Ich/Quarantine ?'s

[Doot77]

Well I seem to have a outbreak of Ich after some work I did this last weekend (see my Chronicle for more details)and I've got a few questions for everyone. I have a Diamond watchman Goby and I'm wondering how good will he do in the quarantine tank with no sand bed for him to sift thru? I'm going to try and catch the fish this weekend and move to the quarantine tank so I can medicate them and let the Ich run course in the Display tank. Has any one had any luck with any of these traps?Fish & Aquarium Supplies: Pest Traps & Control I'm putting together an order and was wondering if it was worth a shot. Also has anyone used any of the Aiptasia removers on that page? I've got one rock with a couple small ones on it and want to take care of it before it spreads like wild.

[Woodstock]

You will need to remove ALL fish and treat them; meanwhile leaving the main display tank FALLOW (fish free) for 6-8 weeks.

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...step-step.html

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...ths-facts.html

My *fish Trap* works great! The trap in your link is a good one also - I've heard of others that have used it with good results.

[Woodstock]

(moved to saltwater fish forum)

[Woodstock]

Originally Posted by Doot77

..... Also has anyone used any of the Aiptasia removers on that page? I've got one rock with a couple small ones on it and want to take care of it before it spreads like wild.

No. I have not tried the other products on that page. I have only used Joe's Juice and it worked well.

[mps9506]

You can use sand in your QT tank. Normally I don't recomend it because you can't treat that particular lifestage in the parasites lifecycle. However in this situation I would use sand either use sand in the entire QT or you can actually just put some rubbermaid/plastic containers with sand in them.
If you do use substrate in the QT you want to use a longer QT period and I still recomend copper and copper test kit for this. Just don't reuse the sand or rocks in your display.
And like Doni said above, the main display must be left fallow for this to work.

As far as aiptasia removers I've only had success with Joe's Juice or kalkwasser injected directly into them...

[Doot77]

Ok, thanks for the info. Maybe I'll just put some sand in the quarantine tank and remove it after?? So how long would you think treatment would be with adding sand?

[Woodstock]

Leebca recommends using PURE silica sand (not aragonite) if you MUSt use sand in a QT. That way you can still medicate...

[Doot77]

OK, silica sand it is then, (sandblasting sand I believe) its fairly cheap too. So would that make me need to medicate any longer than no sand at all?

[mps9506]

Doh... good idea. Never even thought of that.
I hadn't looked into it, but I have heard that the particle shape of silica might not be so good for certain sand sifters... Do you know anything about that? internet myth?

[mps9506]

Originally Posted by Doot77

OK, silica sand it is then, (sandblasting sand I believe) its fairly cheap too. So would that make me need to medicate any longer than no sand at all?

It shouldn't. The main problem with using aragonite sand, in addition to providing a place for parasites to continue their life cycle, is that it is good at absorbing things, ie medication. Thus making a somewhat difficult job of maintaining proper levels of medication in your tank that much harder.

[Woodstock]

Matt - it should not extend the process if it is silica sand (non absorbent).

Mike - That must be a myth. I've seen both silica and aragnonite and my eyes could not tell the difference. I always do the 'vinegar test' to determine that.

[Doot77]

OK, thanks for the info.
Doni, I agree the size of silica sand is very small and looks very close to aragonite.

[Doot77]

Ok so I thought I was done with the questions, but it appears there are a few different copper meds out there, any suggestions.
Aquarium Fish Medications: CopperSafe
Aquarium Fish Medication: SeaCure Copper Treatment
or maybe something else??

[KodiakBear]

When I had ich in my DT I moved everyone to the QT with sand in it for my diamond goby. I did the hyposalinity treatment (which effectively killed anything living in the sand bed) but it took a few months to get the salinity down, stable for the designated time, then raised back up.
I just made sure to squirt some food mush into the sandbed near it's improvised den while in the QT to make sure it had enough to eat. He came out of QT happy as a clam, but carpet surfed a couple months later.

The other fish have all been ich free for 4 months now, and I could still use that sand since I didn't use any copper.
It is true that you can only treat ich at certain stages in the life cycle, that's why it is important to allow the DT to go through a COMPLETE life-cycle fish free, as well as treat the tank long enough for the little pests to develop into the stage where the treatment kills them.
Good luck!

[Doot77]

Anyone on the Meds? I want to place my order soon so it will be here this weekend. Thanks