Prevent Ich

[space]

Everyone please take a deep breath when I say this, I have a small blue tang in my nano.

 

Pause...and I want to prevent ich and all that. What type of garlic should I get to mix with the seaweed?

 

Thanks!

[xJoshx]

Formula 2 has 2% garlic added in it along with all the other goodies

[The '83Kid]

For what it's worth I have just used brine soaked in garlic powder a good quality for cooking and eve give shavings of clove garlic to my cowfish. I can see the drop of ick within hours of feeding and I use the brine and krill soaked pouches for every other day as I feed the that way having them forage every other day.

Steve

- a pinch of garlic powder to say a cup of thawed shrimp then portion. It has never killed a fish of mine and costs pennies.

[space]

Would Cyclop-Eeze help? Is the Flake any good? That's all that Dr. Fosters & Smith has right now.

[bdare]

Remember... Ich is a parasite. It does not appear out of nowhere. If you really want to get rid of ich, put the tang in a quarantine tank and dose it with copper. Leave your display tank empty for 4-6 weeks and there will be NO ICH. No chance of getting it until you introduce it again.

[ezramore]

I have the Cyclop-eeze flake and IMO it sucks. Some fish will eat it but most of mine will not. Even my fresh water fish seem to be picky with it and they will eat anything. Also it is kind of hard with a seaweed kind of texture. my tang will nibble but doesnt go crazy for it or anything. I payed 14$ for 1 can and have had it almost a year and still almost full.

Tangs loves feeder algea though and seems to go nuts when you put a small piece it every other day like a dog with a new bone.

[calvin415]

Not sure what size your nano is so I don't know if you can do this, but in my larger tanks I always introduced 2 or 3 cleaner shrimp first. The cleaner shrimp do a great job of cleaning up fish that have ich and keeping the parisite in check.

[mybuickskill6979]

qt everything before it goes in your display if it starts showing sign nuc it then let it heal and then put it in the display no introduction of ich no worries baout it spreading!!

[space]

Thanks guys for all of the help. I'm trying to catch a few cleaner shrimp on sale, we'll see.

 

I was mistaken and though Ich just developed in your tank. Always better to be informed.

[05XRunner]

i was just thinking the same thing about this.

I just got my porcupine puffer and I read they are prone to getting ick easier then other fish. I wanted to do something to make sure it doesnt happen.

[space]

All of my fish are loving the formula 2. The blue tang can't seem to get enough so I might name him "Pigs."

[RaSooch]

I had a Ich problem when I fisrt started my Nano. I tried all different types of remedies, the garlic trick, medication in a quarantine tank while the tank wen fallow of fish for over a month and rasied temps for a short period. None of it worked for me. I finally found a small 9W UV Sterilizer that Nanotuners sells and I put it in the rear chamber for about a month. Before I did this my clown had Ich and I thought for sure he was a gonner. 3 days later the ich was gone he wasn't scratching anymore, and knock on wood I haven't had a problem since.

 

Check it out http://www.nanotuners.com/product_info.php?products_id=167

 

Good luck.

[Six]

ich is in all water. period.

 

it is a natural parasite. fish get it in the wild and captivity. if you get a breakout of ich, it is due to stress. stress lowers the fish's immune system and makes the animal more suseptable to infection. ich is usually the first of many possible disease issues and should be preventable by way of appropriate housing (space for growth and movement with minimal stressors - ie other fish), appropriate diet (similar to that of wild fish since these are all wild caught larvae or subadults), and good long term care.

 

That being said, i agree, QT any new fish for a few months is a great, actually an indisposable preventative measure against...... stress. you're reducing stress by qting the fish away from everything. you are, in turn, keeping the stessed fish from entering your aquarium and keeping out possible infections. think of qt as a way to strengthen and "pump up" your new arrivals. after qt they will be used to every single stressor except the other fish. diet will be regulated, water quality will be acclimated to, and normal routine will be understood. the fish is ready to go into it's permant home.

