Looking for Remedies to treat Ich
 

Hi,

I am wondering if anyone has any remedies for treating Ich. I recently got back from vacation and noticed 2 of my fish now have the parasite.

I did a 20% water change with RO water last week and now they seem to have it.

Would anyone know what caused it and how the fish be treated?

Thanks for your time.

RipCurl

Hard to be sure of the exact cause.
Treatment will depend on your set-up.

If this is a reef tank your options are limited....

1- remove fish to QT and treat with Copper meds
2- remove fish to QT and treat with hyposalinity
3- leave the fish in the DT, feed garlic and selcon with meals to bolster the fish immune system and let it run its course.

I have tried 'reef-safe' ick treatments in the past with no success. I chose option 3, lost 2 fish.

There may be other treatments I have missed,...hopefully others will chime in.

I would go with option #3, leave the fish alone and feed them well.

#3

#3 for me as well. if you are looking for "reef safe" treatment I have used protomarin with good success. It was used on a sps tank with clams but I did go a little lighter on the dosage. I am in the mist of trying a new treatment called rid ick made by kordon I think. Buddy of mine used it on his tank with good results.

When was the last time you add live stock to your tank? The ich parasite can hitchhike on the live stock.
Best and most effective treatment of marine ich is doing it in a QT and leave the tank fallow (fishless) for 9+ weeks.
There are several proven effective treatments for marine ich.
1. use copper, Chloroquine phosphate, or formalin (not for everyone because formalin is toxic to both animal and human. copper also).
2. hypo
3. tank transfer
I have used the last 2 methods on every one of my new fish and they are highly effective on treating marine ich. let me know which one you prefer and I can go into more details.

You can scan this post, and read more on the link in post #10

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...2&highlight=cp

Option 3, the Garlic method.

Use Garlic Extreme from the lfs or garlic extract from a health food store.
Soak dry food in the garlic. The reason is that it absorbs more garlic and you want to get as much in the fish as quickly as possible.
Feed very often for the same reason.
Start immediately.
Good Luck

I went the Proto Marin route last week, it made no difference for me, however my Proto Marin had just passed it's expiry date.

I'm trying out the Kordon's Rid-Ich+ right now. Yesterday my newly acquired 2" Purple Tang was COVERED in Ich even while it was introduced during the Proto Marin regime. I did a 50% WC last night and dosed the Rid-Ich+, and as of this morning half the spots were gone and all the livestock was eating. I am going to do another 50% WC and dose again tonight.

The Rid-Ich+ requires a minimum 25% WC before dosage daily and suggests to continue for 3-4 days after the last symptom of Ich disappears.

If the Rid-Ich+ still doesn't work, I'm going to have to resort to Paraguard. I've done some research and it "can" be dosed in the DT, however with caution as some invertebrates "may or may not" tolerate the medication. For the record, the Rid-Ich+ had the same warning.

I have 5 clams, a ton of SPS, and a few LPS, Anemones, and CUC that have not shown any adverse reactions so far to Proto Marin and Rid-Ich+.

I have also tried the 1 hour Paraguard dip with every new fish that was introduced to the DT.

My original option was to use the QT I had setup and treat with Cupramine and leave the DT fallow for 8-9 weeks, however I could not catch all the fish left in the DT. I resorted to trying the Proto Marin again, I had used it before with success, but I did not have clams the first time around. I ran out of options, so I had to treat the DT directly (NOT recommended unless you are extremely dedicated and can do emergency WC's at the drop of a hat and are willing to sacrifice any losses that may occur).

I will update the status of my battle with Ich tomorrow after tonight's WC and treatment of Rid-ich+.

Thank You All
 

I reallly appreciate all of your insightful advice everyone. I will keep you posted.

All the best,

RipCurl

I'm trying to beat this using garlic and water changes. I soaked dry foods in the morning and frozen at night. I also have garlic soaked seaweed for them to munch on during the day. Now the spots have gone away I'm performing many small water changes (10% every two days) for a two week period. Also, no new additions to the tank until the cycle is complete (Month without white spots).

The Purple Tang seems to be doing ok so far. All livestock has been fed with NLS Thera+ with Garlic and Garlic soaked Mysis, and JS Sea Veggies.

