Finally: A Reef Safe Cure for Ich that works

[mmgm]

and it's not any type of snake oil medication........


I have always Quarenteed all fish placed into my tank for 6 weeks and assumed my tank will be ich free. However, I must admit that I do not QT any corals, inverts etc... other than fish that I have placed into my system. To my surprise some time ago my hippo develops some white spots..... within a week this fish is covered completely and gasping for air. The ich also spread to other fish and three died within a week..... With an 800 gallon system and 30+ fish in my system taking the fish out to QT was not an option.....

I do not beleive in the Reef Safe medications currently on the market but needed a solution real fast.... After some reading I decided to try UV to rid my tank of the problem. I have read mixed reviews about UV killing ich and never thought products out there had the power/wattage to really be effective.

Through my LFS recomendation I tried hooking up the "AQUA" Ultraviolet system to my protein skimmer. To my surprise the UV lighting killed all ich present in my system. Within a week the hippo that was on ot's last fin was spotless...... and all Livestock in my tank is ich free. It's been ich free for a few months.....

My LFS also has this set-up at his store and has not experienced ich since installing the UV system. My LFS does not even treat his tanks anymore with copper since installing the UV system.....

I know UV is not a new method to control ich... but I never knew that UV really works..... I did not realize that they had heavy duty systems out there that can be effective with larger systems. Note: I realize UV only kills the parasite in the free swimming stages...... but thats OK because the UV gets the parasite once it leaves the fish.....

I'm not looking to create any big debates about curing ich..... but I am very interested in sharing my results with others who have this problem...... This is a world of difference compared to snake oil or other Reef Safe medications that claim to cure ich.....

I would suggest anyone looking to rid a reef tank of ich look at this option closely...... By the way pictues of how this is integrated to my skimmer are attached for reference.....

My recomendation to anyone with a reef who wants to avoid ich would be:

1. QT all fish for at least 6 weeks
2. Run your UV whenever you add anything to your tank.

Finally, a reliable way to manage ich in a reef tank.... (with no medications).......


1. UV's hooked up to skimmer

2. Close up (notice two UV's one for each return)

3. Close up of one of the UV's

 

[TWallace]

Glad to hear it worked for you. I recently added a Coral Life Turbo Twist UV to my system. I had an ich outbreak in it a little over a month ago and moved two of the three fish to a QT and treated with hypo. The fish I did not move is my Flame Hawk. I didn't move him because Hawks seem to be incredibly resistant to ich. He's never shown a single spot on him (past experience with another kind of hawkfish leads me to believe that they're just really, really resistant to it, almost to the point of immunity like morays). One of the two fish in QT died (I think it had brooklynella as well as ich) and the Coral Beauty in QT is still there now, looking good. I'm hoping that the UV in the main tank coupled with lack of acceptable fish hosts will kill off the ich in the tank. My CB is set to graduate back to the main tank at the end of April. I'm hoping he does alright once he's back.

 

[flyingace2005]

The way you have the UVs setup will not let them work to their maxium potential. From the pics you have one right after the becket, which means that there is air in with the water. The air will distort the UV and wont work as well. I would suggest using it before the becket so that there is no air mixed with the water. Also using a slower pump will help. Since you are using a beckett skimmer i am guessing that it is a high flow pump wich could be too much flow for the uv to even kill any parasites.

 

[mmgm]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7223364#post7223364 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by flyingace2005
The way you have the UVs setup will not let them work to their maxium potential. From the pics you have one right after the becket, which means that there is air in with the water. The air will distort the UV and wont work as well. I would suggest using it before the becket so that there is no air mixed with the water. Also using a slower pump will help. Since you are using a beckett skimmer i am guessing that it is a high flow pump wich could be too much flow for the uv to even kill any parasites.

Thanks for the feedback..... I agree with the bubble obsevation....This is not optimum..... As far as flow.... the UV is rated for pond use and at 57 watts the flow (1200 gph) is sized for the pump I am using.... Also keep in mind that the flow is split between two UV units.... so for all practical purposes each UV is experiencing half the flowrate of 600 gph through a 1 inch diameter pipe....

The UVs clearly work and have successfully removed the parasite from my tank..... (Very cool stuff)

Thanks for the feedback......