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djangoboots 
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 Topic: what would you do??
Posted: January 12 2004 at 8:39am |
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I am asking for some opinions on my situation. As some of you may
know I had some ich problems and ended up removing all of the fish
from my tank. Well on Jan 15 it will have been a month that my tank
has been without fish (all inverts remained). Do you think I should
maybe add a few back after a month or wait another two weeks or
toss em all back in.
There's a catch, 3 of my fish have been hanging at the LFS and doing
great. But there is also a Zanclus canescens ( moorish idol)
waiting there for me too. (he was in the exhibit at my local aquarium
for over the past year, but they took that exhibit down and he
needed a home, so he too has been waiting for my tank) I am torn,
while I want to do all I can for this wonderfull fish, by being sure the
ich is clear, i also don't think he is going to be happy being at the
LFS for too long as the tank he is in there is rather small.
Any opinions would be great.
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125g whannabe reef
30g FW w/puffers
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Suzy
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Posted: January 12 2004 at 8:46am |
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We have a cleaner shrimp, and a cleaner wrasse. I know our tank has
been exposed to ick (I think the spores live forever, and everytime
you get a new something, from anywhere, the exposure is re-
exposed!) but I haven't seen any since we got 'em.....
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Ryan Willden
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Posted: January 12 2004 at 9:22am |
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My advice... I'd add the less expensive fish back into the tank first (whenever you'd like) and feed with food that has been soaked in Garlic every feeding. (See posts on this website for recipes, etc...) Then after about a week or so, then you can try to add your Idol.
That's what I'd do. Patience is always a good thing, but keeping the Idol in a small tank for a long period of time isn't that great either...
Edited by Ryan Willden
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: January 12 2004 at 10:24am |
I agree with both Suzy and Ryan. Go ahead and add something, but be ready with the garlic and shrimp.
Adam
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jfinch
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Posted: January 12 2004 at 11:12am |
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mmmm. Garlic Shrimp...
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: January 12 2004 at 11:54am |
Jon,
Can you believe that some shrimp are actually eaten by HUMANS? I mean I can see a lion fish going for garlic shrimp, but a human. That just doesn't make any sense.
Adam
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djangoboots
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Posted: January 12 2004 at 11:58am |
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you guys are scaring me.
so you think i should go for it?
maybe i'll add my two Pterapogon kauderni (bangii cardinal)
tonight, they seem to be fairly ich resistant.
If it wasn't for the Z. canescens sitting in that tank waiting for
me i would probably wait another 2 weeks. Just trying to asses the
lesser of two evils.
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125g whannabe reef
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Kull
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Posted: January 12 2004 at 12:02pm |
Something else you might want to consider is adding a UV sterilizer to your tank.
The Shrimp idea is a good one as well.
IF the fish are good and healthy you shuold be ok to start bringing them back in ot your tank. But for the long term you either need to have regular garlic feedings and/or get a uv sterilizer for the tank.
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jbruse
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Posted: January 12 2004 at 12:21pm |
 Kull wrote:
Something else you might want to consider is adding a UV sterilizer to your tank |
I am not big on UV sterilizer for ICH. (I just think it kills too many other things) It doesn't sound like you were using garlic before this outbreak so maybe just start feeding with the garlic and as Suzy said cleaner shrimp they have always been good! Just my .02 cents. Let us know what you end up doing.
Edited by jbruse
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djangoboots
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Posted: January 12 2004 at 12:38pm |
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actually i was feeding garlic, am still feeding garlic, and had 2
cleaner shrimp and one cleaner goby (who died of the ich) all to no
avail.
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125g whannabe reef
30g FW w/puffers
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Suzy
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Posted: January 12 2004 at 12:55pm |
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I'd let you borrow our cleaner wrasse, but I'd have to catch him!
We've had him for years. Someone told me once the parasites were
eaten, he would die.........
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peregrinus
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Posted: January 12 2004 at 12:56pm |
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I have never had ick in my salt water tanks but i did once in one of my freash water, when i frist started in the hobby. I tryed all kinds of stuff to no avail. I was reading a book, and it said that if the temp of the water was raised to 80 or 82 deg's it would kill the ick. i did that 2 days later the ick was gone and never came back. Don't know if this can apply here just thought i would mention it.