 

So, you've got a fish you want to keep happy and healthy, right? the key is maintaining it's possible stessors to a minimum. maintain the fish in an appropriate tank, which unless you plan to move the fish up soon (6 months at least) or do very regular water changes (which treats the system like a larger one... i'd say 2-3 10-20%ers a week) the fish will become stressed. once stressed it is inclined to get ich.

 

although i would rather not go futher since most people's attention span, including my own, have probably shut down and read the next post, i'd like to interject a word of caution about copper.

copper kills parasites, yup. it also kills bacteria. it will keep your qt tank from cycling and cause major stress problems if you do not watch your water paramters. your fish could die from using copper. copper also is VERY VERY hard on a fish's immune system. unless the fish is on it's death bed, using copper can and will cause harm to the fish, namely it's eyes and gills (OUCH!). I would not use copper to treat a mild case of ich, or anything. clean, warm water and less stress will absolutely always treat a case of ich.

 

i hope that helps somewhat. i never post in the disease forum anymore b/ci am looooong winded.

[Blacktone]

From what I understand if you make the QT tank 1.020 salinity the fish will acclimate readily and any Ich and any other parasites will die off. No need for copper..

[Six]

if you mean hyposalinity, it's going to have to be lower (1.017ish). this is also a stressful manuver, but yes, i agree.... wayy better than copper.

 

also, you'll want to add something more to the hippo's diet. they are planktonivores. they dont eat as much alage as the zebrasoma species that most people clump together with them as far as nutritional needs go. not all tangs are strict herbivores (nasos and hepatus are not).

 

HTH

[space]

Yea, thanks for all of the help! I wish I had a QT set-up, oh well. So far all of my fish look great. The hippo really doesn't want anything to do with the algea sheets I put in there but he'll eat everything from formula 2 to mysis shrimp.

[Withers]

Since we're on the subject, I thought I'd bring up a couple of points that never seem to get mentioned.

 

One, it seems to me that using a QT tank as a preventative measure for ich is pointless. QT tanks are generally small, barren tanks with very low salinity. All 3 of these factors would stress the fish out.

 

Now, since ich is a parasite that is always harbored within all fish (from what I've always been taught), it seems like it would be a much better practice to just put them in the main tank and hope for the best. Now, if the new fish is already showing signs of ich, thats another story.

[Six]

Since we're on the subject, I thought I'd bring up a couple of points that never seem to get mentioned.

 

One, it seems to me that using a QT tank as a preventative measure for ich is pointless. QT tanks are generally small, barren tanks with very low salinity. All 3 of these factors would stress the fish out.

 

Now, since ich is a parasite that is always harbored within all fish (from what I've always been taught), it seems like it would be a much better practice to just put them in the main tank and hope for the best. Now, if the new fish is already showing signs of ich, thats another story.

 

This outlook all depends on what kind of aquarist you are and how much money you do or dont mind spending on a fish. QTing for ich is acclimating the fish to captivity. some specimens do better than others. Yes, if you throw a damsel, even literally, into an aquarium it wont get ich. these fish are tough and can tolerate quick changes in environment. But, once you get into less common and harder to catch fish there's an increased liklihood they arent going to acclimate to captivity.

 

Yes, I agree most people's idea of QT tanks are rediculous. You will never find me recommending hyposalinity, it IS stressful. A QT tank should be blacked out, on a timer, in a space that isnt seen by people and thus stressful, and decorated to make the fish feel at home. jawfish? you need sand. blenny? you need rocks. angelfish? you need to sacrifice live rock. A QT tank is to acclimate the fish, fatten the animal up and have it ready to join the main display.

 

Now, depending on the specimen, which you have no ability to tell from one to another, they may or may not be fine if you added them directly to the tank. you may be maintaining a healthy aquarium and do everything right, but it's one fish that throws it all off. if you want to take the chance it's your choice. QT is an extra incentive to ensure the health and vitality of the fish and its immune system before you add it to your main tank.

 

if people are QT to get rid of all parasites, they dont understand the idea behind quarentine. it's a precaution you dont have to take, but always increases your chances of keeping healthy fish from the get go in your main tank.

 

IMO it's all about increasing the fish's immune system.