rid ich +

[linbeg]

I've heard that the only way to erradicate ich is through a copper treatment? I used rid ich + on my juvenille tang covered in ich and within a week or so the spots have completely dissappeared. Do you guys think that my tang doesnt have ich anymore? or should i wait longer?

[jack1978]

I've heard that the only way to erradicate ich is through a copper treatment? I used rid ich + on my juvenille tang covered in ich and within a week or so the spots have completely dissappeared. Do you guys think that my tang doesnt have ich anymore? or should i wait longer?

The ich is just going through it's cycle. Its dropped off the fish and multiplying. I tried that stuff, doesn't work. I ultimately used Cupramine in a qt tank and problem solved. Run your display without fish for 10 weeks and put your ich-free fish back in.

[Tamberav]

The ich "disappearing" can just part of the life cycle.

 

Did you dip the fish or quarantine it or treat the whole tank?

[Dark_ice]

+1 to above, don't talk any chances

[Squared]

copper or tank transfer. while the ich has cleared off the tang, move it to a QT with a new heater and pump and all new water for 3 days and repeat.

 

If you use copper don't forget you need a test kit to make sure you don't go overboard or dose too little.

 

Is this in your DT? Do you have other fish?

[spazizz]

Rid ich + helps mask the problem. Ive used it many times, what would happen was.. Id treat the tank, ich would go away then show up months later. It wasn't until I tried hyposalinity that ich went away for good.

[the gzaa]

I was under the impression that copper was very bad for a salt water reef?

[Tamberav]

I was under the impression that copper was very bad for a salt water reef?

 

it is, the fish needs to be treated in a quarantine tank.

[the gzaa]

it is, the fish needs to be treated in a quarantine tank.

I figured. Thanks for clearing that up for me!

[SquishyFishy]

I woke up this morning and glanced at my Gramma and he looked covered in white spots...could ich show up that fast, from totally clear one day to covered the next?????

 

My main problem is I can't catch this fish, even if I tried to take apart the entire scape it would be almost impossible with out killing my coral. He's hiding in a cave right now after a session of trying with the net so he's even more stressed now.

 

 

I have lost a green clown goby just recently, no body so I thought he may have been eaten by my torch or RBTA and crabs. Params are perfect. I tested every day after I missed the Goby. The only low reading was PH which I dose for. Other fish look fine. I have seen white stuff on several fish in the past that just turned out to be sand/debri, but I can't get the Gramma to come out to do a better inspection. He's freaked. Didn't come out for his Thera-A this morning.

 

I am really diligent about inspection. I stand in front of the tank for hours looking for problems, yes...really anal. But this appeared so quickly!

 

What is your best suggestion? Talk to me about the hypo salinity!!!!!

[jedimasterben]

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/fish-diseases-treatments/23132-marine-ich-myths-facts.html

 

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/fish-diseases-treatments/52236-curing-fish-marine-ich.html

[markalot]

I woke up this morning and glanced at my Gramma and he looked covered in white spots...could ich show up that fast, from totally clear one day to covered the next?????

 

My main problem is I can't catch this fish, even if I tried to take apart the entire scape it would be almost impossible with out killing my coral. He's hiding in a cave right now after a session of trying with the net so he's even more stressed now.

 

 

I have lost a green clown goby just recently, no body so I thought he may have been eaten by my torch or RBTA and crabs. Params are perfect. I tested every day after I missed the Goby. The only low reading was PH which I dose for. Other fish look fine. I have seen white stuff on several fish in the past that just turned out to be sand/debri, but I can't get the Gramma to come out to do a better inspection. He's freaked. Didn't come out for his Thera-A this morning.

 

I am really diligent about inspection. I stand in front of the tank for hours looking for problems, yes...really anal. But this appeared so quickly!

 

What is your best suggestion? Talk to me about the hypo salinity!!!!!

 

Multiple options here.

