Ich

[Maz13]

So I have this beautiful coral beauty that has been doing wonderful for a couple months now. All of a sudden it looks like she has bubbles on her. I look closer and it is actually faint white dots starting at the head and moving down. Is this the beginning of ich? If so what do I do. I don't have a quarantine tank to put her in. I tested my water and then took it to my LFS and had tem test it as well. Nitrates a little high but everything else is good. I hear so many different remedies and chemicals that can be used that it is overwhelming. This is my first experience with it. I need some good advice. Thanks!

 

[beaner_12]

fist of all do you have corals in your tank?

 

[Hyprviperx]

if you have corals DO NOT use copper in the main tank... it will kill the corals and sensitive inverts. use a small quarantine tank that will never be used for corals or inverts, as the copper can stay on the walls even if you clean it out well. i used some stuff last year and its ok to use w/ reef tanks it worked for me, ill post the name when i get home from work

 

[beaner_12]

if you do have corals use a medicine call rid ich. they sale it at petco and they should sale it at petsmart. i used this once already and it helped. its organic so it wont harm your corals or your inverts. make sure you turn off your skimmer for the process. another thing i did was dip the fish that had ich in fresh water. make sure you check the temp in the fresh water and have it the same as in your tank for the process. leave the fish there for about a minute. and add the fish carefully back into the tank. make sure you dont add the white spots that fell in the fresh water container. use the medicine untill you finish it. how big is your tank? dipping your fish in fresh water is risky because it stresses the fish. i did it because my clown was very sick and i knew if i didnt try he would still die. he survived and ive had him for 6 months already. good luck

 

[gar732]

I have fed garlic soaked mysis with good results. The garlic is supposed to boost their immune system and help them fight off the ich.

 

[Maz13]

I have one fire and ice coral I put in about a week ago. I have a 55 gal. with a remora c skimmer and a t-5 light setup with 4 white and 2 blue lights. Will this transfer to my other fish? Do I need to do a large water change? Thanks for the ideas so quickly. I don't want to lose this one, she is my favorite.

 

[beaner_12]

first go buy two of the medicine i told you, you have a big tank. the good thing about this medication is that if you overdoze nothing bad will happen. this could transfer to your other fish so the quicker you get it the better. eventhoug you dont see ich on your coral beaty anymore doesnt mean the parasite is not in your tank. so finish using the medicine. dont forget to turn off your skimmer or youl have all the medicine in there. good luck

 

[Hyprviperx]

ich will transfer if not treated, some of the slimier fish seem to not get it as easily but thats not to say they wont... ectoparasites are always little jerks so medicating is the best bet. if the problem was very mild i would recommend a skunk cleaner shrimp.

 

[Sasquatch]

going to "rain on parade" sorry about that lol Rid Ich imho is not reef safe and should not be used in a tank with inverts or corals (Rid Ich + contains formaldehyde (11.52% formalin) U.S. P. grade 4.26% and premium quality aquaculture-grade zinc-free chloride salt of malachite green 0.038% (per the container).
The company Kordon suggests removing any inverts you wish to save from the tank, that is a pretty vague statement when dealing with the life embedded in live rock, malachite green stains silicon and Im sure it absorbs into the rock as well.
The fish may survive the attack it may not, quarantine is best when the fish is somewhat healthy so unless your prepared to treat the fish and the display tank and any new arrivals in the recognized manner this issue will be back.

 

[RogerWilco357]

good luck sorry to hear that ich is present. I tried alot of stuff and lost all my fish ..then I got it again on another tank this time i
setup A QT tank and used the treatments that are not coral safe and saved all my fish..never again will I buy fish or corals without QT each item.

 

[Hyprviperx]

i used Kick-Ich.... " Reef Safe Kick-Ich is a water treatment for the control of ich (a.k.a. "whitespot disease") in marine and freshwater aquaria. It has been scientifically formulated to eliminate the free swimming, infectious stage of the ich life cycle while being safe for all freshwater and marine aquaria. Kick-Ich has a long shelf life at room temperature and is supplied in easy to use, self-dosing bottles. Safe for all fish, corals, invertebrates and macro algae, as well as the facultative anaerobes and nitrifying bacteria essential to biologic filtration." this is the link to a site you can read up on it, i got mine at the LFS near my house but it was this stuff. Ruby Reef - Kick-Ich, Safe Rally & HydroPlex

 

[Sasquatch]

i used Kick-Ich.... " Reef Safe Kick-Ich is a water treatment for the control of ich (a.k.a. "whitespot disease") in marine and freshwater aquaria. It has been scientifically formulated to eliminate the free swimming, infectious stage of the ich life cycle while being safe for all freshwater and marine aquaria. Kick-Ich has a long shelf life at room temperature and is supplied in easy to use, self-dosing bottles. Safe for all fish, corals, invertebrates and macro algae, as well as the facultative anaerobes and nitrifying bacteria essential to biologic filtration." this is the link to a site you can read up on it, i got mine at the LFS near my house but it was this stuff. Ruby Reef - Kick-Ich, Safe Rally & HydroPlex

Quote from wet web ..."I bought "REEF SAFE KICK-ICH" to treat it.
<IMO, this stuff is better used as salad dressing than a fish "medication"...and please don't use it in your main tank! It's really a "pepper sauce", intended to make the fish slough off body slime in the hope that the parasites go with it."

