ICH help!

JEC11718

New member
1. How old is this aquarium? Over a year and a half as FOWLR

2. If less than six months old, what is ammonia level? ammonia=0!

3. What is SG of this aquarium? How measured? hydrometer= 1.024

4. When was the last fish added to this aquarium? two weeks ago

5. Was it quarantined? If so, how? And how long? Was it prophylactically treated? How? no QT at all...no room/no extra equipment/ no extra money

6. If you are using a copper based medication, which one? How often do you measure level? When? nothing yet

7. If you are using hyposalinity, how did you calibrate your refractometer?NA

8. Please describe in detail, the appearance of the fish? If there is one or more pimples, are they lumpy? What color? Mimic tang= erratic swimming, scratching, hanging above rocks begging six-line to clean him! sitting directly in flow from ac70 and hovering in flow. has white spots on finnage, black spots beside gill plates on his side and white spots on side fins. noticed new spots as of 30 mins ago.

9. Please describe the behavior of the fish as best you can. Is it acting reclusive? Is it always up towards the top of the aquarium? Is it avoiding light? How active is the fish? eating fine and not reclusive see #8

10. Is the fish eating? What? Yes he is eating Ocean nutrition prime reef flakes

I believe the Ich was brought in on two juvenile ocellaris clowns purchased two weeks ago...one died on day three of getting them one on day four, Local fish store was nice enough to give me credit for both and I turned around and got a firefish and bar goby instead....please dont flame me about selection or having a tang in a 20gallon tall. I purchased this fowlr from someone who already had the mimic tang. I brought home the tank when It was already over a year old, This is my first sw tank and have made purchases to make it my own, added a dual bulb t5ho for adding mushrooms and added more LR, added a cuc because tank had none when I got it, added a heater, it had never had one in over a year, added a better filtration system, tank has been cleaned and maintained since bringing home...it had never had a water change ever! I do a wc every two weeks 20%, List of livestock is as follows...
1. mimic tang 3.5"
2. small sixline wrasse,
3. bar goby
4. firefish
5. chocolate chip starfish
6. 8 small hermits
7. 3 astrea snails
8. two sandsifting snails
9. 7 smallish brown mushrooms
10. about 20lbs of lr.
ac70 with floss, visitherm 100watt heater, 8 or 9 coco worms and small anemones on lr.

I have read thru all stickies, what is my best course for getting rid of ICH?

I have thought about making a hosp/qt tank out of a rubbermaid tote/ keep fish out of dt for 8-10 weeks....but will ICH effect cuc/starfish/ lr??? Or does the dt only need the actual four fish moved to hosp? I would do a wc in tote/aquarium every two days if need be, or whats the best way to start a hosp/qt and not stress out the livestock? I could put a older hob on the tote then let ich drop off of fish and move to a new tote every three days? i only live 4 miles form FS and could buy fresh sw for new tank swap to rid fish of ich. HELP I am having my heart stomped on every time I watch my fav fish (tang) act like hes crazy! all other fish have no signs of ich/scratching/erratic behavior.... Josh
 
Leave DT fishless and put 4 fish into your hospital tank. I have had good success with quarantining my fish and leaving the DT tank fishless for 8 weeks. Ich as best as anyone knows needs fish to stay alive. Your best bet is probably cupramine and leave the "hospital" tank with no gravel or liverock and use pvc sections for shelter. Gravel absorbs cupramine and makes it hard to keep therapuetic level. I am sure you know from reading threads that copper will kill any inverts so make sure you dont mix water. goodluck.
 
+1 to jcmjoe. I would go buy you another simple 20 gallon long and some cupramine to start treatment and a simple HOB filter like a penguin or aquaclear. When you use copper, be sure to take out any carbon that comes with the filter. If you have a sponge from your DT, toss that in the QT filter to help kick start the cycle. You may also want to buy a seachem ammonia alert badge so you will know when you need to do a water change (don't buy a Mardel ammonia alert badge... I learned today that it is freshwater only lol....).
You may want to go 10 weeks fallow instead of 8 weeks for a tiny bit higher chance of "total eradication" of ich. I'm just a little paranoid when it comes to ich as I've fought it before as well...
 
I have found that rid iCh or ruby reef work well for me when i do stupid things like add fish with out qt

IMO, all "reef safe" ich meds don't work and delay real treatment. Failures of these products have been reported constantly on this forum and other SW literature. I have never seen any published work, by any recognized author, that supports their use. There is no easy way with ich treatment and anyone who does not QT new fish will discover this. Its just a matter of when.
 
Ok, I have on hand API SUPER ICH CURE and Mardel Coppersafe....which one should I use, they both say saltwater, the mardel is chelated copper sulfate and the Api is malachite green and nitrofurazone.....Uhh HELP!! not sure which to use....I have used the super ich cure on the fw tanks I have but just purchased the mardel coppersafe! Josh
 
Ok, I have on hand API SUPER ICH CURE and Mardel Coppersafe....which one should I use, they both say saltwater, the mardel is chelated copper sulfate and the Api is malachite green and nitrofurazone.....Uhh HELP!! not sure which to use....I have used the super ich cure on the fw tanks I have but just purchased the mardel coppersafe! Josh

A lot of people use Coppersafe; the API product will not solve your problem. Mal. green will not kill parasites and nitrofurazone is an antibiotic; I don't know how any company can call this "Super Ich Cure". If you decide to use the Coppersafe, you need to act ASAP, I'd post a new thread and get some guidance as you go.
 
Thanks for the feedback could there be new strains more resistant to tretments
Rid-Ich is just a combination of M.Green and formalin (I think); neither is effective at eliminating ich. Even the Mfgs. site (Kordon) says it helps "control parasites....". Controlling isn't good enough, you have to kill them. The Ruby Reef product claims to be reef safe. There is no such thing as a reef-safe ich cure.
 
A lot of people use Coppersafe; the API product will not solve your problem. Mal. green will not kill parasites and nitrofurazone is an antibiotic; I don't know how any company can call this "Super Ich Cure". If you decide to use the Coppersafe, you need to act ASAP, I'd post a new thread and get some guidance as you go.

Over a period of 30 years, Coppersafe at 2.0ppm for one full month has worked 99% of the time for me. Meaning in a month there is a 99% chance that your fish will either be Ich free or dead. Either way, the Ich is gone, right? ;) My success rate seems largely dependent upon how fast I detect Ich and then begin treatment. Timing is everything, you have to move with a sense of urgency once you see Ich.

Btw, I say 99% because I'm still waiting to see how this latest bout is going to turn out.
 
Over a period of 30 years, Coppersafe at 2.0ppm for one full month has worked 99% of the time for me. Meaning in a month there is a 99% chance that your fish will either be Ich free or dead. Either way, the Ich is gone, right? ;) My success rate seems largely dependent upon how fast I detect Ich and then begin treatment. Timing is everything, you have to move with a sense of urgency once you see Ich.

Btw, I say 99% because I'm still waiting to see how this latest bout is going to turn out.

+1 There are a lot of folks who don't sense the urgency just because the fish is still eating; but the parasites are eating too, and multiplying exponentially.
 
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