ICH: how to cure it, id it, understand it.
- Thread starter Sk8r
- Start date
scubadan206
Member
My local Petco has ick in their tanks. They think that quarantining a few of the sick fish and treating them with some kind of herbal supplement will solve the problem.:facepalm: They've lost about half of their stock, and yet they keep selling what looks healthy and is still alive.
Unless they get real, real soon, I will not be buying any more fish from them.
The problem is that the employees have no say in how things are addressed. Their corporate people tell them what they are to do, and they have no say in it.
Unless they get real, real soon, I will not be buying any more fish from them.
The problem is that the employees have no say in how things are addressed. Their corporate people tell them what they are to do, and they have no say in it.
pitbull_nc
New member
I agree with most all of the methods everyone has said works and am a big believer in qt but when I was new to the hobby I had a huge outbreak and bought a skunk shrimp aka a cleaner shrimp and watched him firsthand save my tank. I have a hard time with someone saying that they don't work. I understand there are always better ways of doing things but personally it worked for me and I feel its safer than some of the above recommendations
Lystamta amboinensis(skunk cleaner shrimp) do not eradicate or control crytocaryon irritans. They feed on damaged skin and some external parsites. While they might pick up an ich parsite or two' there is no evidence to suggest they are on their menu. Even if they did pick a few off while picking at the damaged skin, they wouldn't touch any of the encysted parasites or those in the fish.
While we are on the subject,another popular biological cleaner is the cleaner wrasse; same story ,unfortunately:
Alexandra Grutter The stomach contents of Labroides dimidiatus(cleaner wrasse) were examined by Alexandra Grutter Their diet consists of gnathiid isopods, scales, copepods and non-parasitic copepods (Grutter, 2000). No crytocaryon irritans was found.
As for the notion that using a cleaner shrimp is safer than proven treatment methods, it is clearly more dangerous to leave cryptocaryon irriatns in the tank without an effective treatment.
While we are on the subject,another popular biological cleaner is the cleaner wrasse; same story ,unfortunately:
Alexandra Grutter The stomach contents of Labroides dimidiatus(cleaner wrasse) were examined by Alexandra Grutter Their diet consists of gnathiid isopods, scales, copepods and non-parasitic copepods (Grutter, 2000). No crytocaryon irritans was found.
As for the notion that using a cleaner shrimp is safer than proven treatment methods, it is clearly more dangerous to leave cryptocaryon irriatns in the tank without an effective treatment.
pitbull_nc
New member
As said...it is hard for me to fall into this when I saw my tank first hand cured from it. I did no other treatments and have been ich free for 5 years now. I am not saying it is safer then all of the other methods that have been described, however I do suggest that it is safer than a copper treatment. Once again I wouldn't be adamant about it if I didn't have the first hand experience.
It is what it is no matter how adamant you choose to be.
Lystmata amboinensis(skunk cleaner shrimp) do not eradicate or control crytocaryon irritans.
Copper is one proven effective treatment. Failing to provide effective treatment in a hospital/qt tank is unsafe since ich is often deadly.
Those who take the time to understand the life cycle of the parasite won't be misguided by the interpretation of events in your tank.
Good luck,though ;hope your fish continue to do well.
Lystmata amboinensis(skunk cleaner shrimp) do not eradicate or control crytocaryon irritans.
Copper is one proven effective treatment. Failing to provide effective treatment in a hospital/qt tank is unsafe since ich is often deadly.
Those who take the time to understand the life cycle of the parasite won't be misguided by the interpretation of events in your tank.
Good luck,though ;hope your fish continue to do well.
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Staisman
New member
I got ich with my clown fish, I kept them in qt tank for over 4 weeks and no signs of ich, after I put them into my DT the symptoms showed up the next week. So I decide to do hyposalinity method. I was decreasing the salinity for 3 days from 1.025 to 1.009 the forth day my coral beauty died, even tho he never had ich symptoms shown and never been in my DT, my clown fish died on 5th day. I would like to say that this method is not really good.
Hypo in the display tank? Did you monitor ammonia? Hypo would have killed off life in the LR and caused an ammonia spike that would have required active control...such as lots of frequent and large water changes. Hypo, like any other effective treatment, should really be done in a separate treatment tank.
Good. I've seen people do it in the display and get crazy ammonia.
How did you measure salinity? Those levels shouldn't have caused any fish mortality of those species, so I expect either something other than ich was going on, or problems with instrumentation.
How did you measure salinity? Those levels shouldn't have caused any fish mortality of those species, so I expect either something other than ich was going on, or problems with instrumentation.
Staisman
New member
I have refractometer calibrated with 35 ppt solution, it was right salinity. The angel, when i took him out and placed on the piece of paper towel left a color trace from his skin. He was in my QT over a week and was eating good, was very healthy looking. He was swimming up top the day I finally dropped to 1.009 lvl and next morning he was dead. The clown start doing the same next day and over night died. I have one clown left and now i am gradually rising the salinity back. He is very stressed also, very cranky and swimming fast back and force.
