I've got ich can any one help me

[reefmaster]

i just purchased a tang on saturday and noticed this morning THAT I'VE GOT ICH IN MY TANK WHAT CAN I DO. I Have corals, cleaner shrimp and pestal shrimp and fish How can i get rid of it. I heard garlic in the tank works what do you think. Please get back to me.

[CarmieJo]

Hi reefmaster and :welcome: to TR.

The only foolproof way to handle ich it to pull all of the fish out of your tank and put them in a hospital tank. Treat the hospital tank with copper. You can also elevate the temperature and lower the SpG. You will have to let your display tank lie fallow for 4-6 weeks to make sure the ich lifecycle is broken. Ich can't live on inverts so you do not have remove them. Here are a couple of links with information about ich.
Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com (http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php)

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part II by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com (http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-10/sp/feature/index.php)

[reefmaster]

if I elevate the temperate in my tank without removing my fish will it help at all. I have tiny spots flowing in my tank is that ich too. What temp do you think i should put it

[lReef lKeeper]

Hi reefmaster and :welcome: to TR.

The only foolproof way to handle ich it to pull all of the fish out of your tank and put them in a hospital tank. Treat the hospital tank with copper. You can also elevate the temperature and lower the SpG. You will have to let your display tank lie fallow for 4-6 weeks. To make sure the ich lifecycle is broken. Ich can't live on inverts so you do not have remove them. Here are a couple of links with information about ich.
Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com (http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php)

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part II by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com (http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-10/sp/feature/index.php)

you HAVE to remove the fish to be sure the Ich is gone. no if's, ands, or buts about it. i would do exactly what Carmie has suggested.

[CarmieJo]

Increasing the temp in your display tank will not solve the problem. A higher temperature speeds up the lifecycle of the ich parasite not kills it. If there are still fish in the tank there is a host and the cycle will perpetuate.

[V]

those chinese long handled back scratches help me. :huh:oh wrong itch!

the others have you covered! Cover yourself, a full length body suit rubber, or a QT tank, ether way it'll........... *oh no its...rob - im melting, im melting............faint oz transmission lost*

[Russel P]

You do NOT want to treat your display tank with copper or anything else. It's deadly to inverts and difficult to remove. A powerful U/V filter might wipe it out in one cycle, but no guarantees your fish will live through it. Carmie's advice is the most straightforward route.

[Danamck]

Reefmaster -

Just a quick note to let you know you can survive this. It happened to me on my 240 gallon tank. I had a heater die, but it's temp display still showed 78 degrees. I discovered it a few days too late, and even though I QT every living thing I put into my tank (except my arm) all the fish still came down with ich (severe temp swings can cause stress, stress can lead to an ich outbreak). I let my tank run fallow for 5 weeks, while an insane amount of fish lived in a 46 gallon bowfront tank. (The fish load was so high I had to do 50% water changes daily!)

Bottom line: ich happens - it sucks - we learn - we and our fish live happily ever after.

[Russel P]

Also, Oodinium and nastier parasites can appear to be ich. It's always nice to know what you are up against!

[Steven Pro]

I have tiny spots flowing in my tank is that ich too.

No, those are not ich. It could be air bubbles, particulate material, copepods, or something else, but it is not ich.

[reefmaster]

thank you but i just found out it was copepods

[CarmieJo]

Just to clarify, copepods are good!

[mysterybox]

here is an option that worked for me, but I wouldn't recommend it because it goes against most trusted leaders in the reef field. It 100% definitely worked for me. At the time, I only had soft corals in my tank, and I did not have any STONY corals whatsoever! ALL fish recovered 100% due to this treatment. It was not from luck, immunity, or whatever. My tang is now 2 & a half years old, but was near death at the time Almost all of my fish had it at the time, and all recovered that were alive at the start of the treatment. I know there are solutions that work 100% of the time, unfortunately, this is not one of them.

1) I installed a UV light. (it has since been removed)
2) I used "Reef Safe" Kick-Ich. (quoting from marine depot's site) It is a water treatment for the control of ich (a.k.a. "whitespot disease") in marine and freshwater aquaria. It has been scientifically formulated to eliminate the free swimming, infectious stage of the ich life cycle while being safe for all freshwater and marine aquaria. Kick-Ich has a long shelf life at room temperature and is supplied in easy to use, self-dosing bottles. Safe for all fish, corals, invertebrates and macro algae, as well as the facultative anaerobes and nitrifying bacteria essential to biologic filtration.
3) I talked directly with the owner & used a higher dosage that compensated for me running a skimmer for 12 hours a day. i also DOSED TWICE after a 2 week break.

