Ick in my FOWLR!

[Bill S]

Interesting post, Richard. We DO need to see if we can make it a "sticky". BTW, didn't you and Mark dip fish - especially CBB - for flukes?

Back to my hippo - when I say he/she gets regular outbreaks, these ARE minor - and the fish eats just fine. Only rarely do any of my others have ANY spots - if they do, it's just 1 or 2. The hippo will have 10 or so on each side. Interestingly from Steven's article, the hippo sleeps in the SAME place every night...

[Richard]

Interesting post, Richard. We DO need to see if we can make it a "sticky". BTW, didn't you and Mark dip fish - especially CBB - for flukes?

We put just about all fish in fw for 15 minutes upon arrival. Not a single shipment where I couldn't find various types of flukes and parasitic copepods/isopods in the dip water afterward. Most of these types of parasites are not easily visible and they usually don't become so much of a problem that they kill the fish but they are a stressor that can cause the fish to be more susceptible or have more problems overcoming to ich.

Unlike Steven Pro I do not recommend fw dips to treat ich. They have not been a very reliable way to treat it IME. FW dips are part of my standard acclimation though. In most of the negative experiences I've heard of the fw dip was either not done correctly, not done long enough (most people do 1 or 2 minutes which is pointless IMO), or done as a last resort. The problem with doing them as a last resort is the fish is already very weak & stressed so they're not going to handle it very well. I use fw dips as a first resort (kind of like a preventative) when they are strong and they can handle the fw dip without a problem. I've fw dipped a fair number of fish (maybe a couple thousand, not sure really) in this way, never lost one from it.

Quarantining is of course the best option as far as keeping ich out of the display so you never have to deal with it there. That presents some problems too especially with bigger tanks. I'll use you for an example Bill, if you would have quarantined everything (fish & coral & rock) in your 215 for no less than 4 weeks how long would it have taken to get your tank stocked?

[Bill S]

Richard, re-read the dip part of the article. Steven does NOT recommend FW dipping for treatment - ONLY for new fish.

Yes, quarantining would have been a beast. Actually, it probably wouldn't have been feasible, as I have a bunch of tangs, and wanted most of them added at the same time. I have a 55, but putting a bunch of new tangs into a 55 would have been like WWIII.

Still, I'd like it better if I didn't have occasional minor outbreaks. That being said, I don't have plans to add any more big fish to the tank, and just a couple of weeks ago I re-aquascaped 1/2 the tank and I like it a LOT! Those are the triggers...

[Richard]

Oh thanks for pointing that out. I had read the first couple sentences and then moved on since I thought he was saying something contrary to what my experience has been. Should have read the whole thing. His experience is pretty much exactly the same as mine.

BTW, I got the advice on FW dips on new fish from the former owner of Aquarium Sales & Service. They were THE sw shop in SA for around 20 yrs. I would guess he has done it on tens of thousands of fish.

[Rychek]

I think "aquascaping" was what really set my tang off. My intent wasn't to aquascape though. I was trying to catch the mandarin.

So far all of my surviving fish are eating well. Those that were showing signs of ich are showing improvements as well. The only digression I've noticed it that my lawnmower blenny has started flashing. I haven't noticed any spots though.

Thanks for the links and discussion everyone. This thread is proving immensely helpful.

[Rychek]

Update...

Due to digressions in the ICH batte I moved all of my fish (tang, 2 O. clowns, mandarin and blenny) to a 20 gal quarantine tank. the first day went well and the fish were looking good, but I woke up this morning to find all but the blenny dead. I didn't have time to do any testing, but I'll do that when I get home. More info to come...

[BA]

wow sorry to hear that :(

[Rychek]

I think my fish suffocated. I think it was a matter of too many fish with ICH (less effective gill function) in a small tank with insufficient aeration. I'm inclined to think this because the blenny was breathing rapidly when I found the other fish dead. I added a Maxi-Jet and opened the air valve most of the way then went to work. When I got home, the blenny was breathing normally. Also, the dead fish had their gills splayed out like they weren't getting enough oxygen.

[SKNR]

Rychek, I am sorry to hear that.

[Richard]

Sorry to hear that. It does sound like insufficient aeration.

Just for future reference, one really good and cheap way to provide lots of aeration is a cheap air pump and some rigid airline (no airstone). That will keep the surface churning and provide lots of gas exchange.