Help!! Ich!!

[DEAD_BY_DAWN]

when my clowns got ich i used garlic to,just made my own by mushing a little raw garlic then adding a small amount of water leaving it over night then strained the mix and just put a small amount of the liquid on the food for a week ,no more ick and that was two months ago.

[bulletsworld]

Originally Posted by BMW Rider

I really hate ich.

I totally agree. It is a P.I.T.A (pain in the ..). You got that right!

I have battled ich on numerous occasions. And have even bought ich infected fish such as porcupine puffer's, boxfish & filefish just to save them & treat them of this disease. But with heavy infestation of ich it’s usually to late. Time is of the essence.

I use garlic as an added boost to help the fish fight the disease. I use Garlic extreme $10 @ Big Al's & soak all their food. But garlic alone will NOT rid your tank of ich or keep your fish or new fish from being re-infected.

Only two methods of treatment to RID of the disease ich
1) Hyposalinity- which I use & recommend

2) Cooper- which I DO NOT recommend. For many reasons: It's VERY easy to overdose. Copper is very toxic and may weaken or kill the fish if not used with care. Lots of fish like the tangs are VERY sensitive to copper. Many fish like a porcupine puffer's & boxfish can NOT be treated with copper. I have also found after copper treatment that it seems to fade the fish of their natural color. I prefer a more natural treatment, Hyposalinity.

Lofus,
It definitely looks like ich. These treatments above can only be treated in your 30gal QT tank. Here are some links with a collection of good reading & understanding of the disease and treatment. Step by step. Best of luck.

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/tr...marineich.html

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/tr...osalinity.html

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=282934

[Quinn]

Originally Posted by psuedo

Maybe get an anemone or a long tentacle plate, as when one of my tangs had ich it just rubbed it off on the anemone

In my opinion not exactly good advice.

[Delphinus]

Jim, what are your current water parameters? Specifically, what's the daytime max temp, nighttime min temp, specific gravity, pH (mix/max over a typical 24hr period), NO3, ammonia, etc.?

Last time I battled ick on a tang, it was on my recently-introduced red sea sailfin tang (almost 2 years ago). I checked the above parameters and found my SG to be 1.027... I lowered it to 1.025 as well as soaked my nori in garlic oil (from the garlic pills you can get at the grocery), and the ick was gone within a week.

[Lofus]

I'll check my params tonight. Normal daytime high temp is around 27C. It has been a while since I tested the water. I should know better.

I figure the addition of the Quinn's blenny was enough stress to set the ich off in him.

I've been soaking his nori in garlic juice from a bottle of minced garlic. All the fish seem to have a taste for it now. Next thing you know they will be wanting a chianti with it....

[TaTtOo]

I have been following forums here and on RC for quite some time now, although I am not even close to being a reef or ich (I hate even saying that word) expert, I have had some dealings with ich in my reef tank. I have tried Hypo and copper in my QT and have had sucess with both, BUT, this has not stopped tich from reoccurring. The best success I have had in dealing with this problem has been by simply adding a bottle of stress coat (following the proper dosage instructions) or slime coating to the tank EVERYTIME I added a new fish. I have found that this helps the fish adjust or become immune to ich (or something). Ever since I started doing this (about 10 months ago) I have not had an outbreak since.

This is just my $.02, and my experience, might be worth a shot. Its a better option than removeing all of the fish for 6-8 weeks for hypo and copper.

Thanks
TaTtOo

[Lofus]

I getting mixed signals...to the QT or in the Main tank?

it is definately ich. the spots are out on him now.

[TaTtOo]

If you use copper or hypo it has to be in QT or else the inverts/corals will likely die. The stress coat or garlic you can do in the main tank.

[Cap'n]

I would never use copper and I don't use a QT. Just give the infected fish a better, stress-free environment to live in and it will cure itself. Ich is always there, it just shows up when the fishes immune system is low.

There is no way to avoid getting mixed signals with this and many other topics in the marine world, everyone has their own opinion based on their experience. Take it all in and do what feels right to you.

[DiscusZ]

I have had my 1st ever ick outbreak recently/. never had it in a SW tank (Had it once in a FW tank with some fish i had shipped froma friend in New Jersey (Discus fish) box got lost and water was cold took me a long time to acclaimate and they all got ick.

My Hippo tang (who I got from mike noll) got ich a couple weeks after i got him, no one else got it I crushed some fresh garlic and rubbed it on some nori and feed that for a week. All seems fine (knock on wood)