I had 2 bad ich breakouts. The first one was after adding a powder blue. The second one after getting live rock from someone who had ich in his tank.
Here's what I did/tried.
1) Kick Ich during first breakout. Only helped the stronger more resilient fish. No discernable effect on more susceptible fish like the Powder Blue or my Regal Tang. Seemed to only knock the ich back a bit but didn't get rid of it. Dosed with 2 big bottles for twice as long as recommended and even double dosed. No help. Powder Blue died.
2) During first break out I moved the Regal Tang to a quarantine tank and treated with Cupramine for 10 days. Ich cured. Obviously still present in display tank but Regal built up a good immunity to it.
3) Second break out. Killed a Royal Gramma and Sohal Tang. Treated Sohal with Cupramine but it still died. Decided not to dose the display tank with any other non-copper based meds. Regal Tang still had bad ich from new live rock from ich infested tank. Sailfin tang had a wee bit of ich. Soaked all food in Selcon and garlic extract and Vitamin C. Added an 18W UV sterilizer. Ich SLOWLY started disappearing. Been 6 weeks now and my Regal Tang has never looked healthier. No spots of ich...EVER now. Used to always have one or two spots.
UV sterilizer does not cure ich but it helps prevent a re-infection. All fish are sparkiling clean and haven't been healthier.
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