35G Saltwater Reef Journal

[crazyforcordoras]

Thank god i havent faced ich yet

 

[kyle sicard]

Dude, no. Just because the spots go away doesn't mean that ich is done. When I treated my clownfish for ich in my quarantine, he was treated for 2 weeks, then stayed another 3 weeks in quarantine even though he was fine.

L

From my understanding the Ich goes through a cycle. 1.) reporduces in sand. 2.)Hatches and swims around 3.) attaches to organisms 4.) Falls back off and reproduces again.

Something that I read showed in a study said that Ich cannot reporduce if the temp is set at 85 degrees or above. So my theory is that once the ich falls off the fish it wont be able to reproduce since that tanks temp has been set at 85 degrees since day 1 of the ich sighting. Thus not allowing it to reporduce and dieing off after a bit of time.

If this isn't correct please inform me of when it would be safe to add in a clean up crew? I'd really like to be able to get my snails in there. The algae needs some maintence. Also what other methods can I do to help with the removal of the disease in a timely manner. I might be open to medication through the LFS if it speeds up my time of adding in the clean up crew. tanks parameter are perfect in terms of quaility at this point.

 

[crazyforcordoras]

Ich wont bother snails. I would add them, espesially idf you have algae.

 

[ainsy]

Ich (& how to cure it!) is one of the most hotly debated topics in keeping marines.

Yes some people do swear by increased temp, some by either hyper or hypo salinity, others by treating with garlic. I have tried all and in various combinations and used propriety meds. IMO the 'reef safe' ones are useless. The non reef safe ones use copper - which is very effective but obviously is a no no!

One thing that I am certain of is that if I were fighting it I would not consider it gone until symptoms had gone & several weeks had passed. I think you will find if you try to skip the waiting phase you will be hit again shortly after introducing new fish.

 

[SaltNoob]

Honestly, what is the rush? I would not chance it. I am not trying to mediate how you run your own tank, but just cuz a few days go by wouldnt you want to make sure ich is completely gone before moving forward again? A few days to me sounds silly. I'd be scared of killing things for a couple weeks and the equivalent of the 35 gallons changed out over that time.

Just my thoughts, but there no is reason to scream through to a finish line, in fact it hurts the ecosystem. If you do some good reading like what I posted about Deep Sand Beds and infauna.. cool stuff. It takes months upwards of a year for thicker sand beds to reach full potential which truly establishes a reef that will be around and stable for years instead of months or just weeks for some.

Hope it rids itself of your tank soon! Good luck man.

-Tyler

 

[kyle sicard]

I'm talking about adding a clean up crew, I don't plan to add corals or more fish that I actually care if they die or not for another 2-4 weeks. I just want a cleaner crew, and now that I know that ich doesn't bother snails then I think I'm gonna go ahead and add them if someone else can confirm that. But in order to add them I'd have to drop temp because snails do not like 85+ water temps. So I might try treating with the garlic method or simply waiting. Sorry for the confusion but I DO NOT plan to add corals or fish for awhile also I need $$ to add those haha. cleaner crews are much less expensive.

Also I've been treating the ich for 1 week now, I plan to lower temps when it's time to add snails. Then proceed with garlic treatment while mainting a salinity of 1.025

 

[56jman]

Get a cuc from ReefCleaners, John is amazing The shipping is less there, only $28.

 

[ainsy]

I agree with Tyler.

To be honest I think you rushed the initial stocking - personally I wouldn't add anything before you are through the cycle (or mini-cycle if it is existing cured LR). I do this because I do not believe you should add any animal that you don't care if they die or not regardless of how expensive they are.

The biggest contributor to ich is stress - in your case most likely caused by the incomplete cycle.

IMO you should just slow down - one of my mantras is 'Nothing good in reefkeeping happens quickly'

 

[kyle sicard]

I agree with Tyler.

To be honest I think you rushed the initial stocking - personally I wouldn't add anything before you are through the cycle (or mini-cycle if it is existing cured LR). I do this because I do not believe you should add any animal that you don't care if they die or not regardless of how expensive they are.

The biggest contributor to ich is stress - in your case most likely caused by the incomplete cycle.

IMO you should just slow down - one of my mantras is 'Nothing good in reefkeeping happens quickly'

The cycle has been finished for 3-4 days now. Just tested water and the parameters are:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 0
Ph:8.2
Salinity: 1.025
Temp: currently lowering it slowly.

I called into the LFS and they confirmed that ich wont bother the snails. Next time I'm free im gonna swing by and pick up some snails. probably some Nassarius's, 3 mexican turbos, and a astera.

Update on ich, I got home today about an hour ago and all the ich has fallen off the fish.

In the next couple days I'm going to the LFS and picking up 8 nassarius snails, 1 blue legged hermit, 3 mexican turbos, and 1 astera.
That should suffice on algae. The nassarius's are for mixing up the sand.

 

[crazyforcordoras]

IMO you should just slow down - one of my mantras is 'Nothing good in reefkeeping happens quickly'

I read that same thing in a book, and its so true.

 

[SaltNoob]

Good to hear the ich has fallen off! =)

-Tyler

 

[56jman]

Hope the ich is gone for now and doesn't come back

Ps- try a nerite in your Cuc, nice cleaner and looks nice =)

 

[kyle sicard]

can you post a link of a nerite with info on them? I'm not sure what they are. I really like the nassarius snails. Whenever I feed the tank they unborrow and come up from the sand like zombies. very entertaining.

Just did a search on them (at lunch break) and I think I'm gonna stick with my carnivorous nassarius snails. They are just to cool. I Think I'm gonna scoop my CUC after class today. And pick up another 8 nassariu's after 10 or so days after adding the new inhabitants today.

 

[56jman]

Yup so cool

Nerites = Snail

Info on nerites: http/www.reefcleaners.org/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=3&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=34

Other good things to know, my nerites like to clump together during the day and feed at night, you also may have to,for the first couple days, remove them from the top of the glass as they go out of the water for the first couple days then they learn their boundaries and stay in the water.
http/www.reefcleaners.org/index.php?option=com_kunena&Itemid=0&func=view&catid=13&id=2521

They are beautiful, lay lots of eggs, and have big mouths. If you have a larger nerite they are good for removing cyano as they eat not that much but remove it by running through it and knocking it off.

 

[kyle sicard]

I don't want to add to many algae eating snails so they don't starve. I think I'm gonna stick with my algea eating rule of snails. 1 snail per 10 gallons. I currently have 3 large mexican turbos and one astera ,So I think that will suffice for now on the algae snails. The nassarius snails did a great job on mixing up the sand thus removing the algae on the top of the sand. (checked this am) I'll have the inhabitants in the tank in about 4 or more hours. Very excited. Thanks for the info tho.