Ich outbreak need some help.

Hi All, I'm new to this forum and have already read some stuff about treating Ich and need a little more advice...

First let me tell y'all what I have. I have a 36 bowfront up and running for a while now full spectrum LED lights and I am running a protein skimmer. I have a few corals that are doing beautifully and my fish up until just recently where doing great.

Now for the problem at hand. When I first got my Regal Tang I had my first encounter with Ich almost right away (3 days or so) I went to my LFS talked to them about it and they said to use this MICROBE-LIFT :: Herbtana (Reef) so I did for 10 days like the bottle said. that being said at the end of the treatment the Regal still had the spot on its side but was not scratching against the rocks any more so I thought that the mark was just a mark from all the scratching... Now fast forward a month and I noticed last night that my Regal AGAIN has Ich but its popping up all over it now and I also noticed that my Royal Gamma has it on it's body too!! SO first thing I did was a water change (it was due for yesterday any way) also changes the filter and carbon and followed that up a couple hours later with a complete water test just to make sure nothing was out of whack and everything came out great except the Nitrates @ 20ppm. I have some of the old treatment left so this morning I started the treatment again in hopes that it will cure it. I currently plan on treating the water for 15 days instead of 10 in hopes that it will work this time.

So my question is is there a better way to treat it that is reef safe? I do not have a quarantine tank and do not run copper because of the Snails and Crabs I have. I guess I'm just asking for advice from here on out to see if there is a better product out there?

 

Welcome to 3reef Philipdz.

No there is no easy cure and do not believe the product recommend to you will effectively treat.

Avoiding placement of tangs in small tanks would be wise. My advice would be to return the tang or re-home it to a larger tank, a lot larger.

The majority of tanks will make it through an outbreak if stressors are removed: such as decline in water quality, decline in dietary needs, aggression and over crowding.

You have to really understand the life stages of Marine Ich to effectively treat it.

Some helpful links:
http://www.3reef.com/forums/fish-diseases/ich-dt-looking-treatment-advice-147220.html
Marine Ich - Myths and Facts
http://www.3reef.com/forums/new-hob...general-rules-successful-aquarium-126326.html

 

Unless you can remove all the fish and treat you are not going to rid your tank of Ich. A Regal Tang has no business in a 36 gallon aquarium.You will continue to battle disease and parasites by choosing inappropriate fish. My advice is to keep them eating.Garlic or selcon added to the food will help there immune system. Once they show signs of recovery I would remove the Tang and any other inappropriate animals.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/general-reef-topics/minimum-tank-sizes-selection-animals-137158.html

http://www.3reef.com/forums/new-hob...general-rules-successful-aquarium-126326.html

 

I am currently trying to get a 90gam system now to move them into. I do know that whey will outgrow my tank now. for now they are only 2.5 inches..

 

Species is much more important then the size in which you purchased it.Good luck.

 

ich is a sign of stress and unhappiness. no surprise the regal started having dots it is a limited swimming space for it, on top of that tangs in genral are very prone to ich if unhappy.

this being said i personally am aware that i have ich in my tank but i have chosen to live with it instead of curing it. does this mean i have fish full of white dots? far from it....

good water quality, adequate space and most importantly a good health diet will keep your fish good and healthy better than any "ich treatment" IMO

 

I am going to buy the 90gal system today and start getting that set up. thanks for the advice y'all.