# Ich



## onetoedsloth (May 11, 2009)

Started up a 300 gallon tank. Let the tank cure for about 2.5 months intoduced a couple damsels waited another month thought it was safe to introduce livestock. Added 5 engineer gobies, 2 clownfish, and 2 green chromis.

The female clown got pale a couple days after adding to the the tank stopped eating and died. One engineer goby attempted to swim through a Tunze powerhead and failed.

I have about 20 snails, 50 hermits, a horseshoe crab and tons of serpent starfish that hitched a ride in with my live rock.

Yesterday I added an Anthia, this morning I when to view the tank and noticed it (the Anthia) was covered in white specks which I am assuming are Ich.

If I pull the fish now and treat it what are the chances it has already dropped Ich spores or Ichlings in to the main tank?

Do I need to pull all the fish?

I have read about 20 forums on Ich today and i can't determine the best course of action. I have read that medications are pretty much worthless in the main tank unless you want to kill everything in it.

Any help is welcome.


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## Kellsindell (Sep 15, 2008)

oops


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## Kellsindell (Sep 15, 2008)

If you do put treatment, most (not all) will kill inverts and misc of that sort. I'd say to pull your fish from the tank and put them into a quarantine tank. After your do that try hypo salinity hypoOSTtherapyart.htm MarTrtHypoSalFAQs will give some facts. Pasfur is another good person to get info from for this too. 

Always quarantine your fish before you put them into a tank and do not add too many fish into the tank at once. The bio-load has to adjust to the new mass that's in the tank. You must increase your bio-load over time and not all at once. 

Anthias are very sensitive fish and should be kept in schools/shoals for best success. They need to eat at 2-3 times a day and require a lot of oxygen. Please research research research before you purchase anything else.


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

My opinion on treatment is simple. I do not use any chemical treatments, and I avoid altering the environment if at all possible. In other words, I do not lower salinity or raise temperature. I prefer to boost the immunity of the fish by adding a garlic supplement to the diet, and to reduce the pathogens present in the water by running a UV Sterilizer.

I have become such a strong believer in UV Sterilizers that I consider them to be as valuable on a marine aquarium as the protein skimmer. 

Oh yeah, why did you add a sensitive fish like an Anthias without a proper quarantine period? You can't skip on the Q-tank, not when dealing with such a large project and expense. The risk is far to great.


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## onetoedsloth (May 11, 2009)

I hadn't realized that anthias were so delicate. the store I bought them from said they were pretty hardy. Thank you guys for the feedback.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Ah, the uneducated retailer & buyer strikes again! Of course I'm the type of person who goes back to the retailer and educates them in a very polite way. 
Good luck treating the ich. I'd follow Kell's & Pasfur's advice to the letter


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## Kellsindell (Sep 15, 2008)

onetoedsloth said:


> I hadn't realized that anthias were so delicate. the store I bought them from said they were pretty hardy. Thank you guys for the feedback.


Wow, that's realy sad. Anthias are very delicate for the delicate saltwater. They are something that a novice shouldn't get.


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