Ich and a Yellow Coris Wrasse..........

[Reefie]

So........I've been battling Ich for the past several weeks.

I've finally drained the tank and removed all but one lone Yellow Wrasse that refuses to be caught. It dives into the substrate and hides in there for hours. I even sifted through the sand while the tank was drained to no avail.

My plan was to remove all fish and leave the tank fallow for 8-9 weeks while treating all the fish with Paraguard in a QT. This particular Yellow Wrasse has never shown any sypmtoms of Ich. My question for the experts is this; will the Ich re-appear if I left the 1 Yellow Wrasse in the DT even after the 8-9 weeks? It seems immune to Ich so far.

I have a very small 2" Purple Tang and a Flame Angelfish that I would like to re-introduce into the DT after the 2 months in QT. My fear is that they will get re-infected with Ich and my nightmare starts all over again.

I've read all about the life cycle of Ich, and technically the Yellow Wrasse "should" have Ich, but mysteriously it does not. Is it going to be safe for me to bring the fish back into the DT?

[daniella3d]

yep...although he's not showing sign of ick, there is a very good probability it is carrier of ick and has some in his gills.

The trick is to watch where he goes in the sand and put a net over it so when he comes out he's cought. That's how I cought mine.

Not because you don't see any dots on the wrasse, it does not mean it does not have any on his gills.


My question for the experts is this; will the Ich re-appear if I left the 1 Yellow Wrasse in the DT even after the 8-9 weeks?

[Reefie]

I've read that if Ich enters the gills, the fish's days are pretty much numbered. However, this PITA Wrasse shows no signs of respiratory issues.

I'd be even ok if it just decided to croak on me, but this fish seems to be one tough SOB.

[George]

Wrasses have this mucus coat and they get rid of the coating and the parasites that stick to that coating from time to time. Therefore most wrasses seem to be immune to marine ich. But they can definitely be carriers. Just to be safe...

[daniella3d]

He might seem ok but he will carry the disease and when you reintroduce the fish they will get recontaminated again.

People say that mandarins are immune to ick due to their thick mucus, yet I read plenty of thread where mandarins are part of the victims of ich. It's the gill that get attacked and those don't have mucus on it. There can be some ich on the gills and the fish does not seem to gasp because it is a low level infection.


I've read that if Ich enters the gills, the fish's days are pretty much numbered. However, this PITA Wrasse shows no signs of respiratory issues.

I'd be even ok if it just decided to croak on me, but this fish seems to be one tough SOB.

[Reefie]

I've got a plan to catch this tricky fish that I'm going to give a try tonight and tomorrow.

I'll update as soon as I catch this sucker!

[daniella3d]

Good luck :)

I've got a plan to catch this tricky fish that I'm going to give a try tonight and tomorrow.

I'll update as soon as I catch this sucker!

[Reefie]

I DID IT!!! FINALLY!!!

I finally caught the s*cker, I had actually given up on trying. Since everyone was saying that Wrasses are "immune" to Ich, I had picked up a Mystery Wrasse.

Quarantined the Mystery Wrasse for about a week, it was doing well, so I thought "what the heck?" and tossed him into the DT. He was doing great in the DT, he became buddies with the Yellow Coris.

Until 2 days ago, I had my buddy Bblinks over to help me setup the Marine Magic Doser, he says to me "it's got a little bit of ich.". I thought NO WAY, I looked myself and noticed a tiny speck on its fins. I thought it might just be some sand or particles that stuck onto it. But sure enough, yesterday I notice Ich spots spreading on him. Not as bad as my previous outbreak, but I didn't want Round 2.

I spent a couple hours thinking what to do. First thought, shut down the tank and leave it fallow. I had just spent about $2K re-stocking all the SPS, I'm going to flush all that down the drain? Then I had an idea flicker on in my head, I have 2 QT's, one can hold the fish, and the other can hold all the rock and corals.

So I moved the Purple Tang into the 5 gal QT first, then transferred all the LR to the 25 gal QT, caught the Mystery Wrasse and into the 5 gal he went. Then I spent about an hour sifting through the sand looking for the infamous Yellow Coris, out of no where he darts out of the sand splashes me with some water. It scraped the cr@p out of me, I was so into sifting through the sand barely seeing bottom through the cloudy water.

War was on between me and this fish. I was not going to give up again. After the hour, it gave up darting from one place into another. This is now about 3:30AM, I was tired also.

Spent the next hour relishing the fact that I had WON while re-scaping, cleaned everything up and got into bed at 5:30AM.

[daniella3d]

wow, lots of work and hassle. This is why quarantining everything, at least every fish, is really worth the trouble, because the trouble of doing all that you are doing is a real nightmare.

Good luck with your treatment. Hopefully after the treatment you should have gotten rid of ick for good. That's so nice to be ick free, it's peace of mind.

I DID IT!!! FINALLY!!!

I finally caught the s*cker, I had actually given up on trying. Since everyone was saying that Wrasses are "immune" to Ich, I had picked up a Mystery Wrasse.