 

First off, it is perfectly normal for it to suddenly show up. It was there all the time and now it's in the final stage before it falls off and starts the cycle again. Others can better tell you how to rid your display and the fish of ich.

 

If the tank is mature and you keep the fish well fed and healthy they will eventually become immune to ich, but in stages. The most dangerous stage is when you think they are immune but it's still infesting their gills, where you can't see it. The fish will look fine but you will notice more rapid breathing than normal. In my experience most well fed fish can fight this off and, if you stop adding new fish, it will eventually fade... BUT IT'S STILL THERE.

 

So all is well, a year or so down the road you add another fish and boom, he gets ich. It probably came from your tank and was festering all the time, possibly slightly infecting some of your fish but at non dangerous or even irritating levels. This is why so many people choose to QT all fish and let the display go fallow to eliminate all ich. It can be done, I'm just not sure how many people actually succeed.

 

So if you're still following, you can see how confusing ich can be to newbies. Once you see it it's about to fall off, you use some magic product, bam, it falls off. The product works! No.

 

I had ich in both my 40 and 46, though I did not know it. Once I combined tanks into my 150 and my tangs started fighting they both broke out in ich. Eventually more of my fish showed symptoms but I did nothing. Now a couple of months down the road no more symptoms are visible and no rapid breathing in any fish, but when I add new fish two three things can happen...

 

1. It brings in a new strain and every fish gets infected or

2. The new fish, if it's immune system is compromised, will be killed by ich.

3. new fish gets ich, fights it off, shows some stress for a month or so but continues to eat well until all symptoms are gone.

 

I believe #2 just happened to me.

 

So, where are we now? Best course of action is to QT all fish, and try and never introduce ich into your tank. That may work. It will work if you are really diligent, but I suspect many people QT until the symptoms vanish and then add to the display thinking it's gone but it's not.

 

Why is ich such a killer in new tanks? Because the water sucks, the fish are stressed to begin with, and the ich pushes them over the edge. You see a lot of fish die in QT as well for the same reason.

 

Other observations:

 

- Some fish seem completely immune to ich. No spots and most importantly no heavy breathing.

- Some fish seem to be mildly effected by ich for a couple of generations and then show no other symptoms

- If a fish dies for no apparent reason and you don't QT then it was probably killed by ich you did not see.

 

Remember, lack of QT can introduce a lot worse diseases and end up wiping out all the fish in your tank quickly. I do not QT but I am not an advocate of not QT'ing. It's really the best practice.

[markalot]

Wait,

 

one thing in the previous post.

 

The only low reading was PH which I dose for

 

For another conversation, but you should usually not be dosing anything for PH. Did you mean KH?

[SquishyFishy]

Nope, I put in Aquavitro's 8.4 when the ph tests low or below 8.4

 

I have Kalkwassa and have hand dripped this into my ato water, but not right now. I'm using the 8.4 to increase the ph

 

I do not have any other test kit but the API saltwater master test. But I do weekly 25% water changes with rodi mixed myself with Coral Pro salt.

 

I will say that I have now gotten a good look at the Gramma and after 4 hours the spots I saw are not there...so if MI can't manifest, cycle and fall off in a 24 hr period then it had to be sand/debri and not ich. I hope so. I am really paranoid about my tank, constantly searching for the slightest problem so my imagination can run away from me at times.

 

Thanks for all the wonderful info though. I will be watching!

[markalot]

Nope, I put in Aquavitro's 8.4 when the ph tests low or below 8.4

 

I have Kalkwassa and have hand dripped this into my ato water, but not right now. I'm using the 8.4 to increase the ph

 

I do not have any other test kit but the API saltwater master test. But I do weekly 25% water changes with rodi mixed myself with Coral Pro salt.

 

I will say that I have now gotten a good look at the Gramma and after 4 hours the spots I saw are not there...so if MI can't manifest, cycle and fall off in a 24 hr period then it had to be sand/debri and not ich. I hope so. I am really paranoid about my tank, constantly searching for the slightest problem so my imagination can run away from me at times.

