ich?

[littleReefMan]

ok, the last two days my clownfish has has these tiny white dots on his body. i think it might be ich but i dont exactly know what it looks like. i have only had experience with the fluffy freshwater ich. it looks like someone speckled him with salt in a few places. is this ich? he seems fine right now but i dont want it to get any worse. the water parameters are all excellent. if this is ich i was wondering how to get rid of it before it kills my fish. is melafix reef safe because i have heard it be suggested. someone please tell me exactly what to do. help my fish please!!! thanks in advance.

[Tempest]

I've been told that Melafix is reef safe, but I don't think it'll help with Ich. Without a pic it's difficult to tell what is wrong with the fish. Recommend you go to www.Reefcentral.com and www.google.com to look for some pictures/info. If your fish does have Ick there are only 2 proven ways to get rid of it. One is a hyposalinity treatment and the other is with copper based medications both of which should be done in a hospital tank. The hyposalinity treatment is the less stressful of the 2 for the fish, but takes about 5 weeks to complete. Keep in mind that Ick is a parasite that has a 30 day life cycle. If your fish has it then it is in the tank and the only way to get rid of the Ich in the tank is to leave the tank fishless for 30 days. The parasite will die without a fish to host on.

[USFnano]

I've also heard that soaking the fish's food in garlic has had positive effects in fighting ich in saltwater fish. There have been a few posts about it over on reefcentral, a search will give you more info on it.

 

Jon