Quarantined the Mystery Wrasse for about a week, it was doing well, so I thought "what the heck?" and tossed him into the DT. He was doing great in the DT, he became buddies with the Yellow Coris.

Until 2 days ago, I had my buddy Bblinks over to help me setup the Marine Magic Doser, he says to me "it's got a little bit of ich.". I thought NO WAY, I looked myself and noticed a tiny speck on its fins. I thought it might just be some sand or particles that stuck onto it. But sure enough, yesterday I notice Ich spots spreading on him. Not as bad as my previous outbreak, but I didn't want Round 2.

I spent a couple hours thinking what to do. First thought, shut down the tank and leave it fallow. I had just spent about $2K re-stocking all the SPS, I'm going to flush all that down the drain? Then I had an idea flicker on in my head, I have 2 QT's, one can hold the fish, and the other can hold all the rock and corals.

So I moved the Purple Tang into the 5 gal QT first, then transferred all the LR to the 25 gal QT, caught the Mystery Wrasse and into the 5 gal he went. Then I spent about an hour sifting through the sand looking for the infamous Yellow Coris, out of no where he darts out of the sand splashes me with some water. It scraped the cr@p out of me, I was so into sifting through the sand barely seeing bottom through the cloudy water.

War was on between me and this fish. I was not going to give up again. After the hour, it gave up darting from one place into another. This is now about 3:30AM, I was tired also.

Spent the next hour relishing the fact that I had WON while re-scaping, cleaned everything up and got into bed at 5:30AM.

[Reefie]

I'm going to go 73 Days before introducing the fish back to the DT. I recall the lifespan of Ich is 72 Days.

I was actually only going 10 Weeks, I'm taking the extra 3 days because I will have that weekend off and can acclimate the fish in slowly. I'm going to take a couple weeks to put the fish in so I don't overload the bio-load too quickly.

[daniella3d]

Good luck :)

Are you treating with hyposalinity?

I'm going to go 73 Days before introducing the fish back to the DT. I recall the lifespan of Ich is 72 Days.

I was actually only going 10 Weeks, I'm taking the extra 3 days because I will have that weekend off and can acclimate the fish in slowly. I'm going to take a couple weeks to put the fish in so I don't overload the bio-load too quickly.

[Reefie]

In the QT, I'm just treating with Paraguard which I've had success so far with.

Hypo was also an option, which I might do just as a safety precaution after I do 2 Weeks of Paraguard with 2 Weeks of monitoring afterwards.

I think I will go with the Hypo for 2 Weeks after the Paraguard with 2 Weeks of monitoring.

[Bblinks]

I'm going to go 73 Days before introducing the fish back to the DT. I recall the lifespan of Ich is 72 Days.

I was actually only going 10 Weeks, I'm taking the extra 3 days because I will have that weekend off and can acclimate the fish in slowly. I'm going to take a couple weeks to put the fish in so I don't overload the bio-load too quickly.


LIES!!! I'll believe it when I see it.

[Reefie]

LIES!!! I'll believe it when I see it.

The Temptation is going to be HUGE, but I can't afford not to follow through with the whole process.

Remember, I have a $450 Purple Tang right now. With the Flame and Labouti Wrasses coming, I can't afford to blow another $1,000 on fish.

I should've done this from the start, but you know me. Haha!

Any and ALL fish are going into the QT until the DT is ready for fish again.

The worst case scenario, you might be fish-sitting for me in June. I'll move the QT with everything over to your place. Just make sure that MY fish STAY as MY fish and they don't end up in your tank. Haha!

[daniella3d]

I think if you are treating for ich with Paraguard, then you must go for at least 3 weeks, 4 weeks is more like it due to the life cycle of ich.

I always treat with Paraguard for 4 weeks and never had any problem with fish or their appetite. Since you started with Paraguard, it is probably best to continue with it and not do hypo.

In the QT, I'm just treating with Paraguard which I've had success so far with.

Hypo was also an option, which I might do just as a safety precaution after I do 2 Weeks of Paraguard with 2 Weeks of monitoring afterwards.

I think I will go with the Hypo for 2 Weeks after the Paraguard with 2 Weeks of monitoring.

[The Guy]

I think if you are treating for ich with Paraguard, then you must go for at least 3 weeks, 4 weeks is more like it due to the life cycle of ich.

I always treat with Paraguard for 4 weeks and never had any problem with fish or their appetite. Since you started with Paraguard, it is probably best to continue with it and not do hypo.
Have you thought about using a UV Sterilizer in your tank? Seems to work well for these problems apparently. :smile:

[Reefie]

Have you thought about using a UV Sterilizer in your tank? Seems to work well for these problems apparently. :smile:

It didn't do much for me, I'm running the Coralife Turbo Twist UV Sterilizer already. Believe me, I pretty much tried everything. Ich hates me. Haha!

