Ich in multiple tanks

[Kirsten]

My first ich outbreak! Feels like a rite of passage. I think I've actually had it in low, underlying levels for months from my very first platies that just got out of ich quarantine at the pet store. Thought they were all set and didn't want to give them further stress from quarantine. I must have thought wrong! Just seeing 1 or 2 spots on only maybe 1/4 of the fish in their tank, but that's enough evidence for me.

Of course, since I thought they were clean, I've been swapping plants around tanks, using the same tools and hoses for water changes, all the naughty stuff. So I think I'm seeing ich in more than one aquarium. The main outbreak is in my 36g livebearer tank that's overstocked with babies and juveniles right now, too many to fit comfortably in a 10g, so I'm treating the whole tank, lowering the water level to about 30g to make the daily water changes and dosing a little easier.

But for my other tanks, I'm definitely planning on moving the fish to a QT, treating them there, and hoping the ich dies out in the tank. Question is, should I do all tanks at once or just do one tank at a time? With preventive single shot doses to the tanks without symptoms but are still possibly contaminated? Do I risk reinfecting my main tank if I spread them out?

[Colu]

If you have be using the same equipment and plants from infected tank I would treat all of them just to be on the safe side

[lefty o]

i would do them all. get the treatment started before the ich can get out of hand.

[Eric R]

Bummer to hear, sounds like you have a plan to address the outbreak though. Best of luck, let us know how it goes!

[Kirsten]

10 minutes ago, ererer said:

Bummer to hear, sounds like you have a plan to address the outbreak though. Best of luck, let us know how it goes!

Thanks! Hah! Maybe some pictures will make this Disease thread a happy tank journal thread.

Here's Tank Zero. My bad, of course, for not treating the first batch of fish and for letting it get so overstocked with babies. Once they're out of treatment, I'm selling all the youngins I can, then getting an angelfish to snack on the less wary.

You can even see a spot or two in this close-up. When your SO mentions "wow, there are so many fish in this tank, it looks like a tank at the fish store!" you know you might be overstocked!

My new 29 cube with new croaking gouramis and diamondhead neons got a shot of the quarantine trio today. Hoping that's all they'll need, since I've moved some plants from other tanks in here, but not super recently:

And my sad, sad guppies and swordtails, back into quarantine so soon, because one or two of them have the spots:

After having lived the good life in their new tank (the mystery snails are clearly in a celebratory mood):

[morphy1701]

I have been blessed or lucky to not have to deal with Ich this latest tank foray. But I know how much of a pain it is! Fortunately it is treatable. Since I only have one tank I am slow to add new fish no matter how awesome I think they are. All my current fish are fairly long lived 3-4 years minimum, some closer to 10 so hopefully I won't have to replace any anytime soon. Sending good thoughts your way!

[morphy1701]

12 minutes ago, Kirsten said:

Thanks! Hah! Maybe some pictures will make this Disease thread a happy tank journal thread.

Here's Tank Zero. My bad, of course, for not treating the first batch of fish and for letting it get so overstocked with babies. Once they're out of treatment, I'm selling all the youngins I can, then getting an angelfish to snack on the less wary.

You can even see a spot or two in this close-up. When your SO mentions "wow, there are so many fish in this tank, it looks like a tank at the fish store!" you know you might be overstocked!

My new 29 cube with new croaking gouramis and diamondhead neons got a shot of the quarantine trio today. Hoping that's all they'll need, since I've moved some plants from other tanks in here, but not super recently:

And my sad, sad guppies and swordtails, back into quarantine so soon, because one or two of them have the spots:

After having lived the good life in their new tank (the mystery snails are clearly in a celebratory mood):

All beautiful tanks, BTW, despite you know... all the fish Covid.   🙃

[Fish Folk]

There’s something about changing seasons that triggers Ich. Cold snap in early winter, or warm snap in late winter, and it seems to show up at LFS. 
 

We gravel vac to get Ich tomites out .... but then the vac tube is “sus.” 

[Kirsten]

3 minutes ago, Fish Folk said:

There’s something about changing seasons that triggers Ich. Cold snap in early winter, or warm snap in late winter, and it seems to show up at LFS. 
 

We gravel vac to get Ich tomites out .... but then the vac tube is “sus.” 

Does letting the vac tube dry completely help sterilize it, or do you think I should use some vinegar or hydrogen peroxide on my Sick Tank tube once I'm done? And do you think I really have to do daily water changes and re-doses for 2 weeks like the Ich-X bottle says?

[Colu]

You could sterliser your equipment with a 3%. Hydrogen peroxide leave 24hour in the solution and then put in bucket of clear water 

Edited March 4, 2021 by Colu
Miss spelling

[Fish Folk]

5 minutes ago, Kirsten said:

Does letting the vac tube dry completely help sterilize it, or do you think I should use some vinegar or hydrogen peroxide on my Sick Tank tube once I'm done? And do you think I really have to do daily water changes and re-doses for 2 weeks like the Ich-X bottle says?

