Help Ich I think! Spreading. Help!

[cirionrc]

I bought a clown about 3 days ago. From the very start, he was looking sick and breathing fast. I think he got something at the lfs. All my other fish are fine. The clown got little white spots on him. They were very faint, but I put him in the hospital tank as soon as possible. I treated it with copper. How long do I keep him in there and do I need to dose everyday? Now my lion is getting spots, BIG white spots as big as salt grains. I have a fish only tank right now with fish and live rock, 3 snails, and 3 hermit crabs. Can I treat the main tank with copper. I read that the parasites will just sit in the sand and wait for more fish so host on. Since I have a fish only tank, can I keep the salinity low so this does not happen again? How low can I go? I have a sea test plastic hydrometer. I was told these are calibrated at 60 degrees, and should add 2 points to my salinity cause my temp is at 79. Is this correct? Should I lower the salinity to my maint tank? Right now it is at 1.020, so actually 1.022. How low should I put it. The inhabitants are a koran angel, snowflake moray, v. lionfish, 2 clowns, 1 blue damsel, 3 hermit crabs, and 3 turbo snails. Will copper in the main tank kill off beneficial bacteria? Sorry for all the ?'s

[gobies]

Good God NO, do NOT treat the tank with copper! It will totally kill and permanently ruin your live rock and live sand. Once the copper gets into the live sand and live rock, you will NEVER get it completely out, and you will not be able to keep any inverts in the tank.

 

Most non-aquarium-intended hydrometers are calculated for 60 degrees...but the plastic-box SeaTest isn't. I *think* it's calibrated for 75 degrees, but could be wrong...but you can just dip it and read it.

 

 

You should NEVER medicate your show tank, and NEVER believe a medication that calls itself "reef-safe". ALWAYS use a hospital tank...

 

 

I'll leave it to someone with more experience than me to tell you about dealing with the ich....(just had to post asap to make sure you don't ruin your rock/sand w/ copper!)

[Brianc_4]

Gobies is absolutely right, do not put copper sulfate in your main tank. It is O.K. to put it in your hospital tank. There are also two different parasitic infections that sometimes go by the name of ich. One is cryptocaryon, and the other is oodinium. I only point this out because some medications are deseigned for one and not the other, so check the product that is being used, annd grill your LFS for info.

Marex is often used for cryptocaryon, but do NOT use this in the show tank, it contains copper. There are two companies I know of that make products that are considered "reef safe", however I have personally not used them. One is "Ecolibrium" by Fish vet revive, and the other is Sano Aqua. They both claim effectiveness for both types of parasites and claim to be safe for your show tank. Do a little research on the products if you think you want to go that route. Although they may be safe for inverts, and corals, they may not be safe for bacteria populations, and you may have to give your tank a boost after treatment. Another treatment that is sometimes used is a Formalin bath, I would not recommend this it has a high toxic level, and can add a lot of stress to an already sick fish. If you know somebody with a UV sterilizer see if you can borrow it, it may help, same thing goes with a diatom filter. Higher temperatures also help to a certain degree (83-84degrees).

The parasites live in cycles, where they die off after producing new ones. The treatment must used in a way where it is in the water at every point in the parasites cycle, because it can only be killed off at certain points in the cycle(sorry, can't remember what the exact cycle is and at which point)

And lastly do frequent water changes to thin out the amount of parasites in the water.

Good luck, hope this helped;)

[MKramer]

Instead of using medication, I recommend helping the fish fight the infection himself. Ich is stress-induced, and when a fish is unstressed and otherwise healthy, it can quite easily resist Ich infections. To quote what I've posted in other forums:

 

Feed him flake food at least once a day, but let it soak in garlic extract for a few minutes before feeding. Garlic is a natural immune system booster, and is available at your fish store, or for a few dollars less, from a local pharmacy. The frequent feeding will also make the fish a little happier, as worrying about when the next meal will come IS a stressor. You might also want to use a drop of selcon or another highly-unsaturated fatty acid supplement in with the garlic, as HUFAs are essential for a healthy fish.

 

Once the spots are gone, you may cut back on the feeding schedule, back to your regular schedule, so that you don't polute the tank. However, I'd continue adding the garlic and selcon for 30 days. If you can prevent an Ich infection for 30 days, you have a good chance of killing off the parasite in the tank, as feeding on a fish is a vital part of the parasite's 30-day life cycle.