[reefmaster]

thank you for the infor

[V]

Just to clarify, copepods are good!

Never heard of them, good band?:huh:

[CarmieJo]

Never heard of them, good band?:huh:
The best if you are a fishie!

[tdkarl]

here is an option that worked for me, but I wouldn't recommend it because it goes against most trusted leaders in the reef field. It 100% definitely worked for me. At the time, I only had soft corals in my tank, and I did not have any STONY corals whatsoever! ALL fish recovered 100% due to this treatment. It was not from luck, immunity, or whatever. My tang is now 2 & a half years old, but was near death at the time Almost all of my fish had it at the time, and all recovered that were alive at the start of the treatment. I know there are solutions that work 100% of the time, unfortunately, this is not one of them.

1) I installed a UV light. (it has since been removed)
2) I used "Reef Safe" Kick-Ich. (quoting from marine depot's site) It is a water treatment for the control of ich (a.k.a. "whitespot disease") in marine and freshwater aquaria. It has been scientifically formulated to eliminate the free swimming, infectious stage of the ich life cycle while being safe for all freshwater and marine aquaria. Kick-Ich has a long shelf life at room temperature and is supplied in easy to use, self-dosing bottles. Safe for all fish, corals, invertebrates and macro algae, as well as the facultative anaerobes and nitrifying bacteria essential to biologic filtration.
3) I talked directly with the owner & used a higher dosage that compensated for me running a skimmer for 12 hours a day. i also DOSED TWICE after a 2 week break.

Mysterybox did you do the treatment you describe on your display tank or a QT tank?

[Danamck]

Not to put down or discredit mysterbox, but please note that most experts agree that there is no simple cure for treating ich, other than a copper based medication. These work, but have the unfortunate side effect of killing all invertebrates and your live rock. That said, people have had success with other chemicals, lowering salinity, adding garlic to food. But the only true way, IMO, is letting the tank run fallow, and treating the fish, in a separate tank, with a copper based medication.

Good luck.

[mysterybox]

Yes, I treated in my display tank. I did 2 complete treatments. I can't remember, but they were either 3 or 6 weeks each. All I know is that it worked for me. As I stated above, I cannot recommend it due to how many people (very qualified individuals) state that it should not be used. My fish are still alive (over 2 years ago) and have never gotten ich since.

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part II by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com (http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-10/sp/feature/index.php)

Treatment Option 8: 5-Nitroimidazoles

There is another class of products on the market that are alleged to be a reef-safe, alternative, anti-parasitic medication for Cryptocaryon irritans. The active ingredient of this category of treatments is 5-Nitroimidazoles. I have only used this type of product a few times, but never in a reef tank, so I cannot speak to those claims. I found these to be moderately successful against Cryptocaryon, although it required twice as many applications as the manufacturer stated on the instructions to affect a complete cure. My biggest complaint is how expensive it was, in particular accounting for the amount and time needed to affect a full cure. Anyone who wishes to try one of these products should perform a search on several of the online message boards to get additional feedback prior to purchasing. Based on my own experience alone, I cannot recommend them.

[V]

i believe i did a bogas bill & teds most rad adventure posting on this subject that so totally rocked dudes.........only problem is someone forgot to make it a sticky & its lost down the rabbit hole somewhere:huh:

hmmmmm, where to fish?

[dkone]

When one of my Copper Banded Butterflies came down with Ich I put her in a QT. Dosed with copper. Two weeks later, she was happy, feeding again and showing no signs of infection. Alas, she then died due to an ammonia spike in the QT - caused by my lack of testing and water changes in the QT. So, if you go the QT route, remember, test to ensure you are maintaining the appropriate levels of copper and do test for ammonia, nitrite etc. Perform water changes as necessary and add more copper to maintain appropriate levels. Make sure you have a copper test kit etc. Don't kill your fish with love as I did !!!

Warm Regards,

[tdkarl]

I decided to go the QT route w/ copper. What copper level do you suggest maintaining?

[tdkarl]

great article btw mystrey.box

[Danamck]

Check with the manufacturer of the copper medication. For what it's worth, I have always used Coppersafe" from Mardel. I have never had a fish die from an overdose (even though I have had to increase the dosage to levels higher than they suggest.)