There’s different perspectives. When we get Ich, catch it early, then we usually raise temp a few degrees to move it through its life cycle faster. Treat Ich-X exactly as described for water volume. You can try using a dedicated “sick” siphon gravel vac, and immerse in a bucket with Ich-X or H2O2. Usually, if you catch it early, things work out. It’s when Ich is chronic that there’s no fixing it... 

[FrozenFins]

11 minutes ago, Kirsten said:

Does letting the vac tube dry completely help sterilize it, or do you think I should use some vinegar or hydrogen peroxide on my Sick Tank tube once I'm done? And do you think I really have to do daily water changes and re-doses for 2 weeks like the Ich-X bottle says?

Yep, thats exactly what I did! For my nets and buckets I let them dry out, and then for my gravel vac I got boiling water and pured it down the hosing, and then dried it out. 

What Colu said is right, you could just some chemicals to disenfect them but why spend the money when you dont have to?! 

You could also just leave everything for 3 days, this will let any ich die off as it has no host. 

[Kirsten]

Just now, Fish Folk said:

Usually, if you catch it early, things work out. It’s when Ich is chronic that there’s no fixing it... 

Thanks! Fingers crossed here. It could have come from the pet store months ago, which would be a bad sign. But maybe it came from one of my brand new fish in another tank or plants or something. It's funny, though, that of all the expenses of a new fish tank, the fish are actually one of the smallest. I don't want to lose any, of course, but worst case scenario, there are always more endlers and platies where that came from.

[Garren]

@Kirsten I am dealing with ICH as well. Just caught it in my one tank today. Luckly I have not been using equipment in other tanks so I should be good from spreading it. Good luck in getting rid of it. (I FEEL YOUR PAIN) 🥲

[Kirsten]

An update, related to this thread:

Since the spots haven't really responded to 5 days of ich-x, but neither have they exploded into salt grains everywhere, my next guess is a bacterial infection / body fungus.

Since I was able to easily scoop up my bamboo shrimp Norma and put her in my fish-free tank, I went further and took out most of my floating plants and stem plant bunches that haven't rooted yet and I'm slowly ramping up the salt content to help kill whatever it is.

My tank hasn't looked so bare since I set it up! But on the flip side, I can see my fish more easily, they have more swimming space, and I can see just how dang over stocked I am! Can't wait for this stuff to clear so I can sell some endlers:

Meanwhile my fish-free tank which is holding most of my plants and inverts looks totally insane. Going to leave it alone for at least another week in case there is any ich:

And my guppies and swordtails in quarantine are getting one more day of ich-x just in case, and they're also responding well to salt. I gave them another piece of plastic decor to give them a little more to do in this boring little tank

[Kirsten]

Just when I thought I was out of the woods, spotted absolute definite salt-grain ich spots on my new tetras and croaking gouramis, despite going through the trio. Son of a biscuit.

It's more prevalent (or maybe more visible) in the smaller, darker male, but he lurks in the back where it's warmer and darker and because the larger, paler male (? I'm guessing at all their sexes from seeing their internal structure through the light and based on some of their behaviors) keeps chasing him off from the front where food goes.

But even on the bigger, paler one, you can see at least one granule on the anal fin:

Grateful I have at least one tank free of fish right now, where my plants and inverts are hiding from the salt treatment I'm giving to the Love Tank and to my swordtails and guppies in the QT. Moved all the hornwort from the gourami tank to the fish-free tank to chill out. I noticed in my last run of ich-x that the hornwort dropped almost all its needles. I think it was trying to absorb all the malachite and formaldehyde in the medication! Thanks, hornwort, for trying to keep my fish safe from chemicals, but that's not needed right now.

So, starting the clock again on the fish-free tank. I hear it's 4 days without fish for ich to die from lack of a host. But I'll try to give it at least a week, even though my other tanks are nearly done. They can wait a little longer to have their plants back.

One thing I'm very grateful for right now: a wall calendar so I can keep track of these different tanks, how much salt is in them, when they're symptom-free.

Also, as much as I love the concept of the plastic storage container for a QT, I'm realizing it doesn't work as well for me as a classic glass 10g at eye level. The size of the storage bin was too hard for me to find a place for anywhere but on some dining room chairs, and the plastic is a bit too thick and cloudy for me to see through, which defeats the purpose of quarantining in many ways. Still grateful to have it as an emergency tank if I just need to separate out some fish, but for monitoring illness, gotta hand it to glass.

Learning experience all around! Now to find some adjustable heaters to crank it up for my gouramis. This was the tank I was having trouble getting consistently heated, too. Probably due to its odd dimensions and gouramis needing low, low flow. So the circulation's not great. But no more! Gotta turn up that heat, add salt and ich-x and beat this thing for good!