[The Guy]

It didn't do much for me, I'm running the Coralife Turbo Twist UV Sterilizer already. Believe me, I pretty much tried everything. Ich hates me. Haha!
I was told that if you increase the dwell time through the sterlizer it will look after ich, I hope that's true :question::neutral:

[Reefie]

No such luck with that for me either. I've slowed the flow down through the UV by running it through my chiller first, and even with a gate valve. No difference for me, sadly to say.

The only good thing is that I can leave my tank fallow for as long as I want to now. 😊

[daniella3d]

How strong is that UV? you need at least 25 watt to really make an impression on parasites and a very slow flow in the UV, but with a large tank not all the water and parasites are going to go through the UV and those parasites on the fish are going to fall on the liverock as well as in the sand.

It is only in the free floating stage that they are susceptible to a UV and unfortunatly not all the larvaes are going to go through the UV. A lot of them are going to find a fish and attach before they get into a UV.

I had one too with my discus and always has a fluke problem (resistant to prazi) but the UV did not do much so I sold it. It was a large pond UV of 25 watts with a huge lamp and it did not work even with very slow flow.

No such luck with that for me either. I've slowed the flow down through the UV by running it through my chiller first, and even with a gate valve. No difference for me, sadly to say.

The only good thing is that I can leave my tank fallow for as long as I want to now. ��

[Reefie]

So even after about 2 weeks of QT, my Purple Tang has Ich. It was doing great after 2 weeks up until I caught the Yellow Coris, Mystery Wrasse, and my Randall's Anthias and quarantined them all together.

The Purple Tang was covered in Ich as of last night, so this leads me to believe that Paraguard is great for prevention, but not curing Ich.

Hyposalinity here I come! I drained about 3/4 of the QT out, topped up with RO/DI and finally got Salinity down to 1.008.

As of this morning, majority of the Ich has disappeared from the Purple Tang. The other 3 fish show no signs of Ich nor stress from the Osmotic Shock Treatment.

The plan is to Hypo treat for 6 weeks, and then monitor for an additional 4 weeks.

Are there any tips for Hypo? I have 2 small filters going with just Filter Floss, about 10 lbs of LR, an airstone to help aerate the water, and a small powerhead to circulate water.

I'm feeding with NLS Thera+ pellets, a couple strips of SeaVeggies, and half a cube of either Mysis or Spirulina Enriched Brine. I feed the pellets during the day and the frozen at night. I'm planning to do about 25% water changes every 2 days to export nutrients.

Is there anything that I'm missing or that I should be aware of?

[daniella3d]

That's because you introduced new parasites by introducing the other fish.

Ich has to go through its cycle and Paraguard must be redosed each day.

It's best to keep hypo at 1.009.

Even with hyposalinity you will see ich get through its cycle.

So even after about 2 weeks of QT, my Purple Tang has Ich. It was doing great after 2 weeks up until I caught the Yellow Coris, Mystery Wrasse, and my Randall's Anthias and quarantined them all together.

The Purple Tang was covered in Ich as of last night, so this leads me to believe that Paraguard is great for prevention, but not curing Ich.

Hyposalinity here I come! I drained about 3/4 of the QT out, topped up with RO/DI and finally got Salinity down to 1.008.

As of this morning, majority of the Ich has disappeared from the Purple Tang. The other 3 fish show no signs of Ich nor stress from the Osmotic Shock Treatment.

The plan is to Hypo treat for 6 weeks, and then monitor for an additional 4 weeks.

Are there any tips for Hypo? I have 2 small filters going with just Filter Floss, about 10 lbs of LR, an airstone to help aerate the water, and a small powerhead to circulate water.

I'm feeding with NLS Thera+ pellets, a couple strips of SeaVeggies, and half a cube of either Mysis or Spirulina Enriched Brine. I feed the pellets during the day and the frozen at night. I'm planning to do about 25% water changes every 2 days to export nutrients.

Is there anything that I'm missing or that I should be aware of?

[Reefie]

That's because you introduced new parasites by introducing the other fish.

Ich has to go through its cycle and Paraguard must be redosed each day.

It's best to keep hypo at 1.009.

Even with hyposalinity you will see ich get through its cycle.

That was the same conclusion that I came to as well, however I thought that the Paraguard would have prevented the Purple Tang from contracting the Ich.

I have been dosing Paraguard daily for the past 2 weeks prior to the introduction of the newly caught fish.

Would 6 weeks of Hypo be enough? Or should I go 8 weeks?

[daniella3d]

It depends. If you introduced the other fish while the concentration of Paraguard was a bit low due to time spent in the tank, then probably some parasites made their way to the fish skin.

Remember that a quarantine tank is not so big so the fish are very confined and the parasites can find them easily and fast.

If you had put them all together with Paraguard, I might have been a different story.

Did you dose Paraguard right away when adding those fish?


That was the same conclusion that I came to as well, however I thought that the Paraguard would have prevented the Purple Tang from contracting the Ich.

I have been dosing Paraguard daily for the past 2 weeks prior to the introduction of the newly caught fish.

Would 6 weeks of Hypo be enough? Or should I go 8 weeks?