Clownfish with ich

[hannahs]

I just got a clownfish on Saturday. It looks as if he has developed ich. He is eating fine. I have some formula two flakes with 2% garlic that he eats. I am also feeding formula one and mysis shrimp. What else can I do to help him get rid of the ich?

 

I was told that ich will go away on its own if the fish is eating okay but I want to know everything I can do for my fish.

 

 

[reefdan]

might go away, might not. i wouldn't count on it. quarantine it if you have the means. if not, search the forums on info about freshwater dips. basically, you dip the fish in tank temp fresh water for a few minutes. good luck

[peanut1917]

I wouldn't FW dip the fish, it will stress him/her out even more. Just add garlic and keep him well fed. It should wane soon. I wouldn't worry if he's still eating.

[herostar]

The best way to get rid of it is to quarantine him. In the quarantine tank you'll want to reduce the specific gravity to ~1.013 and keep the ph at what your tank is for 4-6 weeks. It'll kill the bacteria but the fish will still be able to survive. Keeping well fed helps too.

[hannahs]

Is there anything else I can feed to help?

[Samoyed]

Make sure you dont FW dip(i've never had a good expierence with that) and within time it should get better...as for now hes just stressed.

[chuckfullservice]

Just a suggestion but maybe a cleaner shrimp could help ?!?

[hannahs]

I've got a cleaner shrimp but the fish won't let him near to clean him.

 

If I do the quarantine with 1.013 SG, how gradually should I change the SG? I don't think you would want to change it too fast.

[ballhog]

I am going through the same thing with my clowns. You can do a FW dip to remove some of the spots and make the fish more comfortable, but it isn't going to stop it, the ich will return. The Ich is in the tank, you need to stop the life cycle of the ich, by removing the fish and put the clowns in a QT with a salinity of 1.009 - 1.010. I don't think 1.013 is low enough. To lower it, change 20% with RO water today, in 12 hours another 20% and then every 24 hours until the salinity is where you want it. Don't use a cheapo swing arm salinity meter.

It should take about 72 hours to lower it. You need to take you time when raising the salinity, spread it out over 2 wks, not raising the salinity more than 0.002 per day or 2.

When you lower the salinity, keep an eye on the PH, you may need to use a buffer.

 

 

Last night I read in Conditioning, Spawning and Rearing of Fish With Emphasis on Marine Clownfish by Frank Hoff, about hypo and hyper salinity dips. Any one ever trying raising the salinity and dipping a fish?

[reefdan]

i think the person that posted after me is right -if it's eating you probably don't want to FW dip it. let it eat. like i said, qt is best but you really want to bring the gravity down to 1.009-10. you want to bring it down slowly to not shock the fish as to temp, salinity, or pH (with a drip method or something lke that). The actual salinity in fish is about 1.009 and bringing it down to that level will allow it to focus its energy into fighting the ich/related illness instead of processing salt. it typically isn't even the ich that kills the fish. it usually weakens the fish immune system enough for other stuff to kill it (kind of like HIV/AIDS -except a parasite).

 

the ich is now in your tank and is going to be nearly impossible to eradicate without taking the fish out. i've read that ich can live for weeks, months, years in a tank -some people say it's always present. with that said, you want your fish strong enough to fight it. qt is best.

 

a guy at my LFS told me that Metronidazole will help kill it but who knows, my two baby black and white ocellaris still died.

 

cleaner shrimp will probably only hurt the fish by stressing it out more. they are usually helpful in preventing parasites, not extinguishing them

[RaSooch]

Sorry to hear about your clown

 

I had a similar problem and I purchased a 9w UV sterilizer from nanotuners and it seemed to clear up my problem in a few days.

 

I have also heard about and was refered to by someone on this forum about a med from Ruby Reef called Kick Ich whitch is stated to be reef safe and my LFS said he has used it in his tanks and his customers tanks and it doesn's seem to cause any problems. But I would definitely use with caution.

 

I personally opted to go with out using meds unless you quarantine.

 

if you don;t have a seperate tank for quarantine you could set up a bucket with heater and small pump. Just keep a close eye one him when doing so.

 

Good luck

[hannahs]

My clown seems to be a little better today. Doesn't have as many white spots as before. I still think I am going to take him out though and quarantine him.