This is from Ruby's site as a back up to wet web "
It is generally impractical or impossible to attack, by chemical or drug therapy, maturing trophozoites residing between dermal layers of skin. [NOTE: It is possible to cause spots to "slide off" by employing highly stressful and sometimes toxic hyper-irritants that induce sliming and shedding of dermal layers.] Similarly, it is virtually impossible to attack [or irritate] the mucous coated trophonts. However, practical interruption of the infection cycle can be accomplished by attacking the unprotected, free swimming tomites. KICK-ICK™ is a water treatment that, when used as directed, can be directly and safely added to any marine, reef or freshwater aquarium to effectively interrupt the tomite stage of the Ich life cycle, without concern for the health and vigor of fish, corals, invertebrates or nitrifying bacteria.


I think its funny to refer to ich as an infection and attempt to treat it as such with nitromidazoles, perhaps when their skin slides off they are ripe for a "real" infection?


Hyprviperx, when reading a company blurb on a product always look elsewhere for the reality lol

[SIZE=+2][/SIZE]

 

[Hyprviperx]

it was A company's site that sells the product, not THE products web site, also it was highly recommended at one of the LFS and i worked like a charm for me and that is real world experience that even your best postings wont refute... they said it, it happened, therefore, it IS. also i see you shooting down a lot of ideas but yet you offer NONE care to comment on that? or perhaps you're too far up on your high and mighty pedestal to help the rest of us. also just to let you know the preface IMO means IN MY OPINION, which to the rest of us in the scientific community means NOTHING because it is an opinion, and you are using it as if it is a fact. dont try to back up your hearsay with other hearsay. also just to let you know if its to the point where the ich has gotten between the layers of the dermis then your fish is pretty much dead.

 

[Sasquatch]

it was A company's site that sells the product, not THE products web site, also it was highly recommended at one of the LFS and i worked like a charm for me and that is real world experience that even your best postings wont refute... they said it, it happened, therefore, it IS. also i see you shooting down a lot of ideas but yet you offer NONE care to comment on that? or perhaps you're too far up on your high and mighty pedestal to help the rest of us. also just to let you know the preface IMO means IN MY OPINION, which to the rest of us in the scientific community means NOTHING because it is an opinion, and you are using it as if it is a fact. dont try to back up your hearsay with other hearsay. also just to let you know if its to the point where the ich has gotten between the layers of the dermis then your fish is pretty much dead.

as your so bordering on flaming me here Ill just **** and let you spew your nonsense lol

 

[Maz13]

So aside from the bickering back and forth between a couple people I do appreciate all the opinions I have been getting. I would imagine that it really comes down to when you catch it and what process you use to combat it. Every case is going to be different and react differently right? I am leaning towards a quarantine tank for the coral beauty I believe is infected and then a treatment for the main tank. I have a clown, 2 fire gobies, red banded shrimp, and your generic clean-up crew. I worry about the corals that I have though. Is there really anything that is safe to put in the tank that won't affect the corals? Also, how big should I have my quarantine tank? I don't presently have one and I would like to keep costs down but if it is going to be the best way to treat as well as prevent when I get new livestock I believe it is the best idea. Can it be straight water or do I need to introduce sand and live rock as well? Ahh, so many questions. Thanks for the patience and responses.

 

[Hyprviperx]

as your so bordering on flaming me here Ill just **** and let you spew your nonsense lol

and yet still no suggestions for treatment?

 

[Sasquatch]

take your pick hypo or copper anything else is just BS

 

[Bugg_zy]

You can provide the best water and diet and hope your fish build up a resistance to it, but adding stress, new fish, etc. can trigger it again. Or you can take all your fish out(not just the Coral beauty) and treat them all in another tank. I believe ich life cycle is about 6-8 weeks if I remember right. So the main tank needs to be fishless long enough without hosts for the ich to cycle out. This subject always causes heated debate's. I have not tried any of this other treatments mentioned, they might work, but have heard many folks that the did not work for. The only ones I have heard that work (and I have used) is copper or hypo. I prefer hypo myself. As far as setting up a qt you can run a basic back filter and seed it with something from your tank bacteria wise to jump start it. GL, been there, it's not fun :sad: IMO :neutral:

 

[beaner_12]

what ever you plan to do, it is good to raise your temperature a little. this reduces the life cycle of the bacteria.

 

[KyleP]

I'm not huge on all the medicine and hospital talk stuff. For me, I seem to stress out the fish much more trying to cure it, than if I just leave it alone and try to figure out why the fish is sick (diet, bullying, water parameters, etc.)