I can't say the same for a few of my SPS. I have determined that Rid-Ich+ may not be tolerated by some SPS. I lost my Cali Tort, Hawkins Echinata, Blue Matrix, Caroliniana, Strawberry Shortcake, Purple Plasma, Ice Berry Acro, Robin's Egg Lovelli, Purple Austera, Tricolour Valida. My 2 Aussie Scoly's weren't tolerating the Rid-Ich+ either, I have transferred them to my daughter's tank for now. :cry:

Also lost 1 B&W Ocellaris and a Filamented Flasher Wrasse to Ich. :sad:

I have also read that it usually isn't the Ich that kills the fish, but the secondary infections.

I think my next plan of action is to salvage what I have left and drain the tank, catch all the fish and put them into my QT to be treated with Cupramine.

Wish me luck...........:neutral:

I think that's best, because once you get rid of ick you will never seen it in your tank again unless you reintroduce it.

It is really nice to have a parasite free tank, it's worth the effort.

Sorry to hear about your fish and corals :(

Good luck!

Thank you for your sympathy.

Just an update.......
I was lucky enough to have a buddy of mine, Bblinks, who was kind enough to lend me a 25 gal tank for an additional QT. It has about 1" of sand, I preferred it to be bare bottom. It was STINKY!!! But beggars can't be choosers. Haha! Took me about 2 hours to thoroughly clean out the tank and then fill with half of my DT's water and half fresh SW.

Bblinks, I really appreciate the tank and I'll be forever indebted to you, buddy!

I drained my DT took out all of the LR, broke a few corals, and caught all but 1 fish, a Yellow Wrasse. The bugger hides in the sand at night, and even after sifting through the whole tank I couldn't find it. Will have to try again during the daytime when he's out and about.

I've got 2 QT's going now, 1 that is running Cupramine with the Purple Tang and Powder Blue. The Purple Tang is fully covered with Ich, while the Powder Blue shows no signs of it. I am treating them both just to be on the safe side. As of this afternoon, half the spots are gone on the Purple Tang.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the regime for Cupramine to treat for 2 weeks and then 2 weeks to monitor without Cupramine?

The other QT is running Paraguard with the remaining fish that don't show any symptoms, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. I'm going to do the same 2 weeks with Paraguard and 2 weeks without also.

Unfortunately there aren't clear instructions for how long to treat fish.

Does anyone know of an easy way to catch a timid Yellow Wrasse? I've got some pellets inside a net right now, I'm hoping it'll go in for the food so I can nab it.

Once I get him out, the DT will go fallow for 8-9 weeks and hopefully I'll finally be Ich FREE!!!

If anyone has anymore advice or tips, feel free to PM me!

Rst
 

I have used reef safe ich treatment for entire month and followed it to a tee.. Lfs had also said add extra doses.... Result no Ich and i lost no fish ...

Understanding the life cycle of the Ich parasite goes a long way in getting rid of it. I tried Hypo but my PH was just way too hard to keep under control past 1.015. I've also tried Cuprimine, but never having used it before and not doing enough research, I didn't know you couldn't use Amquel with it, so I ended up killing my fish :(
I've got 2 new fish in QT and I'm doing the tank transfer method to be pro-active. Keep in mind that just because the Ich isn't visible doesn't necessarily mean the fish don't have it. From my understanding many times they're buried in the fishes gills etc and only when they enter a certain stage of their life cycle and when the fish's own immune system can no long fight them off are they noticeable. When they are no longer noticeable, chances are the cysts have fallen off the fish and are burying themselves in the substrate of the tank where they will soon burst forth again looking for a host. That is why I think the tank transfer method will work the best with the least impact on the fish in the long run. But, alas, you still need to run a fishless DT for 8-10 weeks to starve out anything in there that remains in the substrate.

Ich
 

I do agree that if can do a complete transfer of fish , would be the best method, how ever if you don't have place move your entire tank(which is stressful on the fish as well) RSI did work.... Perhaps your right about the ich may not entirely be gone and the fish had grown amune to them. Do not add any new fish until tank is safe. The important part of this , is the RSI only works when the ich is in the stage to fall the fish... Then the product works... Again in takes time...I hated how dark my tank water looked,but after several heavy water changes after the cycles... My tank was better. My Zenias loved the RSI product... Never seen them grow so well...now this only my experience, those that have mentioned qt tanks....and you can catch your fish without major consequences to your tank, then Perhaps that is a better choice..,

IMO anyone who 'successfully' treats ich with 'reef-safe' remedies would have been just as successful without using it.