallon QT that I ran hypo for 6 weeks no signs of ich on any of them. I switched them back to my DT and here we are about 4 weeks later and he has ich again. I'm so tired of battling ich I've read so much about it and it seems like a losing battle. Some study's say that they have found tomonts like almost a year after the host is gone and they can stay present in a fishes gills for some crazy amount of time. What can you do once it's present which I feel like in this hobby it always is. I'm ready to walk away and turn it into a freshwater tank.
Tang with ich went fallow for 6 weeks and it came back
- Thread starter Gsxkid
- Start date
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The important thing is to get the fish to eat. Once it's eating, feed a lot of mix food and then feed it again. Once the fish is healthy, it will battle the ich on its own.
He eats like crazy been feeding Nori,marine flakes with garlic,and brine shrimp. I take that back on the year mark the recent studies say 5 months after the host is gone they have found tomonts. So what go fallow for 5-6 months. Every claims 6 weeks does the trick. That's just false. I don't understand it he's the only one that seems to be affected. So ride out a fallow tank for 6 months and just hope that your fish isn't possibly carrying something in his gills that's going to end up back in your tank. It's a lost cause.
Jim Tansey
Well-Known Member
First off I don't think anyone knows the magic time period or if it works at all. The Powder Brown Tang is truly a beautiful fish but one of the most susceptible to Ich, as posted above feed well and hope for the best if it were me forget the fallow thing.
Jim
Jim
Marshall O
Non-member
Tomorrow is day 71 on my tank of going fallow. I'm going 72 days. I did tank transfer on some of my fish, copper on others. I'm hoping to keep Ich out for good myself...
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FWIW from all I have gathered over the years there is no true safe time period. It's all a matter of odds, are you good with birth control that's 80% effective, how about 90% or 95%?
I suspect that 10 weeks is probably something like (I'm making these numbers up to illustrate a point, don't quote me) 95-98% likely to be effective. 6 weeks is probably more like 80-85% likely to be effective. Then again, most people seem to opt for management strategies over eradication so it gets hard to have a discussion about treatment/eradication without it turning into a debate about treatment vs immunity.
I suspect that 10 weeks is probably something like (I'm making these numbers up to illustrate a point, don't quote me) 95-98% likely to be effective. 6 weeks is probably more like 80-85% likely to be effective. Then again, most people seem to opt for management strategies over eradication so it gets hard to have a discussion about treatment/eradication without it turning into a debate about treatment vs immunity.
Marshall O
Non-member
That's exactly as I understand it John. 72 days is the longest documented duration that it could survive. That doesn't mean that even that is 100%. Probably more like 99.99%.
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I believe that's false. The study I read says that they have found tomonts and trophonts that have sat dormant for 4-5 months. So if say a trophont sits dormant for 4 or 5 months. Then feeds on the fish for 10 days falls into your sand and sits dormant for another 4-5 months before releasing back out into the water the entire cycle could be as long as 10-11 months before you could be certain that it's eradicated. Might as well call it a year at that point. So to be 100% certain your not going to have ich in your tank your talking a year dormant anything less is a complete gamble. Even after going fallow for a year 1 drip of water containing ich could contaminate your entire system.
I think we are all saying similar things? It seems that nothing is a 100% assured cure without question, but maybe Marshall and I are guessing a little optimistically with the numbers we made up
mpsteve
Sps connoisseur
I gave up fighting ich in my tank. Sps makes it not possible to catch the fish so I just left them he and I feed eco eggs and larrys reef food and I add selcon once in a while and haven't lost a fish. I got this advice from Dong and my fish had ich now I don't see it anywhere. So healthy fish will be fine with ich in the tank. Many people in the hobby believe this to be true and most these people have been in the hobby 20+ years. Also I had the ich maybe 2 and a half months ago
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neptune
Well-Known Member
Before you leave the hobby... Why don't you try living with ich in your tank since the alternative it to leave? Try feeding live black worms (they really are magical) fresh clams, fresh oysters, quality dry food, and vitamin enhanced frozen food. See what happens and share back?
Neptune
I would have to echo what neptune said
.. I gave up on trying to eradicate ich from my systems. As a hobbyists, I don't have time or money to go through extensive quarantine procedures on everything that goes into my tank.
I do my best to pick healthy looking fish and corals and then I try to practice good husbandry.. I also feed a variety of food 3-4 times a day. I know there is ich in my system, I have seen a fish show signs once or twice especially if I have stressed the system but a bit of selcon, or vitamin C / aminos and it's clear.
