Sick Clownfish(s) ICH?? Please help!

[Triryche78]

Hey guys. Am a newbie saltwater tank hobbyist. Had tank for 2 weeks. pH level at 8 and ammonia about less than 0.25, nitrite 0 nitrate less than 5. Anyways, noticed today that my 2 clownfish have white spot disease or ich. Whats the best way to treat this? Something i can add to my tank to cure it on the fish? Will my fish survive? Will the spots disappear after treating or will it affect their color permanently? PLEASE HELP! I feel sick to know that my fist two fish are sick. Please reply!!!

 

Thanks,

Jeremy

[Tempest]

Your tank is way too new to have fish in it. You should not add anything to the tank until AFTER the inital cycle/break-in period is complete and you have NO ammonia or nitrite in the tank. You need to do some more research and be patient.

 

The best way to treat Ich (if that is what they have) is to put the fish in a hospital tank (no substrate or rock - filter, heater and pvc pipe for a cave/hideout). Once in the tank use either a copper-based medication (Cupramine is the best and safest) or hyposalinity. Copper treatments will require a test kit to make sure you have enough, but not too much copper in the water. Too much copper will kill the fish. DO NOT PUT COPPER in your main/display tank; it will kill everything (bacteria, inverts, coral, etc.)

 

Search "Ich" and "hyposalinity" for more info.

[artooman]

He could also have oomyloodium (velvet) parasites. They are all hard to differentiate. I had my frist two fish die from ich or oomyloodium. The first one was crazy infected in a really short period, and the other lasted several weeks with daily freshwater dips. Since then, I have spoken to a lot of people and have done a lot of research on this topic for fear of killing more. Personally, I would get them in a hospital tank ASAP and slowly bring the specific gravity down to 1.008 as Triryche78 suggested. IMO, this is the best treatment if you catch it early. The only LFS that I know of with zero parasite problems are those with hyposalinity tanks. It wont kill the trophants on the fish, but they will not be able to reproduce once they drop off the fish.

 

Also, you *must* wait at least 30 days to put any fish in your display tank. The parasites will still be in there otherwise. Take it from someone who learned the hard way. This will give your tank time to finish its cycle anyway. Ammonia/Nitrite should be 0 by the time you add more fish.

[Triryche78]

Thanks guys. I called my LFS today and they told me to do a freshwater dip for 3-5 minutes making sure the water was same temp as my tank. Just did they dip about 10 minutes ago. I will continue to do dips every other day. LFS said most likely got ich from them. I know it probably was a bit early for fish. all my levels looked good when i got them. Had a pretty good cured rock though. Oh well...live and learn. I appreciate you guys helping me.

 

BTW, will their color where the ich spots were reappear eventually after treatment?

 

LMK

'

Thanks guys!!

 

Jeremy

[artooman]

In my experience, fresh water dips will only help relieve the fish temporarily, but it will not solve the problem. It did *not* work for me twice. It is also in my experience that the LFS typically don't know what they are talking about. I urge to try a hospital tank.

 

Good luck.

[Triryche78]

can i use a fish bowl with an air pump as a hopital tank with only water? I only have 1 tank right now.

 

LMK

 

Jeremy

[artooman]

I had a similar problem when i had ich which is why I tried fresh water dip. Also, according to the nano-reef poll, only 15% of reefers on this site use quarantine tanks, so you are not alone. If you have the cash, you may consider a cheapy walmart setup with a small (maybe 5 gallon) tank and an external filter. This cant cost more than $60 for everything. In my opinion, it is better for the fish than leaving him in an infested tank with no treatment. You could also throw together a 5.5 AGA tank ($15 at petco) and add a cheapy powerhead for circulation. Get some PVC pipe fittings for him to hide in and make sure to feed the bare minimum (maybe 2 flakes per day). Flakes are better than brine for keeping waste down.

 

These are just some ideas, and I have not tried any of them myself. If my new fish gets sick, I will use the AGA 5.5ga with my old 13W light, a crappy powerhead, a spare cheapy heater, and some PVC. I am still debating the filtration issue.

 

Any other reefers with some cheap hospital tank ideas?

[pyrrhus]

thanks artoo and tempest, good to see someone else watches this forum, i think you have just about all the bases covered, except possibly lymphocystitis, which will look a bit like a piece of cauliflower on the fish and not like it was covered with the salt shaker like ich. i think copper is the best way to go if you truly have ich, sometimes hypo just takes too long and you will lose the fish. i have had very good success with Copper Power without testing levels or losing fish on many an occasion, it could save you a few bucks on the test kit, and you wont have to redose the tank to keep the proper level of copper in the tank.

 

the 10G tank is only about 10 dollars, any filter will do, the cheapest you can find will do just fine, and you shouldnt need a heater this time of year, not sure about ohio though, and i bit of lace rock from the pet store or landscare supply, or pvc for the fish to feel safe.

[pyrrhus]

oh, if it is lymphocystitis, just do regular weekly WC's and it will go away on its own. oh, your fish will recover their color if they make it through this little episode.

[kris_willard]

Had a similar problem with my 2 false percs. I use SERA Constapur. Worked like a charm. I would just go pick up a small external filter and a 10gal tank with weekly 10% water changes. Use pvc in the tank as it will not soak up the copper in the meds and make the treatment pointless. Most meds WILL stain the seals on the tank and make it useless for anything other than a hospital tank. The nice thing about constapur is it is hard to over dose unlike copper treatment. I have found freshwater treatments to be useless as well. Costapure has saved the lives of many of my fish. Hypo salinty work well too but does take much longer.l Once the ich is gone the fish will resume their natural color.

[Triryche78]

So, it is recommended to get them into a cheapy hospital tank. I know u really don't want to treat system (main tank). Thought about taking out carbon bag and treating system with the ich meds? Any thoughts on this???

 

Jeremy

[kris_willard]

Do not do that unless you plan onl pulling out all of the substrate, rock and absolutely everything in the tank except the fish. Get a hospital tank there no way around it. The ich meds will kill everythin on the rock and soak into the substrate and rock.

[pyrrhus]

you *could* try some of the "reef safe" treatments in the main tank, however i STRONGLY recommend not using those as they are usually either not effective or not reef safe.

[kris_willard]

Kick Ich by ruby reef works amaizing but ULTRA expensive and is totally reef safe. When i say ultra expensive i mean ULTRA ULTRA expensice. Good stuff though

[Clownfishcrazy1117]

Kick Ich by ruby reef works amaizing but ULTRA expensive and is totally reef safe. When i say ultra expensive i mean ULTRA ULTRA expensice. Good stuff though

No kidding me and my dad used it too and we had to stop buying stuff for a month or my mom would have skinned us alive.