Hellllp Ich!!!

[mp32]

I looked at my tank this morning and I saw something that made my heart stop for a moment, my powder brown has ich, or something that looks like it. His fins have spots on them and he has a few raised bumps where his fins touch behind his eyes. I have had him the second longest of all my fish and he has done well, none of my other fish have had any problems. My biggest issue is how the heck do I get him out? I have 200lbs of rock and corals and I can not just tear it up to get to him. He is very fast and has a lot of room to hide. I have a cleaner but he does not go near him, my flame angel does and so does my hippo tang and they are nice and clean. What do I do? I have a quarantine but if I can not get him out it does no good.

 

[mwladdicted]

what are your prams? u dont nesisarily have to take them out, thiers a couple things u can do first. what do you feed? any garlic in the food? what you salinity at? temp?try raising your salinity to about 1.026 and ur temp to about 81. see if that helps.

 

[mp32]

My parameters are as follows:

PH 8.6
ALK. 3.2
(does this sound righ? I was under the impression the two go hand in hand and one is high and one is low, still in range but low.)
Magnesium in the 1300's
nitrate:0
Phosphate:0
nitrites:0
Salinity:1.026/35
My temp is 78/79.
I have noticed he has gone to the cleaner a few times, can he get rid of this?

 

[akwtampa]

Is the fish still eating well? Garlic may or may not be a good way to coax the fish to eat better, but will not rid the fish of Ich.. There are only a couple of ways to get rid of it for sure.. And Neither should be done in the display.. There is hyposalinity and there is chelated copper.. You need to get a decent tank that you can use as a hospital tank and then decide on a course of action..

You could get lucky with just keeping him eating and keeping the water maintained perfectly, but if you want to be sure you HAVE to remove the fish..

Acan tanks are among the hardest to keep, believe me.. You may want to consider one of the more hardy tangs if this one doesn't make it..

Aaron

 

[mflamb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13313426#post13313426 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mp32
My parameters are as follows:

PH 8.6
ALK. 3.2
(does this sound righ? I was under the impression the two go hand in hand and one is high and one is low, still in range but low.)
Magnesium in the 1300's
nitrate:0
Phosphate:0
nitrites:0
Salinity:1.026/35
My temp is 78/79.
I have noticed he has gone to the cleaner a few times, can he get rid of this?

Your pH is a little high. Alk is low. Zero on NO3 and PO4 is almost impossible. What test kits?

 

[akwtampa]

Mike, I'm guessing that something in the tank could be using the NO3 and PO4 quickly.. That is, barring a bad test kit..

Aaron

 

[mp32]

Ever since I put some chaeto in my fuge that my readings have been 0 on both. How do I boost ALK without boosting PH and how do I get the PH lower? How can I get this guy out of the tank?

 

[mflamb]

It's not going to be fun. Remove enough rock to CATCH ALL FISH and QT ALL FISH, with either Mardel Coppersafe or hyposalinity. If you don't have a tank to QT in contact Ian (irupp33). He also lives in Hudson and may have a tank for sale/rent that you could QT in. Either way, get the fish in QT. Alk is raised via dosing. Check your LFS for some 2 part dosing stuff, or make your own.

 

[mp32]

Has anyone used "No ich" or "Kick ich" before? I was told it is reef safe, but may not be as effective as copper.

 

[kingnai]

I used kick ich and I believe it was either that or the diet of vitamin soaked food and garlic that allowed my fish to survive and have not had another outbreak since.

 

[Bodacious]

I have used kick ich before but it took two bottles to work and I used it everyday for 10 days and it does't kill any corals or inverts

 

[akwtampa]

There is nothing that will cure ick more effectively than copper or hypo in a seperate tank.. It works every time if used in a timely fashion..

You need to do something quickly.. the longer you wait, the more infested the gills of this fish are going to get.. Please get yourself a QT/Hospital tank ASAP..

Aaron

 

[mflamb]

As with most everything in this world, there are two sides of the street. He'll have to decide which side to walk down.

 

[jbird0420]

I'm feel your pain. Just this morning I saw some Ich spots on my Hippo Tang. He was in my 225g FO w/ 200lbs of LR. I just got him out and in the 55g QT he goes. Just take most of the rock out and put it into some rubbermaid trash cans, filled with tank water. And from there "corale your horses" and get him into your net. You can also use some fishermans net and block off a portion of the tank to prevent him from sneaking into the rocks.

 

[mp32]

Just went to FAOIS (for the first time) and I picked up some medicated food they said it should take care of everything.

 

[mflamb]

What's it called. Post a pic.

 

[poknsnok]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13315342#post13315342 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mflamb
What's it called. Post a pic.

probably the metronidazole food.. should help, not necessarily take care of everything

 

[ichthyman]

“probably the metronidazole food.. should help, not necessarily take care of everything”

It is and agreed. The medicated flake is not a cure all and works best when administered early on in the disease’s progression. The most effective methods involve a QT tank and have been outlined in previous posts.

 

[mp32]

It is metronidazole food, problem is he will not eat it so far he has just spit it out. Everyone else seems to be eating some of it. I always feed frozen how do I get them to eat flake? The disease has just started today and is on the fins, that is why I rushed out to get this today.

 

[ichthyman]

Soften the flake by soaking in a vitamin solution or water. If the fish still refuses to eat the flake, powered or tablet forms of the medication can be obtained and incorporated into the fish’s normal food.