Sick coral beauty...could be ick

MikeP · #1 08-23-2006, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by i have crabs

are thier any other fish in the tank with the coral beauty right now? if thier is they will need treatment also if you want to get rid of the ich compleatly.

Yes there are other fish as well. 2 clowns, 2 pseudochromis, and a blue damsel. Is it possible to treat the whole tank with the inverts in there? In my fresh water tank I have got rid of ich by turning up the heat and adding aquarium salt. Is there a similar remedy for marine tanks?

howdy20012002 · #2 08-23-2006, 05:13 PM

u will most likely kill your inverts with the copper treatment (the pepper treatment won't really work in my experience)
Either pull the fish and treat in a QT or take the chance.
Ich can live up to a month in a tank without hosts...after that they will die off.
the only way really to get rid of it out of the tank is to leave it barren without hosts (ie fish) for at least a month or up to 6 weeks.
turning the heat up will only speed up the cycle..not get rid of the ich.
I would suggest looking at the conditions of the tank itself as well.
Generally healthy fish don't get ich. Your tank may be stressing out your fish and leaving it less resilient to disease.
Ich in itself generally isn't a huge issue..tangs are notorious for getting it.
it only becomes a big issue when it starts to conflict with breathing.
cleaner wrasses and cleaner shrimp may help but aren't a cure either.
the best way to deal with ich is to make sure that your fish are healthy
Some people say garlic will help fight ich. However, most of the reading I have suggests that all garlic does is help encourage the fish to eat more, therefore making it healthier and more able to fight the disease.
Hope this helps
Good luck
Neal

Moogled · #3 08-23-2006, 09:33 PM

Mike, FYI, what you are seeing might NOT be Ich.

If you have a skimmer that produces alot of bubbles, they stick to fish that swim around. A way to tell the difference is to take a look at your Coral Beauty. Do the white dots seem to be embedded into the epidermis or are they stuck on the outside?

Lights sometimes play with our eyes and make the air bubbles on the fish look white. If you have a sandbed, this could also be the case. Fish sometimes pick up grains of sand as well.

Take a look again for a better diagnosis.

Best of luck,

Marco

danny zubot · #4 08-23-2006, 10:51 PM

Another solution that takes a longer period of time but is more thoroug IMO is hyposalinity treatment. Either way you will need a Q-tank to achieve the cure.

MikeP · #5 08-23-2006, 10:54 PM

[quote=danny zubot]hyposalinity treatment. QUOTE]
How do I do this?

muck · #6 08-23-2006, 10:58 PM

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=22013

The last 2 articles should be of interest to you.

danny zubot · #7 08-23-2006, 11:03 PM

I knew you'd ask that. You should read up on it before attempting, but I'll give you the low-down.

Place ALL fish (because they will all be carriers even though they may not show symtoms) into Q-tank.

Gradually decrease the salinity over a few days (maybe a week, i can't remember). This is done with small water changes. Stop when you get to 9-11 ppt (again I don't remember) All inverts including parasites will begin to die off at around 19 ppt

You will actually notice the ick fall off of the fish and die. Leave salinity at the low level for a couple days, then very slowly increase the salinity back up to desired level.

I did mine over 6 weeks because that is beyond the life expectancy of the ick in their dormant state.

This method also benifits the fish who might be under stress from the parasites. By decreasing the salinity you are also decreasing the fish's osmotic rate, essentially making it easier for them to breath.

Be careful though, some fish will not tolerate lower salinity levels. And please read up on it before attampting, I'm second guessing the numbers above even as I write this.

Skimmer Juice · #8 08-24-2006, 12:59 AM

The fish can be as healthy as possible.If you add a fish that is untreated this can get all your fish sick.So make sure you treat every fish for ich before adding it.Even if it has no sign of disease.Some people may disagree but I have had a lot of experince with ich as my first fish was a cowfish.The best safest way is cuprimine in my opinion. As soon as I started treating my fish with it no problems.All my fish are healthy.Knock on wood.