don duncan Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I thought that I would share my battle with ick so that everyone could benefit. I had a 215 fowler tank that I sold a few months ago. I had 2 wrase that got into it and stressed the tank out. Consequently the tank had a ick outbreak. I tried kick ick, garlic food, cleaner shrimp, cleaner wrase. None if it worked. I lost several of my fish that I had for several years. A fellow reefer (hydro) suggested a uv sterelizer. I purchased a 6ghp sterilight uv sterelizer. Within a few days the ick was under control. Fast forward to last week. I purchased Roberst Achilles tang. It is a beautiful fish. Well it got ick. I fed it food soaked in garlic and zoe. I bought a cleaner wrase. I know they have a low survival rate, but with 22 fish in the tank I think it will be ok. My other wrase ate my cleaner shrimp ($60 worth of expensive food). The ick did not get much better. I was worried that the tang was gonna die. It was swimming infront of the powerhead all the time. This is a bad sign, usally followed by death. Hydro lent me a uv sterelizer. I hooked it up and with in 3 days the ick is gone. I am a firm beliver in uv now. I know that the food and wrase helped, but I believe the uv was the trick. I dont think that I will run it 24/7, but will run it on some timed schedule. For you guys that don't know Hydro, He is a fellow reefer in Elgin. One of the nicest reefers I have met. I am glad he is back on the board. Thanks Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myvirtue Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 i agree uv's save lifes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Glad to hear that UV did the trick! Always nice hearing your input when your out at the shop! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard L Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Glad that achilles tang is better. He's too cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadodge Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 im glad as well to here he is on the up to up...beautiful fish. i thnk i may get one (UV sterilzer) if i ever have an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Thanks Don! Really glad to hear the achilles is better, I was getting a little worried when you told me it was swimming into the powerhead. For anyone that doesn't know fish swim in to powerheads to get more water flow over their gills to get more oxygen. When a fish has ich parasites cover the gills making it harder for them to breathe. I knew it would work, its amazing what a good UV can do. The UV that Don borrowed is a 6gpm sterlight sterilizer, its a little stronger than the one that I use on my tank. If this inspires someone to buy a UV please know that the flow rate is critical for it to work properly, If the water flow is to fast it may not kill anything at all. If its to slow you aren't using it to full capacity. Mine is a 5gpm sterlight sterlizer and I run it at 4.5gpm to make sure the kill rate is still high as the bulb gets older. You can add an inline flow meter like I did, got it off ebay for $25 and its made by dwyer. There are many different meters to choose from so pick the one that is between 0-10 gpm. Install an inline ball valve to raise and lower the flow rate to get it just right. OR you can just put the return line from the sterilizer in a 5 gallon bucket and time it filling up. Again using the ball valve to adjust the flow. Again Don that is great news Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 im glad as well to here he is on the up to up...beautiful fish. i thnk i may get one (UV sterilzer) if i ever have an issue. Jeremy you can always use mine if something comes up, problem is that most of the time once you need it you can't afford the 3-4 days it takes to get one in the mail. I've thought about renting my setup out on the club by the week but wasn't sure if that would require a sponsorship or not, borderline for sure. This would keep people from having to come up with $350 for a commercial grade sterilizer and pump when they may seldom need it. Maybe I'll talk to upper management about it, seems like it would be a good resource for people with sick tanks to use. Not trying to profit from it but I've got to cover cost. Those bulbs aren't cheap! I've had to buy a ballast already for another sterilight sterilizer and I've had to replace the quartz sleeve that got broken during cleaning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadodge Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 cool i have the extra fitting on the manifold that would work great, i just need to anny up and get one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Anyone have a UV setup I can borrow in N Austin? I've lost 4 fish due to ich and I'm not happy about it. I need to get a QT setup going but I don't have the time/resources to do it. If I could get a UV up and running, then I could order one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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