Another Ich ?

[newbie-to-reef]

Would a fish that has Ich show symptoms for just a few days? I got my coral beauty Sunday, noticed tiny white spots on it Tuesday and now there are no spots at all. it never stopped eating and never really got lethargic although it wouldn't hardly get out of the rock work until today. Thanks for your input.

 

[RAY HUNTER]

ich does'nt go away. get you some kick ich and dose the whole tank. it will take awhile but it will kill the adult form of ich (which is what you see attached to your fish). its about 20.00 bucks a bottle but it won't harm any of your critters. totally reef safe.

 

[newbie-to-reef]

I'm not seeing that kick ich works very well, but the question is if all the spots showed up and then went away in three days do you really think it is ich or could it have been something else?

 

[otrlynn]

My understanding is that the spots do fall off the fish, as the ich moves into another stage of its life cycle. The problem is that it also comes back again with increased severity. The three effective treatments for ich are copper-based medication, hyposalinity, and the tank transfer method. None of these can be done in your display tank, unless you have fish only (no inverts, no live rock). Please take a look at the "sticky" at the top of this forum (new to RC...) There is a good discussion of ich and your options on there. I would read, ask questions, and set up a hospital tank for treatment ASAP.

 

[newbie-to-reef]

Thanks lynn, I'm a COTA. Anyway, I just really hated the idea of stressing the fish with the hyposalinity if I didn't have to. I've been told that it is the less stressful of the treatments, but I have also heard a lot of stories about how the fish are acting like they are suffocating while you are in the process of lowering the salinity and how hard it is to then raise the salinity back. I appreciate your help.

 

[abulgin]

http://saltaquarium.about.com/library/blank/blichcycle.htm

You may not see spots because the ich has cycled off, only to come back worse.

Kick Ich is trash--pepper sauce. Doesn't work.

 

[otrlynn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12974683#post12974683 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by newbie-to-reef
Thanks lynn, I'm a COTA. Anyway, I just really hated the idea of stressing the fish with the hyposalinity if I didn't have to. I've been told that it is the less stressful of the treatments, but I have also heard a lot of stories about how the fish are acting like they are suffocating while you are in the process of lowering the salinity and how hard it is to then raise the salinity back. I appreciate your help.

Well, hello! I'm not aware of any other OTs or even PTs on here, at least not any that have identified themselves. I am not that experienced, but I just put 4 fish through the hyposalinity process because one of them had ich. All survived 8 weeks in a QT/hospital tank; five of those weeks were in hypo. It is not that stressful for the fish lowering the salinity, it can be done over 48 hours; bringing it up should be done over the course of a week. You need a refractometer to make sure that you have the s.g. exactly at 1.009. Probably the most difficult thing for me was doing a lot (daily, or every-other-day) water changes to keep the ammonia at an acceptable level in the hospital tank.

 

[newbie-to-reef]

Was the issue with the ammonia because they were crowded, the tank hadn't cycled yet, or just because there is no good bacteria in the hospital tank either? And I'm guessing that I need to leave the DT fallow for 6-8 weeks.

 

[otrlynn]

Actually, prettty much yes to all of the above. I had taken a filter, as well as some of the water from my DT to the hospital tank (29 gallons) but it did not provide enough "good" bacteria to keep up with the bioload in the QT. Also, being somewhat of a newbie, I wasn't prepared for how fast and how high the ammonia could rise (picture 1:30 am massive water change). If I had been wiser I would have started testing sooner and done more proactive water changes. You will read on here to use an ammonia badge, but my experience is that you need a significant ammonia for it to change color--better to catch it sooner. Yes, you should leave the DT fallow for 6-8 weeks so that the ich will die off in that tank.