To treat or not to Treat...

rmarston · 04-06-2006, 08:24 AM

I recently purchased a pair of clown fish from my LFS. I think their capture in the shop/move was stressful for them as the day after I got them home one of them came out in Ich. {a very fine covering of small white dots even over the eyes}

Dutifully I went off and ordered some Ich treatment {Kordon Rid Ich} however the next day when the treatment arrived the Ich had disappeared.

Currently both fish are eating well {mysis} but the fish which had the Ich has a slightly discoloured patch behind its head {bag burn the LFS owner said at time of purchase}

So the question is should I treat one/both fish or leave them alone?

Rob

***Rob*** · 04-06-2006, 10:03 AM

at this point i would leave them alone.
medication should be a last resort as there are usually complication unless using a QT.

if they are eating and breathing well, i would let them be.

ZeroKoolNYC · 04-06-2006, 03:47 PM

Rmartson, I definitely agree with Rob. Chemical Medication should always be the last resort I recently setup my 180 gallon and had an outbreak of Ich. I conducted water changes and added freshwater to drop the salinity daily to 1.015 which actually help irradicate the infestation within my tank.

***Rob*** · 04-06-2006, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZeroKoolNYC

Rmartson, I definitely agree with Rob. Chemical Medication should always be the last resort I recently setup my 180 gallon and had an outbreak of Ich. I conducted water changes and added freshwater to drop the salinity daily to 1.015 which actually help irradicate the infestation within my tank.

just remember that the "dropping SG" trick cant be done in reef tanks, as invertebrates/corals will not tolerate this

gwen_o_lyn · 04-06-2006, 06:15 PM

Welcome to TR!! Glad to see ya posting!!! And congrats on your star!! w0000t!!

I agree with them and not use copper based treatments unless the fish is in a QT. You can't use copper in a reef tank. Once you do, it never comes out since the silicone in the seals of your tank absorb it and it will leach into your system, hence is why freshwater tanks treated with copper ick medications can't be converted over to reefs.

Keep in mind that clowns are apart of the damsel family- they are hardly little suckers. Usually they can fight it off without problems. You can also do RODI dips with your clown which could help. Get a small tubberware container *u guys call it tubberware on the other side of the river??

* and add about 1-2 cups of RODI and let the fish swim for about 5 minutes.

You can also soak their food with garlic which supposedly helps build their immune system.

Scott · 04-06-2006, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gwen_o_lyn

*u guys call it tubberware on the other side of the river??

*

other side of the pond. hehehe never heard 'other side of the river' before.

btw, rmarston Welcome to TR!

I agree with Rob. dropping the SG like that should only be done in a quarantine tank.

Scott · 04-06-2006, 11:39 PM

Hmm....guess I was slow on the welcome to the board. I see you have your 6 month star.

but since it's your first post....Welcome anyhow!

ZeroKoolNYC · 04-07-2006, 04:55 AM

Hello everyone, does anyone other then myself use a Ultravoilet Sterilizer? I added a 25 watt Lifegard Aquestep Ultraviolet Sterilizer within my tank to eliminate free floating algae and any unwanted parasites. Just another method that I though of adopting into my Marine Aquarium in order to steer away from chemical treatments and to ensure the best possible environment for my aquatic buddies. This addition came about after a massive infestation of ick within my 180 gallon All-Glass Aggressive Fish Only with Live Rock.

rmarston · 04-07-2006, 09:23 AM

Thanks for the welcomes,

I found Talkin greef very early on and have been an avid listener ever since, unfortunately the pressures of work prevented me from contributing.

Any back to the Ich, I have a few questions about this parasite that would be nice to clear up? My main one is whether the fish will remain infected/infective of if they will completely cure themselves?

Thanks for the replies so far...

Rob

***Rob*** · 04-07-2006, 12:47 PM

yes, it can go away on its own.

while i cant pretend to totally understand this, from what i know they fish doesn't even have to be exposed to an infected fish to get ick.
i guess its on of those things that if you were to have a tank raised fish, that has been kept away from all other fish, it could still develop ick, if put into a stressful situation.

again, i dont fully understand this, so i cant say much more about it.