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.. I gave up on trying to eradicate ich from my systems. As a hobbyists, I don't have time or money to go through extensive quarantine procedures on everything that goes into my tank.
I do my best to pick healthy looking fish and corals and then I try to practice good husbandry.. I also feed a variety of food 3-4 times a day. I know there is ich in my system, I have seen a fish show signs once or twice especially if I have stressed the system but a bit of selcon, or vitamin C / aminos and it's clear.
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I guess I called that one, ay?
There is no question, and for many years there has been no question, BOTH healthy fish can generally live with / fight off ick, AND at the same time it is possible to eradicate ick and keep it out of a given system. One truth does not negate the other.
Treatment takes a bunch of time and effort, and as was being discussed there are some uncertainties, particularly how long of a fallow period will actually be needed to clear an infected system. It's also true that a lot of fish have been lost in the effort to treat them for ick (often due to mistakes, but also plenty of times where the fish is very sick going into treatment, or where otherwise the fish didn't make it through). We do know for a fact that ick can be eradicated if the fish are treated properly AND the tank left fallow for long enough (whatever that ends up being).
Management / immunity / living with ick as also a valid approach. It's certainly easier, but you are left with the risk that some stressor can cause flare ups down the road. One man's "ticking time bomb" is another's miracle of natural immunity.
To the OP/gsxkid, I agree, don't give up. Sadly you were misinformed on the fallow time needed. I can only speculate on where that came from, but I can say that I have followed countless discussions about ick treatment and my observation is that nearly every time what starts as a discussion on treatment, quickly turns into mixed advice about treatment vs management, and then mixed advice about things like necessary time lines. Pretty soon anyone reading is left confused and having no idea who to listen to. Often in the end this process leads to misinformation, bad (or at least indecipherable) advice, and fish staying sick and or dying. We do know that 10-12 weeks is the bare minimum that is likely to be successful for a fallow period (yet nearly every time I post that someone follows with "6 weeks should be fine"). We should be telling people 16 weeks is the minimum, that way the advice would be reasonably accurate most of the time.
To anyone following and or posting - please try to be clear on this stuff. Yes, Dong and many others have mature and thriving systems, not overstocked with fish, that can provide fish with a very good chance of long term survival and success even with Ick present. BUT, to a newer reefer with a newer system, less stable system, somewhat heavily stocked fish load, particularly vulnerable fish, or just plain bad luck - "just feed them well" is far less likely to lead to good outcomes.
gsxkid, If you try to do this again, I would suggest using the tank transfer method over copper. It's much more gentle on the fish but is still quite effective. That and of course go much longer on the fallow time. Otherwise, as most people in your shoes would do at this point, give management a shot. You are dealing with a fish that's known for being an "ick magnet", but just the same it is possible that it will shake this. (how big is your system? How old? Other fish?) I certainly wouldn't blame you for feeling less than confident in treatment after this experience.
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Paul B
paul b
Nori, marine flakes with garlic and brine shrimp is not the proper diet for any fish and a fish will have a very difficult time fighting anything on that diet.
The fish needs a much better quality diet. They should be getting clams, worms would be great, some frozen Mysis maybe but the best diet for them is live worms and clams. I would still feed some nori but I would put a little fish oil on it.
The dried nori that we normally feed isn't a great food because it is dried. Tangs eat fresh, live seaweeds not dried.
Dry foods are never good as they lack bacteria and oils. You can leave the tank fallow if you like (I don't believe in that but what do I know?) But feed them correctly. Just my opinion of course.
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Paul B
paul b
Yes, but IMO there is a larger risk if you don't offer those foods. You need to give the fish a fighting chance.
Any parasites on fresh water worms will die in a salt water tank so don't worry about that. The bacteria should enhance their immune system and, (and this is just a silly theory) the fishes immune system "may" be stronger just coming in contact with those dying parasites and bacteria. I just made that up but it makes sense. I am not an ichthyologist or the God of fish but give your fish those foods every day anyway. They will thank you and maybe smile a little. You can see that your first way didn't work.
Any parasites on fresh water worms will die in a salt water tank so don't worry about that. The bacteria should enhance their immune system and, (and this is just a silly theory) the fishes immune system "may" be stronger just coming in contact with those dying parasites and bacteria. I just made that up but it makes sense. I am not an ichthyologist or the God of fish but give your fish those foods every day anyway. They will thank you and maybe smile a little. You can see that your first way didn't work.
