Another ich question

[dcarrington]

Thanks for all the replies and information. Since I started with the Rid Ich Plus, the puffer is doing a bit better, and came out of his newPVC tube today. His eyes don't look nearly as bad and the other fish seem a bit better as well. We'll see if he eats his mysis or brine shrimp tonight. I was able to pick up a UV sterilizer and hooked it up on their DT, so it will be working on the tank while they live in the QT for the next 6-8 weeks or so. Hopefully, the Rid Ich Plus will work for them all!

 

[b0bab0ey]

In the future the best option is to get a UV sterilizer hooked up - every tank we take care of has one for one reason - no more ich

I agree that a UV can stop the spread of Ich to other tanks on a common system but it cannot completely eliminate all the Ich from a tank that is already infected.

 

[Definitive_Aqua]

correct it wont kill it when its on the fish but will kill free floating its definately something that you want to put on to stop the problem. I always tell my customers you will either spend your money in dead fish and meds trying to save them or you can just put it on to begin with and never have to rush to the store and spend all the money to treat the tank (especially when you have a larger tank)

Rid ich is a good product as well good choice glad to hear hes looking better

 

[MrTuskfish]

Copper is safe for puffers provided you are running it at less then .18 ppm and will work - this is what most wholesalers run in their systems constantly when they are bringing in fish.... however at risk of sounding like a ruby reef sales guy would tell you out of all the meds that I have tested in the years of taking care of aquariums their kick ick, and hydro plex is the best products out that do not seem to affect an aquarium or inverts. It should be available online and fairly reasonable in price.

In the future the best option is to get a UV sterilizer hooked up - every tank we take care of has one for one reason - no more ich

Would you please explain how UV cures and prevents ich in a single tank? I know UV will prevent transfer of ich from one tank to another, in a mult-tank system. This will be effective only if all water passes through a UV fixture between the tanks. This fixture must be of proper flow and maintained. However, in a single tank; if UV is to work on ich, every single free-swimming parasite must pass through the closed UV system before it finds a fish host and continues to multiply. The free-swimming form can emerge from cysts in the substrate, LR, corals, even the filter media. The odds of every one of these parasites finding the UV intake before a fish host seems astronomical. There are several well-known authors, that I consider experts, that agree (Fenner, Goemans, Paletta, Burgess, et al). I've said this several times, but for many hobbyists, I believe UV actually does more harm than good; by giving a false sense of security, thus delaying real treatment. UV may help some ; but I don't believe it is capable of preventing or curing any parasite infestation. Maybe I'm missing something.

 

[lhm nole]

Would you please explain how UV cures and prevents ich in a single tank? I know UV will prevent transfer of ich from one tank to another, in a mult-tank system. This will be effective only if all water passes through a UV fixture between the tanks. This fixture must be of proper flow and maintained. However, in a single tank; if UV is to work on ich, every single free-swimming parasite must pass through the closed UV system before it finds a fish host and continues to multiply. The free-swimming form can emerge from cysts in the substrate, LR, corals, even the filter media. The odds of every one of these parasites finding the UV intake before a fish host seems astronomical. There are several well-known authors, that I consider experts, that agree (Fenner, Goemans, Paletta, Burgess, et al). I've said this several times, but for many hobbyists, I believe UV actually does more harm than good; by giving a false sense of security, thus delaying real treatment. UV may help some ; but I don't believe it is capable of preventing or curing any parasite infestation. Maybe I'm missing something.

/In theory you are correct but I have helped at a store when I was younger for 3 years and the owner just ran uv sterilizers no hypo and never used copper and I never saw ich in the fish system that had the sterilizers and she would sell a large volume of fish weekly, so I tend to go with I have seen that works ... Fyi my blueface hlle is going away now that I have him out of cupramine

 

[MrTuskfish]

/In theory you are correct but I have helped at a store when I was younger for 3 years and the owner just ran uv sterilizers no hypo and never used copper and I never saw ich in the fish system that had the sterilizers and she would sell a large volume of fish weekly, so I tend to go with I have seen that works ... Fyi my blueface hlle is going away now that I have him out of cupramine[/QUOTE
Glad to hear about the BF; there are so many things that are said to cause HLLE, I've never heard of copper until recently. Almost every fish in the hobby has been exposed to copper somewhere along the way and I've never seen HLLE in the rather large number of fish I've treated with copper in QT over the last 10+ years I'm not sure anyone really knows for sure. there has been a lot of info lately about activated carbon and HLLE too.

