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Originally Posted by vertex
I had a ich problem recently myself; I just added a great Coral Beauty on the weekend and 24 hrs later it showed some signs of ich. It had as many as 20 tiny spots I guess. Long story short, I put it in the main tank (a 33 gallon reef, understocked so not a HUGE risk) directly after a slow 3 hr acclimation period. I have done this with all my livestock and never lost a thing. I DO have a QT standing by incase things get worse (but honestly I've never needed it in 8 months of reefing!!). Anyway, I cranked the temp to 86, got the new C.B eating and kept a close eye on maintaining pristine water parameters.
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OMG, you acclimated for 3 HOURS! That’s WAY to long! The signs that your Coral Beauty was showing you were severe stress and lack of oxygen, which you ignored.
The longer the organism has been in the bag, the greater the build-up carbon dioxide and other waste and this may affect other parameters, such as dissolved oxygen. He was running out of oxygen! HELP he was saying, HELP! You’ve been lucky not to lose a fish yet. But a larger fish (i.e. powder brown tang) uses much more oxygen; polluting the water it was in, creating ammonia, then you chance loosing the fish. This has happened to me. A powder brown I was acclimating didn’t even make it out of the bag. It went through a spasm and flipped on its side and dead. I was so in disbelieve. But it happens. Many factors to consider. The LFS water condition, the temp drop on the way home effecting temp, and many more factors.
How long should acclimation take? “Unless the water parameters are vastly different, for example a large difference in specific gravity, 30 to 60 minutes is all that is required for the majority of organisms to adjust to changes in conditions. The exception to this is the echinoderms: sea stars, brittle stars, crinoids, sea cucumbers and sea urchins. Echinoderms are generally intolerant of large changes in water properties, in particular salinity. It is necessary to take significantly longer to allow echinoderms to acclimate ”
Check out this site it will go more into detail. As a quote from the link above.
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/tr...climation.html
Also raising the temp to 86! My gawd that’s extreme! Its very hard on the fish and as mentioned before on this thread it does have pro’s and con’s. Regardless it just makes the cycle run faster, including the fish.
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Originally Posted by vertex
The C.B. now after 4 days shows NO signs of ich but I will definitely keep watching closely. All other fish(Scooter Blenny, Clown Goby, and Maroon Clown) show no signs either, What a relief!
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Of course your fish would not show signs visible signs of Ich after 4 days, the life cycle of the parasite can be drop off in 3-7 days. But the peak time is 4-5 days. Meaning the Ich cysts fall off the fish once the cysts mature & then they fall right on your rock or substrate and divide (multiply) and then look for a host (your fish) again. Knowing how the Ich life cycle works is KEY to understanding the stages it goes through and breaking them. Check out this web site for detailed info on the life cycle of Ich.
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/tr...marineich.html
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Originally Posted by vertex
It sounds like ich can hang around in the tank for a long time if the fish introduced it and it might come back? If I see no signs of ich for several months, can the fish really still be carrying it? There doesn't seem to be any way to erradicate a tank of ich then if it has ever had it before and you keep fish the whole time.
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Again many factors already mentioned in this thread & debated. If you get an outbreak and you treat with proven methods of treatment, leaving main tank fallow and then quarantine EVERY new addition (includes inverts, corals, frags, etc.) then your tank will remain Ick free. As long as you don’t get impatient and do the gamble and just add that new addition without QT or treatment.
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Originally Posted by vertex
3. And finally, I have read a lot that people feed with garlic soaked food. Is this some fish store product you must use or is there some garlic extract at the local supermarket you can use? Is it harmful to feed all the fish with this even if they don't have ich!
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Some have their own recipe of garlic, I use a product you can get at BigAl’s or most LFS’s for about $11 bucks called “Garlic Extreme”, it by Kent. Great stuff and saves you the hassle of mixing or chopping up your own. Also is not harmful for your fish if their not infected, but think of it as an added booster. It’s said to act as some what of an immune booster for the fish. Garlic soaked foods for your fish also are used for fish that are finicky eater or are not eating.
Hope this answers all your questions.
