A UV can actually tip the scales and make a difference more than you might think as long as it is appropriately sized. You want something as big as possible, 50w or up, anything less might work to clarify the water somewhat but won't be effective as a prophylactic (or whatever the correct term is for this). Ideally one with a wiper to keep the lamp tube as clean as possible and a new lamp (just like a halide or a t5 they lose effectiveness over time).

Without starting a debate I just wanted to add that my success rate with fish "overwhelmed" with ich and UV is as follows:

With UV -> 100%
Without -> 0%

That said there are many crappy UVs out there, you need a big boy running inline to make difference.

Best of luck Marie
 

I got the largest coralife uv sterlizer empolyed to eliminate the ick in my tank also, I am a stronge beliver in uv sterlizer and my achilles is looking a lot better then prior to it.

I have also used a product called protomarin, the dosing regime is a bit tricky but I have saved my hippo, powder blue using this stuff. It is said to be reefsafe and even with heavy sps and clams in the tank, it really worked wonders.

Good luck on the battle. my thought on the subject is just to feed heavy with garlic and selcom, uv filter, and lastly if must "reef safe" medication.

Hang in there Doofus. You too Marie. Fingers crossed over here.

This is the UV I have myself (and had success controlling ich with):
http://www.customaquatic.com/estore/...ct=UV-AUA00067

Your tank is bigger than the one I ran this on myself so you might want to look at a higher wattage (although the manufacturers website seems to suggest it can be used as a sterilizer on SW tanks up to 350gal. More info here - http://www.aquaultraviolet.com/produ...classic/57watt ). Bigger ones seem to double up on the lamps so 80w is really 2 40w units, 114 is really 2 57w units and so on.

hows Doofus doing?

He's still Ichy....all my fish are ichy even my mandarins but they seem to be all coping with it, poor things. Anthony sent me up a uv sterilizer but I haven't had the time or patience to figure out how to hook it up yet

Anthony is such a nice guy. He was lending his UV for me too. It is very easy to set it up, but you need to rinse it well first, I think Anthony never rinsed his :razz:

My observations of ich

1 Ich does not appear to be fatal. My fish have 0 tolerance for ich, having gone for many years in an ich free enviroment. Doofus for nearly 6 yrs, mandarins for 5 yrs, copperband for 4+ yrs and harry the hawkfish for 3 yrs. At one point a few weeks ago Doofus was nearly white he was covered so badly, right now he is in a relatively quiet time, his body just looks like the milky way

2 Garlic does not work to get rid of ich

3 6 weeks is not long enough to build up immunity

Good to hear Doofus is still fighting it.....What kind of garlic are you using Marie?

I'm using the fresh stuff, crushed and used immediately.....I'm reaallyy tired of the smell of garlic, it permeates everything :lol:

They're hard to find but apparently a diatom filter can remove ick, well the free floating stuff anyways. not sure if you could eventually get rid of it that way?

well, I think a diatom filter is as useless as a UV filter in terms of figting ich. You have to some how get all the free swimming ich to get pass the diatom filter or the UV filter before they attach to fish in order for them to work, assuming the filter is the right size with correct flow rate. That is not possible. You fail even if one ich parasite finds the fish before it goes through the filter.

This is a brand new UV sterilizer. 35 or 36w. I think for your tank, just screw on the clear plastic nozzles, add a couple of short pieces of vinyl tubing and add a powerhead in the display tank. You could stick it in the sump, but I think if you somehow position so it stays on your display tank you should be better off. Maybe zapstrap it onto something. Even a MJ1200 would work but its big enough you can go with more flow.