 

Thanks for all the wonderful info though. I will be watching!

 

You don't want to dose for PH, you need to do some more research there before you lose some corals. There is nothing wrong with a PH below 8.4 and really any PH is fine as long as it's above 7.8. For corals you need to keep Alkalinity fairly stable and any PH product will raise Alk, sometimes too quickly and too high. Invest in some better test kits, like Salifert for Calcium and KH, and forget testing for PH which is not that critical.

[hey]

Multiple options here.

 

First off, it is perfectly normal for it to suddenly show up. It was there all the time and now it's in the final stage before it falls off and starts the cycle again. Others can better tell you how to rid your display and the fish of ich.

 

If the tank is mature and you keep the fish well fed and healthy they will eventually become immune to ich, but in stages. The most dangerous stage is when you think they are immune but it's still infesting their gills, where you can't see it. The fish will look fine but you will notice more rapid breathing than normal. In my experience most well fed fish can fight this off and, if you stop adding new fish, it will eventually fade... BUT IT'S STILL THERE.

 

So all is well, a year or so down the road you add another fish and boom, he gets ich. It probably came from your tank and was festering all the time, possibly slightly infecting some of your fish but at non dangerous or even irritating levels. This is why so many people choose to QT all fish and let the display go fallow to eliminate all ich. It can be done, I'm just not sure how many people actually succeed.

 

So if you're still following, you can see how confusing ich can be to newbies. Once you see it it's about to fall off, you use some magic product, bam, it falls off. The product works! No.

 

I had ich in both my 40 and 46, though I did not know it. Once I combined tanks into my 150 and my tangs started fighting they both broke out in ich. Eventually more of my fish showed symptoms but I did nothing. Now a couple of months down the road no more symptoms are visible and no rapid breathing in any fish, but when I add new fish two things can happen...

 

1. It brings in a new strain and every fish gets infected or

2. The new fish, if it's immune system is compromised, will be killed by ich.

3. new fish gets ich, fights it off, shows some stress for a month or so but continues to eat well until all symptoms are gone.

 

I believe #2 just happened to me.

 

So, where are we now? Best course of action is to QT all fish, and try and never introduce ich into your tank. That may work. It will work if you are really diligent, but I suspect many people QT until the symptoms vanish and then add to the display thinking it's gone but it's not.

 

Why is ich such a killer in new tanks? Because the water sucks, the fish are stressed to begin with, and the ich pushes them over the edge. You see a lot of fish die in QT as well for the same reason.

 

Other observations:

 

- Some fish seem completely immune to ich. No spots and most importantly no heavy breathing.

- Some fish seem to be mildly effected by ich for a couple of generations and then show no other symptoms

- If a fish dies for no apparent reason and you don't QT then it was probably killed by ich you did not see.

 

Remember, lack of QT can introduce a lot worse diseases and end up wiping out all the fish in your tank quickly. I do not QT but I am not an advocate of not QT'ing. It's really the best practice.

 

Very well said, and a lot nastier things can come in than ich. While I feel like I may have misdiagnosed my uronema outbreak that killed off 1 fish within 2 days of symptoms the other 2 chromis are getting progressively worse and I am sure will not make it. That being said clowns are fine and leads to me believe ich. I may fallow the tank for 12 weeks and see how things go if I can ever catch my RG. If not I will be in the same boat as you are with your tank and new introductions will have to be very hardy to survive the initial onslaught of ich.

[SquishyFishy]

My corals are thriving. I intend to get the Salifert tests, just have had so much to purchase in the 8 months this tank has been up....just got my skimmer working 4 wks ago. Bought my light from Dave back in May...too many things to mention....

 

But will order them soon. Thanks for the info. Good to know my ph woes are really not so urgent, will attend to the calc/alk testing asap.

[SquishyFishy]

<_<Not one spot on anyone in the tank, guess I should learn to chill more..........