NOS-ICH anyone tried?

[hillegom]

Here is some reading for you
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...ths-facts.html

And tank transfer which is what I do as well.
http://atj.net.au/marineaquaria/3daytransfer.html

[smitas5]

Would UV light help with this? I might be getting paranoid here, but I think. I saw some spots this evening.. Usually its more visible under moonlight.

I was thinking to get UV maybe permanently installed? What kind for 50G?

[hillegom]

UV light will help of course, but can never get rid of them all. They have to pass through the light to die, at the right flow speed for the light you buy. Some would hatch and reinfest the fish before being "irradiated."
Its not easy to totally get rid of ick, but can be done. It takes time.
Read up on all the material you can find.

[smitas5]

any particular UV light would you recommend for 50G cube? I was going to buy something on eBay, but then what do I know, never had one before.. what Wattage should I look for?

[asylumdown]

Originally Posted by smitas5

Would UV light help with this? I might be getting paranoid here, but I think. I saw some spots this evening.. Usually its more visible under moonlight.

I was thinking to get UV maybe permanently installed? What kind for 50G?

I think UV sterilizers do more to make the people who buy them feel like they're doing something proactive about ich than actually combat the C. irritans parasite in any meaningful way.

Studies on the life cycle of marine ich have repeatedly shown that the parasite both detaches from the fish, and hatches from the substrate at night, with peak activity between 3 and 6am if I remember correctly. Once the theronts emerge from the tomont cyst, they swim about in a spiral pattern looking for a host, which they have to find within 18-24 hours or they die, though one study found they lost the ability to actually infect a new host even faster.

The reason I say this is because the parasite couldn't have evolved and survived over millions of years if it spent any significant amount of the time it's searching for a new host just blindly spinning about in the water column of something as big as the ocean. The fact that it both drops off the fish and hatches in the middle of the night is most likely an evolutionary strategy to minimize the distance between itself, a suitable substrate, and it's next host. The parasite drops off your fish when they're tucked away in their favourite night time hiding place, usually less than an inch or two from the substrate it encysts upon, in nooks and crannies filled with a gauntlet of suitable places for it to attach between it and your UV sterilizer. Since many/most fish (especially in aquariums) return to the same places to sleep every single night, the vast majority of infection will take place within seconds of the theronts hatching, long before any of that water will make its way to a UV sterilizer. I've seen people say they added a UV sterilizer and then ich went away, but that is the same kind of correlation fallacy that lead ancient hunter gatherers to believe that they could make it rain by doing a special dance.

Also it's absolutely possible to have an ich free tank. The people who say otherwise are usually just saying that to justify whatever ineffective or (more often) totally absent quarantine procedure they happen to subscribe to. A more accurate statement would add the caveat that it's impossible to have or maintain an ich free tank when you don't prophylactically quarantine all fish using a method that's known to eliminate C. irritans from the beginning, or appropriately treat and fallow a tank once infection does occur. C. irritans is a discrete organism with a specific life cycle. It doesn't just appear from the ether, and assuming you take even moderate precautions when adding things to your tank, it can be kept out permanently, you just need to understand it's life cycle.

Also, not every white speck on your fish is 'ich', and yes it's possible to be overly paranoid. I'd never get too worried, or even start talking about 'ich' unless the fish was covered in dozens/hundreds of conspicuous, unambiguous spots. Knee jerk reactions at the first sign of something that could just as easily be a small grain of sand, a play of light on textured scales, or a million other fleeting skin conditions are more likely to kill your fish than ich is.

[Craigdillman]

^ yea agree

Honestly I think your beating around the bush if you want the ich gone you got to treat it properly if you don't mind having it then it is what it is, UV sterilizer isn't the answer I think would be a waste of money on that tank and I'm not even sure you would "see " any benifit from it

I think a lot of people are giving the same good advise

[smitas5]

Ok, I get it, the only other reason I was considering UV, was the algae on the glass, thought I'll keep it for algae if it does not help with the ich.

As for the ich, I have some logistic questions..

2 ways I was thinking to handle this if it gets any worse at all:
- move all fish to quarantine, treat with hypo 1.008 for a week or two, but don't move them back to the DT for another week, but start raising the salts and add some live rock I have cycling separately for the last 3 weeks on their own.. QT is small and keeping amonia away is a challenge.

- do same, except instead of hypo, treat with copper and then keep doing water changes till all copper gone before adding live rock..

Am I leaving any loopholes here for parasite to survive?

Fishes I have: maroon clown, yellow tang, mandarin, yellow stripe gobby. Even though I was told mandarin can not get ich, was thinking I would need to move him too?

And thansk again for all the advice..

[hillegom]

Most people keep the DT fallow for 8 weeks. Most strains of ick will be dead then. Any less, then you are gambling.
I would QT the mandarin as well. Ick also infects fishes gills where we do not see the parasites.
I don't do hypo, but I thought the lowest you could go was 1.009?
I do tank transfer. Once your DT is free of ick, you might consider this method for your incoming, usually one fish at a time.

[Craigdillman]

Originally Posted by smitas5

Ok, I get it, the only other reason I was considering UV, was the algae on the glass, thought I'll keep it for algae if it does not help with the ich.

As for the ich, I have some logistic questions..

2 ways I was thinking to handle this if it gets any worse at all:
- move all fish to quarantine, treat with hypo 1.008 for a week or two, but don't move them back to the DT for another week, but start raising the salts and add some live rock I have cycling separately for the last 3 weeks on their own.. QT is small and keeping amonia away is a challenge.

- do same, except instead of hypo, treat with copper and then keep doing water changes till all copper gone before adding live rock..

Am I leaving any loopholes here for parasite to survive?

Fishes I have: maroon clown, yellow tang, mandarin, yellow stripe gobby. Even though I was told mandarin can not get ich, was thinking I would need to move him too?




And thansk again for all the advice..

Ok man IMMA Help you out here

Both the hypo or copper will work but

- you need a month of hypo for it to be sure you get it 2 weeks isn't long enough
- copper is a shorter process than hypo and might be better to be quick for the mandarin cause thats gonna cause a problem

EITHER way you need to keep the DT fallow no fish for 8 weeks or all your work will go to waste, yes most concensious is that mandarins are mostly immune or less likely to get to ich BUT they can still be a carrier of it and it would suck to do all the work and waste the time

Have you looked up the TT method? For the price of that UV serializer u were talking about you can go on kijiji/canreef and get 2 used 20-30 gallon tanks 2 heaters 2 old crappy HOB filters and lids and do the TT method its only 14 days i think and after you just keep them in the tank for 6 more weeks and make sure the DT is fallow and your good to go

Sounds like you already have 1 QT tank and setup so all you need is 1 more used set up nothing fancy

OR last option is Grab a used tank (but bigger) and run a Copper in there if it was bigger than the ammonia is slower and you can do WC and run Prime and it should be ok

I know its a lot man i only trying to help you Cause i feel for you and went throughout the same process when i upgraded from my 30 to big tank over a year ago and got ich was in denial and finally came to terms and got my **** together and fixed it and now i won't go without QT every fish and dipping inspecting all my coral

[hillegom]

^^^

Smitas I would advise you to read this again:
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...ths-facts.html