Ich help

[Mazi79]

I have a blue tang that looks like it has come down with ich. Can anyone recommend a good treatment for it? I have 2 cleaner shrimp but the tang won't get near them. Thanks in advance.

[blood_hound]

Treat yor fish with copper or hyposalinity in a QT and live your main tank fish less for a month or more just to make sure that the ick has complete its cycle.

[Beverly]

Links to ich and treatment:

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/marineich.html

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/hyposalinity.html

HTH.

[OCDP]

my true perc has ich! i have no idea how she got it, etc..

i don't have a spare tank, so its still in my display tank. im going to get some garlic extract and soak it in its food to help build immunity.

the ich comes back at night mostly.. when actinics are on, that's when I notice the ich. i dont even know how long the clown has had it for... it appears healthy, it eats still.... think she has a chance? i was told clowns are pretty tough and might fight it off?

[BCOrchidGuy]

If you are going to use copper medication I like cupramine by Sea Chem, it's easier on the fish than copper. The Hyposalinity treatment is good, alot less stressful on fish than copper and it's effective against Ich. Do you know what brought on the Ich? it's usually always there but it doesn't take a foot hold unless the fish is stressed for some reason IE, just purchased and put in your tank or moved etc.

QT all fish to treat or medicate them, QT all new fish, and all fish that have been moved. blah blah blah... just check out those links Bev posted, it's good stuff.

Doug

[Mazi79]

Thanks for the help everyone. I did a fresh water dip this morning and it looks fine now. Should I do another one just in case or only if it's showing symptoms again? The fish is new, only been in the tank for 2 days. It didn't look stressed, it was eating a ton right from the get go...

[Beverly]

To quote from http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/marineich.html

Are freshwater dips effective?

Freshwater dips are generally ineffective in the treatment of marine "Ich" infestations. Trophonts burrow deeply into the epithelium where they are generally protected from external influences. Colorni (1985) found that even after 18 hours in freshwater, infected fish still have trophonts attached in the same positions as they had held before the freshwater treatment. The trophonts later detached and completed their life cycle as normal.

Trophonts penetrate the epithelium which causes a loss in osmoregulatory capability. Infected fish are less able to cope with a sudden and drastic change in the ionic concentration of their environment. This is likely to cause further stress to the fish which will impair their ability to acquire immunity to the parasite.

[Mazi79]

hmmm... it seemed to work for me. The fish was covered this morning, dipped it and when I came home it was fine, completely recovered... I've read mixed opinions on the effectiveness of a freshwater dip, some swear by it and some say it's ineffective... oh well all that matters is that the tang is ok now.

[blood_hound]

FW dip only remove the ich on the surface of the fish scale but never fully remove it.I hate to say this but the improvment you have won't last long because ich is still in your tank and sometimes the next ich infection is much worst than the first .Your tank should be fish less for a month or more to let the ich life cycle finnish.

TRY TO USE GARLIC IT MAY HELP.


BUT GOOD LUCK!!!!

[Mazi79]

I was thinking of giving garlic a shot, does it actually work? has anyone tried kick ich in a reef tank?

[EmilyB]

If the fish is eating well, I would recommend garlic and some real water quality control. Don't mess with crap meds in your tank, if you feel you need to treat the fish do so in a hospital tank, with proven methods.

JMO.

[muck]

If the fish is eating well, I would recommend garlic and some real water quality control. Don't mess with crap meds in your tank, if you feel you need to treat the fish do so in a hospital tank, with proven methods.

JMO.
I agree with Deb dont mess your whole tank up. Use a QT tank for treatments if necessary.

[BCOrchidGuy]

I agree the Dip only works for stuff on the surface but the hyposalinity works nicely long term. Garlic some will argue is useless but I've always had good luck with it, as a preventative measure as well as part of a treatment. My understanding is that it gets into the fishes blood stream and makes the fish taste bad to the parasite. Ever have a feast of curry and then laughed at how you smell the next day??
Blood Hound hit the nail on the head again, the parasite will be in your tank for a long time after the fish are taken out so caution should be observed. My understanding is that there is almost always Ich present in the tank but it takes a weakening of the fish to allow the Ich to become a problem.

Doug

[bulletsworld]

If the fish is eating well, I would recommend garlic and some real water quality control. Don't mess with crap meds in your tank, if you feel you need to treat the fish do so in a hospital tank, with proven methods.

JMO.


Very well said Deb! I completely agree.


Another note I wanted to add.....
I used to do fresh water dips myself but it is EXTREMELY stressful to the fish (the chase, capture, netting, expose to air) and ONLY gets rid of very little spec's of ich that are ONLY the really mature ich (very few) and ready to fall off to multiply in sand bed, although not always affective & too many variables (i.e time of dip, water quality, temp, the live cycle of parasite). All in all freshwater dips DO defeat the purpose as your going to add fish right back to you infected tank right? Isn't that right? Make sense now? And that infected fish acting as a host for any one speckle of parasite will only drop in 5-7days in sand to reproduce to help it to infect the fish again or your other fish. :neutral:

Also I don't believe in netting any fish either. PLEASE NO NETS! If your going to continue to do dips then try to coach the fish with a net underwater to a underwater cup in tank and then scoop up with water and move over to your freshwater, using minimal stress & very little time exposed to air. Also with netting, Clowns tend to stick to netting (loss of scales, scratches to eye, to name a few) and its extremely stressful to the fish making it harder for the fish to fight ich.

But again as others stated, Water quality key, less stress with tank & fish and end result when all fish are infected is usually treatment in hospital tank. Noting that time is of the essence and understanding the disease & its cycle is also crucial to understanding and controlling/remove parasites infestation.


Best of luck. *HUGS*

:mrgreen:

[Mazi79]

Thanks for all the help everyone! :biggrin:

[pocilipora]

Make sure there is always nori available to the tang all day. A good diet should help your fish, better than meds IMO. Hows your water quality? Is the fish being stressed in some way?

[BCOrchidGuy]

For a FW dip I used to do the following, try to match the temp of the water, use some SeaChem reef buffer to set the pH. The dip would last as long as possible before the fish started to show signs of stress and then the fish would go into a QT Tank... I learned my lesson the hard way about adding new fish to the aquarium.

If the fish is already in the aquarium and it gets sick a fish trap is a good way to catch the fish, just don't set it up in the AM and then come home and expect to find a happy content fish. As soon as it's trapped get it out and into the FW Dip and then the QT tank, lowering SG over a period of a few days is a great way to go. Maintaining a lower SG for a period of time and then very gradually increasing SG again to the tank level helps acclimate the fish slowly.

Doug
PS, either way, Ich sucks