As to the UV: I've seen LFS systems that might have a chance of keeping ich out of their tanks with only UV. They have the fish in the little bare boxes or small bare tanks (not inhumane, IMO. They aren't there long). These systems have a lot of flow going through them (from tank to tank to filtration systems) and through a UV; plus the fish are coming from a wholesaler who is treating with copper 24/7/365. I'm sure there's more to it than this, but I suppose it may work. With healthy fish coming in and going out quickly, parasites may not even have shown up yet; but again, its possible. I just think UV in a sterile LFS vs a complex, long-term hobbyists environment, are two different things. I can remember several posts from long time hobbyists on this forum who had retired their UV, like me. But if it works for you, great. The real bottom line is still: QT everything and you'll never have to worry about ich, or similar parasites.

 

[ReefyRoy]

I just wanted to give a little bump to something that was mentioned in passing earlier...garlic. During an outbreak a while back I started adding garlic to my feedings (Trader Joe's Crushed Garlic, about a quarter of a pinky-nail's worth), and within a week all traces of Ich on all fish had disappeared. I've continued feeding that way ever since, wary of the Ich that I suspect is still living somewhere in my tank.

Not sure if that's scientific or voodoo, but it worked for me, and is as cheap of a solution as you can find. Good luck!

 

[b0bab0ey]

I just wanted to give a little bump to something that was mentioned in passing earlier...garlic. During an outbreak a while back I started adding garlic to my feedings (Trader Joe's Crushed Garlic, about a quarter of a pinky-nail's worth), and within a week all traces of Ich on all fish had disappeared. I've continued feeding that way ever since, wary of the Ich that I suspect is still living somewhere in my tank.

Not sure if that's scientific or voodoo, but it worked for me, and is as cheap of a solution as you can find. Good luck!

I've used garlic too, with mixed results. The theory behind garlic is after the fish ingests it, it bleeds back through the skin pores and repels the parasites. Similar to when a human eats lots of garlic and you can always smell it on them. I think the key is whether or not your tank is heavily infested with Ich. Garlic might work with a light outbreak, so long as you keep feeding your fish garlic until the Ich has completely died off due to a lack of a host.

 

[MrTuskfish]

You could write a book about garlic and the reports of what it can do. I thought the idea was that garlic boosted a fish's immune system to help it fight off ich. Garlic has been shown to help fish's immunity, but not in the forms it is usually used....if I remember a paper I read on the stuff. I do know that fish like it, so do most animals (its in my dog food), so maybe they eat better. I imagine the garlic smell thing could work; but then ich will morph into an Italian (or Louisiana :lol2 form and there goes that benefit. In any case, I wouldn't count on garlic to be much more than a slight help---it sure won't cure or prevent ich. (According to Fenner and others).

 

[TrojanScott]

A UV MAY help... may. Water normally passes through the UV too quickly and it doesn't have time to kill it all.

If UV cured ich, it would be on every hobbyist tank, no questions asked. It might help some, but no, not a cure, and no, does not prevent.

 

[MrTuskfish]

A UV MAY help... may. Water normally passes through the UV too quickly and it doesn't have time to kill it all.

If UV cured ich, it would be on every hobbyist tank, no questions asked. It might help some, but no, not a cure, and no, does not prevent.

I agree. And every free-swimming parasites, after emerging from the substrate, or wherever; would have to be sucked into the UV before if found a fish host.That would seem impossible. I think just about every hobbyist, who has been around a while, has at least looked into UV. But like you said, not many folks have it. UV has been around forever and seems far less popular than it once was. It can be a nice accessory, especially for algae; but I agree--it cannot cure or prevent a parasitic mess.

 

[snorvich]

I agree. And every free-swimming parasites, after emerging from the substrate, or wherever; would have to be sucked into the UV before if found a fish host.That would seem impossible. I think just about every hobbyist, who has been around a while, has at least looked into UV. But like you said, not many folks have it. UV has been around forever and seems far less popular than it once was. It can be a nice accessory, especially for algae; but I agree--it cannot cure or prevent a parasitic mess.

Exactly. If, however, you have tanks that share water (I don't recommend this), isolating the tanks with UV prophylactic-ally will help between tanks.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Exactly. If, however, you have tanks that share water (I don't recommend this), isolating the tanks with UV prophylactic-ally will help between tanks.

Yes, this is why wholesalers and LFS use them so often.

 

[dcarrington]

So just an update. The fish in the QT, are all doing extremely well and no trace of the ich. The puffer was in really bad shape, had no idea how pale he was, almost completely washed out. He's back to normal moving around the tank, eating out of your hand/nibbling fingers. Have to say the Rid-ich + worked great for me. Thanks for the input everyone!