got an ichy situation

[jjersey85]

hey, i was getting ready to do my first water change since setting up my tank and i noticed that my clown seems to have marine ich, whats the best solution for treating him without a qt tank? does temp raising help?

 

[Killerdrgn]

If your not planning on having corals, inverts, or other sensitive fish then use copper. If you do plan on having corals/inverts, but only have the clownfish in there for now, then you can try hyposalinity for like 6 weeks. If there are already other inhabitants of the tank besides the clowns then go out and buy a QT.

 

[jjersey85]

for the qt do i need to have a seperate filter set up or will it be ok if i just maintain water changes regularly

 

[Killerdrgn]

You just need something to aerate the tank I believe, but i'll leave that to someone more knowledgeable to respond on how to properly set up a QT tank. I think you can also do a search in the forums for this.

 

[topmav1]

for the qt do i need to have a seperate filter set up or will it be ok if i just maintain water changes regularly

Hey, Search for my name and look at the post I put up abt this. Battling the same thing and have a lot of info in there.

 

[jjersey85]

well i went to my reefs to reptiles and the guy there (completely blanking on his name) told me to try a formalin dip for about 45 min and then repeat next week if conditions dont change. im gonna go with that until i can set up a bare bottom qt tank and dip all the fish then let the tank run for 6 weeks sans fish.

 

[motortrendz]

if the fish is healthy, use garlic extract and keep it eating and their own imune system can fight them off..sometimes.. but a qt tank with a copper based treatment works best..

 

[topmav1]

The issue is that if it has Ich then Ich is in your tank and will stay there as long as it has a host to attach to...namely a fish. That is one of the reasons people say to set up a QT, to get all the fish out of the tank...

I'm in the middle of doing a Hyposalinity treatment for my kole tang.

 

[jjersey85]

well i did a 45 min formalin dip which seems to have cleared up the visible spots. i also performed a 25% water change. i stare at my fish for hours each day and today was the first visible signs i saw at all so i can only hope for the best. i feed him omega one marine pellets with garlic twice a day, should i get something else that provides more garlic or is that enough? just for safe measure im gonna dip him again next week as well.

 

[jjersey85]

even if i qt all the fish and treat them wont ich still be in the tank, in the substrate and in the rocks?

 

[KathyC]

even if i qt all the fish and treat them wont ich still be in the tank, in the substrate and in the rocks?

Not if you leave the main tank empty of fish for 6-8 weeks so the ich parasite can die off as it won't have a host.

btw - dipping the fish does absolutely nothing for the parasites that are 'protected' inside of the fish.

 

[jjersey85]

how am i supposed to get to the parasites inside the fish? and 6 to 8 weeks sucks but i guess its necessary.

 

[jjersey85]

oh does ich affect inverts like crabs and snails?

 

[Bob 1000]

Best cure for Ich is good water quality.. I have never qted a fish in 13+years.. The only time my fish might get ich is if the temp drops quickly..Even then it's usually gone in a couple days after having water warmed back up.. If your water quality(phosphates,nitrates, good bacteria level,,, meaning enough rock) is not good the fishes immune system is not good.. Just think about that for a few seconds and you'll have all the answers you need.. I've seen systems that have qted the crap out of fish and if the temp drops the fish still get ich but if the water quality is good it's not a problem..
Test your water you probably don't have good enough water quality, no offense.. Good test kits can save you a lot of heartache and cash..

 

[jjersey85]

yeah i thought about that too, im working on that, i know my levels have been a little erattic lately, but im hoping to get that all under control soon.

 

[topmav1]

Best cure for Ich is good water quality.. I have never qted a fish in 13+years.. The only time my fish might get ich is if the temp drops quickly..Even then it's usually gone in a couple days after having water warmed back up.. If your water quality(phosphates,nitrates, good bacteria level,,, meaning enough rock) is not good the fishes immune system is not good.. Just think about that for a few seconds and you'll have all the answers you need.. I've seen systems that have qted the crap out of fish and if the temp drops the fish still get ich but if the water quality is good it's not a problem..
Test your water you probably don't have good enough water quality, no offense.. Good test kits can save you a lot of heartache and cash..

Well...true and not true I guess. My params have been on target lately and the tank is thriving but My tang still managed to get Ich. Even if your quality is great your fish can still get sick if you bring Ich into the tank. That would be like saying if you had the greatest quality water and you took a fish with Ich and put him in your tank the Ich would miraculously disappear.

 

[Bob 1000]

I have put fish with ich in my tank and all my fish did not get it from that fish nor did the fish die.. I only speak from experience.. and I'm the Sh%^$,,,lmao..
How'd you get ich did the temp drop or did it just come out of no where?? Just wondering..

 

[KathyC]

oh does ich affect inverts like crabs and snails?

nope

how am i supposed to get to the parasites inside the fish? and 6 to 8 weeks sucks but i guess its necessary.

They will work their way out on their own, and then die in the QT set up you get for the fish - cause they need to be somewhere - being treated for their ich - while you tank is empty of fish for 6-8 weeks

Best cure for Ich is good water quality.. I have never qted a fish in 13+years.. The only time my fish might get ich is if the temp drops quickly..Even then it's usually gone in a couple days after having water warmed back up.. If your water quality(phosphates,nitrates, good bacteria level,,, meaning enough rock) is not good the fishes immune system is not good.. Just think about that for a few seconds and you'll have all the answers you need.. I've seen systems that have qted the crap out of fish and if the temp drops the fish still get ich but if the water quality is good it's not a problem..
Test your water you probably don't have good enough water quality, no offense.. Good test kits can save you a lot of heartache and cash..

H Tobin, you know I adore you, your are the original original..lol..but I so can't agree with you here.

Ich is a parasite, it MUST have a host to continue it's life cycle. If no host for x amount of time - it dies. Period.

I don't see where immunity comes into play since Ich is not a disease except to keep the general health of the fish up through eating (why so many feed garlic to fish with Ich) so it won't starve to death while the Ich is dealt with.

IF ich is already in a tank and the fish get stressed - for whatever reason - yes they seem more prone to getting ich, but it HAS to already be in the tank. It doesn't live in the air, it came from somewhere, that cup of sand you got from another reefer or more likely it came in on a fish or coral.
Some fish are immune to ich, some for a lifetime, some for shorter periods, many would like to know why that is so. Maybe you have some of the lucky ones.

..I'd also have to think that healthier water would make for healthier Ich..

 

[topmav1]

I have put fish with ich in my tank and all my fish did not get it from that fish nor did the fish die.. I only speak from experience.. and I'm the Sh%^$,,,lmao..
How'd you get ich did the temp drop or did it just come out of no where?? Just wondering..

No Temp drops but after your post I of course ran to check the one param that might have changed... my kH and it has changed over the last couple of weeks from 7 to about 4.6. Could that be the cause? I was dripping kalwasser to raise it from 2.37 and after got to 7 I got rid of the drip...now its back down.

 

[Bob 1000]

Alk couldn't have caused ich. unless there was none,,lmao. What test kits are you using?