ich cure... hyposalinity = dip?

[avatar71]

hi all, I have a bit of ich on my new yellow tang. I am going to feed him garlic as described in the other posts.

I see many mentions of hyposalinity and freshwater dips. IF i can catch him, how is this performed?

thanks,
dave

sadly, no q-tank yet. again the whole catching him thing could be a problem with that too!

 

[SnailBert]

tangs get ich frequently. what size tank and whats your water quality?

you can do a fw dip on the fish for 3-5 minutes and readd him to the tank. if that doesnt work and youve tried garlic and other ways to boost the fish's immune system, set up a QT tank.

 

[TerryB]

FW dips do not cure ich. Hyposalinity is keeping the fish in a cycled Qtank at low salinity for a minimum of 3 weeks. You need an accurate refractometer, not a plactic hydrometer. Use a salinity of 14ppt (this is not the Specific Gravity). Check the pH daily in treatment and add a buffer as needed. ALL exposed fish MUST be treated, not just the one you see spots on.

Terry B

 

[stuccodude]

hey people, i love this site i am new too the hoby and love it, i have been learning from all you and i read that i should qt all my fish, i have ich on my powder tang and blue tang in qt and my other fish yellow tang, purple tang, flame angel, clown fish, and a couple fire fish are all fine, my qt tank is only 25 gallons and the fish will be crowded and new and my house tank is 130 with about 130 pounds live rock im running sump,phosreactor,uv,protien skimmer, any help would be appreciated, im running copper in my qt tank and its already helping, thanx, troy

 

[TerryB]

Wow Troy,

If you are new to the hobby then you are making some classic Newbie mistakes lots of people make. First, you should only be buying one fish at a time to put in quarantine. Qarantine is to isolate from others to reduce stress, treat disease and prevent the spread of disease. Sorry to tell you this, but if you don't take it seriously then I am betting that you will have a lot of dead fish in the next couple of weeks. Your Qtank should be cycled before you add the first fish to it. If not the fish will be battling ammonia which can kill them quicker than ich. Tangs, angels, butterflies and other delicate fish don't usually survive long when the hiobbyist has less than six months experiece with saltwater (a year is much better). Most of your fish are very sensitive to copper. If you must use copper then Cupramine is the only one I trust. Hyposalinity works great when used correctly. I could write you a book here, but it would be better if you follow this link and read some of the articles in the library. There are several articles there on ich, quarantine and caring for your fish. I would start here.

http://www.marineaquariumadvice.com/aquarium_fish_1.html

Please consider taking most of those fish back until you are better preparred. I know that you probably don't like my advice, but you will learn to appreciate it later one way or another. I am hoping you don't have to learn the hard way.

Good luck,
Terry B

 

[stuccodude]

thanks terry, i was just told yesterday after about 4 hundred dollars worth of fish that i should buy 1 at a time and qt them for a couple weeks, im gonna learn alot in this web site, what is hyposalinity? im soo eager, i need to slow down, thanx, troy

 

[TerryB]

Hi Troy,

Sounds like you have a good attitude and will do well once past this crisis. If you follow the link you will learn about ich, hyposalinity, quarantine and more. I hope you find the articles helpful. Please consider returning the fish for now.

Best wishes,
Terry B

 

[avatar71]

strange turn of events (to me at least). When I got up this morning and saw my new tang with white spots I was concerned and said ICH!. 8 hours later, the spots are gone. Whats the deal?

I thought the infections life cycle was longer than 8 hours... He was clear the day before and now appears clear again.

your thoughts?

-dave

 

[TerryB]

White spots are not always ich. It can even be sand caught in the mucus layer of the fish. Keep an eye on it for a week or more.

Terry B