Brian
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Ryan Willden
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Posted: January 12 2004 at 12:57pm |
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Hmmmm.... I am of the belief that Garlic is only a good weapon against parasites if the water conditions are ideal. I'm thinking there may have been some condition in your water that was making it difficult for the inhabitants of your tank to recuperate even with Garlic, etc... I'd have your water tested before you add the fish, just to be sure. I think too often people think Ich is a condition in your tank, when in reality, it is a side effect from a condition in your tank; ie salinity, temperature, water quality, etc... If your inhabintants immune systems aren't healthy, they cannot fight off the parasites. So if you had Ich before, you really need to evaluate what was the cause of the ich, and eliminate/fix it. Garlic will help give your fish a chance to "shake off" whatever is ailing them. But it won't solve water chemistry issues.
Edited by Ryan Willden
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djangoboots
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Posted: January 12 2004 at 1:21pm |
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I just don't know... I have read too many scientific articles saying
that ich should not be present in tanks at any level at any time.
maybe i am just worrying about this too. I never worry like this over
anything in my FW and nothing ever goes wrong with it!
Part of me thinks maybe i sould put the idol in first simply to get it
out of the small tank it is in, and it would give me more time to
quarantine my other fish that have been at the LFS for the past
month. oh i just don't know.
i need divine intervention
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125g whannabe reef
30g FW w/puffers
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jfinch
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Posted: January 12 2004 at 1:24pm |
Adam Blundell wrote:
Jon,
Can you believe that some shrimp are actually eaten by HUMANS? |
So I've heard  .
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kini
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Posted: January 12 2004 at 1:24pm |
djangoboots - I had never thought of praying for my tank 
Edited by kini
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: January 12 2004 at 1:33pm |
Ryan Willden wrote:
I think too often people think Ich is a condition in your tank, when in reality, it is a side effect from a condition in your tank |
I couldn't have said in any better. Very well worded.
Jon- I know it is hard to believe but so I hear as well.
Suzy, I like cleaner wrasse as well, but I wouldn't recommend one in this case since django is in the Carolinas and last I heard that was not a place to keep cleaner wrasse.
I still think a big ol water change and just good water quality is all she needs.
Adam
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djangoboots
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Posted: January 12 2004 at 1:43pm |
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adam,
just wondering but why should one not keep a cleaner wrasse in the
carolinas? and i did my water change this weekend. you'ld be proud,
didn't even spill any this time.
and while i would not consider myself remotely religious, i pray for
my tank regulalry. yes, i think it is a bit strange, but i have never
considered myself as normal either. he he
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30g FW w/puffers
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: January 12 2004 at 2:40pm |
djangoboots wrote:
adam,
just wondering but why should one not keep a cleaner wrasse in the
carolinas? |
Because there is an aquarium club there (although I'm not sure which one) that is heading up the legal initiative to ban the importing of them. Basically, they are trying to make it illegal to buy or sell cleaner wrasse in the US so that we don't deplete their populations on reefs. I'm going to look for their website, I can't remember which pres and club was leading that.
Adam
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: January 13 2004 at 12:54am |
That thing about garlic shrimp, you see, Adam Blundell, our illustrious marine club president, has never and will not eat seafood!  As far as I can tell, he just doesn't like it. I have to tease Adam at the first of this post because the other night, after the meeting, he told us that he doesn't read all of my long posts. I don't blame him. I'm an old windbag.  I will repeat Ryan's sound advice. Only add the cheaper fish, probably the ones in your hospital tank first, one at a time if you can bear it. Give each one a week before adding the next. A Bangaii is a logical first choice. To be frankly honest, if your tank is not healthy and matured, the Moorish Idol may be just as well off at the LFS. Most of the ones I've seen doing well were around a lot of algal growth for some reason. Raising the temperature simply speeds up the life cycle, it doesn't do anything to eliminate the parasite, unless you are wanting them to more quickly reach a stage of life where a certain medication will kill them, but I'm sure you already know that from your study of Ichthyology. I sure wish you could post some pics. Is there anyone you know with a digital camera? Take a pic of the full tank with and without flash and then some close-ups with and without flash. The flash shots need to be at an angle so the flash doesn't reflect back. Then email them or post them after resizing to 700 pixels wide, medium quality. Remembering what you originally came to us with in December and having spoken with you, I would say that your tank might be okay now, but nobody really knows. Not knowing what else you might be doing that shouldn't be done or what your tank looks like (even in just a picture) it would be crazy to suggest anything, IMHO. That said, I am a bit crazy, so I would ask you to describe what is currently growing in the tank, how much and for how long? What is the state of algal growth and what additional LR (native and store bought) has been added and how does it look compared to when you added it? Also, to update us, what has been the outcome of the kalkwasser issue?
Edited by Mark Peterson
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