ICh

rudy · #1 08-27-2007, 04:30 PM

MY FOWLR has ich. Cowfish and the porcupine (both very small are affected the most)

Is there any way to treat this? I have heard it is very difficult.

SEAN DUFFY · #2 08-27-2007, 04:34 PM

Get A Few Cleaner Wrasses Slowly Drop Your Salinity Very Slowly
The Best Way Is To Quarantine Them And Treat Them With Copper
Make Sure You Dont Put Any Copper In Your Main Tank Minute Levels Will Kill All Invert You Can Take Them Out And Place Them In Fresh Water For A Couple Minutes

christyf5 · #3 08-27-2007, 05:10 PM

Be careful if you use copper, I don't think you're supposed to use it with cowfish or pufferfish because they are scaleless. Perhaps a FW dip and lowered salinity would be the way to go.

Reefer Rob · #4 08-27-2007, 05:17 PM

Here ya go Rudy
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/tr...osalinity.html

Just be very careful as you get down to the lower salinity. Be ready to bring it back up a bit at the first sign of distress

Der_Iron_Chef · #5 08-27-2007, 05:21 PM

Have you added any new inhabitants that could have introduced it? Sometimes the fish will just overcome the symptoms (though the ich is still present in your system). Ich often manifests itself when present conditions cause the fish stress. What could this be in your case?

I wouldn't rely on cleaner wrasses....I'm fairly sure they don't actually treat ich, but rather eat the dead skin off the fish that is a result of the actual parasite underneath the surface of the skin.

As Christy said, copper might not be the thing for you (try a little research on google and you can find this out with certainty). Hyposalinity might be your best bet if the symptoms don't go away on their own.

rudy · #6 08-27-2007, 05:45 PM

So it is not a death sentence for fish then? I always understood it was

Redrover · #7 08-27-2007, 06:21 PM

Turn temp up [ 82 ] for a week...speeds up the ICH cycle...got this from a twenty year reefer...worked for me...make sure they eat.
Good Luck

fkshiu · #8 08-27-2007, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redrover

Turn temp up [ 82 ] for a week...speeds up the ICH cycle...got this from a twenty year reefer...worked for me...make sure they eat.
Good Luck

You'll just get successive generations faster. Increasing temperature won't kill the crypto by itself.

skylord · #9 08-27-2007, 06:50 PM

What I have found to be important is food. I increase the number of times I feed....not so much the amount just more often. If it looks bad I will add a little garlic. Its more for a little added flavoring because I'm not convinced garlic does anything else. Then I just sit back and wait it out. I avoid any chemicals just because I fear transfering them to the main tank.

Scott

digital-audiophile · #10 08-27-2007, 07:56 PM

Everyone has their own "home remedy" for ich is seems. I think in the end after you battle it a few times you just do what is right for your own tank. I know this does not say much, and perhaps I am just talking in circles

All I ever do to treat ich is soak my food in garlic before I feed, I also tend to feed a little bit more during an ich outbreak as well. I find that by keeping any added stress to a minimum, they tend to get over it within a week.

I hold true to the theory that ich is always present in our tanks. My two tangs just started getting some ich spots yesterday for no good reason. Nothing new has been added to my tank so it was not introduced from the outside.

Now by many other peoples experience here I am a newbie, only having kept salt water tanks for 2-1/2 years but in that time I have battled ich more times than I can count and I have yet to lose a fish to it.

*knock on wood* maybe just dumb luck, but I really tink people overcomplicate when it comes to ich treatment.