Absence

My apologies for the lengthy absence.  Ich struck the tank a couple of weeks after adding my White Tail Bristletooth Tang and Six Line Wrasse from the quarantine tank.  Despite my quarantine efforts, about two weeks after adding the new fish to the main tank, I noticed the Tang beginning to develop the always dreaded white spots.

Seriously, I couldn’t believe it.  I hadn’t added any new fish in years and quarantined the Tang and Wrasse for more than three weeks without any sign of parasites.  In fact, I had even freshwater dipped the Tang before adding him to the quarantine tank out of an abundance of precaution.  Lesson learned.  Either something snuck in on one of the two new fish, or I had some unnoticed latent parasite load in the main tank that was under natural management that got out of whack with the addition of a member of the always Ich-friendly Tang family.

Regardless, once it became apparent this wasn’t my imagination, I began monitoring the other fish very carefully.  Sure enough, my Imperator was next to start showing signs of distress.  After a few cycles, I knew I was going to have to deal with this.  More fish were showing Ich and lethargy was setting in for the Tang and Imperator.

Of course, this also coincided with the start of a week long vacation.  As the departure day approached, I had to figure something out as the fish were approaching a tipping point.  Everyone was still eating, but I figured it was just a matter of time before I started sustaining casualties.

Having been in the hobby for 20+ years, I have dealt with Ich many times.  However, I had never dealt with it on this scale: ~200 gallons of system water in a fully blown reef tank full of coral, live rock, and fish.  I knew I was in for a messy challenge.

My upcoming posts will deal with my efforts to get rid of the Ich.  Look for posts on:

• Initial treatment with Polyp Labs Medic
• Decision to exercise the nuclear option: Cupramine
• Unconventional hospital tank methodology
• A cleaner shrimp SHOCKER
• Returning everything to normal

About 6 weeks have passed since initial treatment commenced I can say that the arrow is pointing up.  The main tank is visually a mess, but the fish look healthy and I have begun the process of removing the Cupramine from the system.