 

After I remove the fish from the tank, how long should I wait before adding another fish. I am wanting to get a blenny but I don't want to get another fish until it is safe. Do you think a month would be long enough?

 

It seems like clownfish are the most common fish to get ich. Can other fish fight it off easier or something?

[RaSooch]

My clown seems to be a little better today. Doesn't have as many white spots as before. I still think I am going to take him out though and quarantine him.

 

After I remove the fish from the tank, how long should I wait before adding another fish. I am wanting to get a blenny but I don't want to get another fish until it is safe. Do you think a month would be long enough?

 

It seems like clownfish are the most common fish to get ich. Can other fish fight it off easier or something?

 

I have heard some stories from people that have a six line wrasse. The wrasse would pick the ich off the other fish and essentially cure the fish of the problem. I haven't seen it personally but these stories have sold me on buy one. I have also read that you should go without fish in your main system for about one to two months, which is kinda depressing. You might want to consider running the UV sterilizer that I mentioned earlier to speed things up and continue to run it for the first few days of adding a new fish. But remeber that the UV not only kills bad bacteria and parasites but it also kills the good ones that are benifical to your system.

 

I wish you luck and I know how frustrating it is, I've been there.

[Samoyed]

My clown seems to be a little better today. Doesn't have as many white spots as before. I still think I am going to take him out though and quarantine him.

 

After I remove the fish from the tank, how long should I wait before adding another fish. I am wanting to get a blenny but I don't want to get another fish until it is safe. Do you think a month would be long enough?

 

It seems like clownfish are the most common fish to get ich. Can other fish fight it off easier or something?

 

DUDE...if its getting better dont QT it...that is just adding stress due to changing tanks...it wont help...if its getting worse go to a qt tho.

[aznr3m1x]

if the fish is eating ur halfway there, just keep feeding it with garlic. It should go away on its own. When its not eating at all then you have to be worried but if its eating and swimming, just keep feeding it.

[Samoyed]

if the fish is eating ur halfway there, just keep feeding it with garlic. It should go away on its own. When its not eating at all then you have to be worried but if its eating and swimming, just keep feeding it.

 

What he said =)

[hannahs]

Ok, I guess I won't quarantine then.

 

When the fish gets better, the ich will still be living in the tank right? Will the ich eventually die out of the tank all together even with a fish living in there?

[hannahs]

Anyone have any idea if the ich will leave the tank even with the fish still in there?

[directional]

Ok, I guess I won't quarantine then.

 

When the fish gets better, the ich will still be living in the tank right? Will the ich eventually die out of the tank all together even with a fish living in there?

 

Ich wont die with fish in the tank.. I have the same problem in my 55gal tank.. Ich will stay alive as long as it has a fish to attach too. Although you may not see it its still there..

 

I had ich about last year and havn't had a problem since. Some of my fish still itch but thats it... I just got a yellow tang sept 21st and he had red blotches a while after i got him which is some bacteria infection.. I put a powerhead in the tank and added some medicine ( no copper ) and he is getting better

 

He loves the flow in the tank he is swimming infront of the powerhead as we speak

[hannahs]

My clownfish is better now, but should I still move him to a quarantine tank to get rid of the ich from the tank?

 

I want to add a blenny but I don't want him to get ich when I add him.

[directional]

My clownfish is better now, but should I still move him to a quarantine tank to get rid of the ich from the tank?

 

I want to add a blenny but I don't want him to get ich when I add him.

 

Put him in a QT until its all gone then add the other fish.. You will be much happier in the long run.

[joshua76]

Put him in a QT until its all gone then add the other fish.. You will be much happier in the long run.

 

I completely agree, QT the clown and I would highly recomend treating the QT tank w/ copper. leave it in the QT for a minimum of 3 weeks to allow the Ich to die out of the display tank then u will be safe to add the clown back in. Also QT the new fish for a couple weeks to make sure it doesn't have Ich also, if it does and you imediatly put it in your main tank it will add the Ich back into your display and thereby to the clown again. End the cycle now by treating the clown and letting the ich in the display go through the life stages, after they go through free swimming and can't find a host fish they will die out. keep the display clean by never adding a fish w/o QTing it 1st.

[hannahs]

Ok, thanks everyone!