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Staisman
New member
Ok I would like to share my success after some failure.
So as I stated above I lost two fish due to hypersalinity method I was trying to implement, since it didn't go well I decide to try some medication. I bought ICH-X from Hikari I believe, put my last survivor (my second clown fish) into separate tank, he won't eat anymore and was at the surface all the time, increased temperature to 83F and put ICH-X in it. Next day he was eating, and I noticed something white worm looking string attached to his body 2mm long. Second day I did 20% water change and added another dose of ICH-X, also soaked all his food in garlic extract and feed it to him. Now 4 days later he is looking good, eating good and spots are all gone.
It also says reef safe on the bottle of ICH-X but in the instructions recommended to use separate tank.
Ingredients: water, formaldehyde (<5%), methanol (<2%), malachite green chloride (<0.1%)
KEY BENEFITS
Treats Ich
Treats Cryptocaryonaisis
Treats Trichodiniasis
Treats Velvet (Gold Dust)
Treats Saprolegniasis
Highly Effective
Uses A Less Harsh Form Of Malachite Green
Excellent When Used after PraziPro (as a separate treatment)
So as I stated above I lost two fish due to hypersalinity method I was trying to implement, since it didn't go well I decide to try some medication. I bought ICH-X from Hikari I believe, put my last survivor (my second clown fish) into separate tank, he won't eat anymore and was at the surface all the time, increased temperature to 83F and put ICH-X in it. Next day he was eating, and I noticed something white worm looking string attached to his body 2mm long. Second day I did 20% water change and added another dose of ICH-X, also soaked all his food in garlic extract and feed it to him. Now 4 days later he is looking good, eating good and spots are all gone.
It also says reef safe on the bottle of ICH-X but in the instructions recommended to use separate tank.
Ingredients: water, formaldehyde (<5%), methanol (<2%), malachite green chloride (<0.1%)
KEY BENEFITS
Treats Ich
Treats Cryptocaryonaisis
Treats Trichodiniasis
Treats Velvet (Gold Dust)
Treats Saprolegniasis
Highly Effective
Uses A Less Harsh Form Of Malachite Green
Excellent When Used after PraziPro (as a separate treatment)
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OnceTrueFalseBr
New member
I've had success in the past using a short 5-10 minute freshwater dip. the fresh water supposedly causes the cysts to burst and release the parasites into the water. then rinse the fish to keep from transferring the parasites back into the main tank. just be sure to get the ph of the dip water the same as that of the tank. the salinity difference is enough shock to the fish as it is. also be sure to keep a very close eye on the fish during the dip so you can put them back in salt water if they begin to act funny.
That is just not accurate.
The cysts(tomites) are not on the fish ;they are on surfaces in the tank ; only the "hatched" parasites(trophonts) are on/in the fish and the free swimming theronts are in the water. So they never touch the fresh water.
The pH is irrelevant in a freshwater dip. How do you adjust it,btw ? How long do you dip?
Drops in sg to 1.009 don't shock the fish. They can't tolerate lower sg than that for more than short periods of time. Jumps up in sg do lead to osmotic shock.
Most of the parasites(trophonts) are embedded in tissue ,so the fresh water dip has little to no effect on them.
That is just not accurate.
The cysts(tomites) are not on the fish ;they are on surfaces in the tank ; only the "hatched" parasites(trophonts) are on/in the fish and the free swimming theronts are in the water. So they never touch the fresh water.
The pH is irrelevant in a freshwater dip. How do you adjust it,btw ? How long do you dip?
Drops in sg to 1.009 don't shock the fish. They can't tolerate lower sg than that for more than short periods of time. Jumps up in sg do lead to osmotic shock.
Most of the parasites(trophonts) are embedded in tissue ,so the fresh water dip has little to no effect on them.
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Gangrene
New member
I just want to go on the record that I have had ich 3-4 times in my tank over the years. Usually, it is a disaster. I recently moved, in august, and after the move I stocked a few new fish... of course, after the purchase, I had another ich attack. Previously, I just let it run its course thinking there was no recourse, in a reef tank, and reading many posts about it.
This time however I used fishvet: No-Ich because I didn't want to watch a massacre, and what could it hurt if they were mostly going to die anyway. It's advertised as a reef safe ich treatment.
People can say whatever they want about stuff working or not working. However, here is my personal experience.
I used it and didn't lose a fish or invert... It's been 2-3 months since I stopped the treatment with no further signs of ich and the PJ cardinals that were prominently displaying the ich before are fine and ich free. I recommend it and would use it again if needed. The $30ish for the 32oz. bottle I paid was money well spent when considering the cost of the fish involved. I did use the whole bottle though in my 37 gallon tank over time following the directions. I hope this helps others and I'd love to hear if others can repeat the results I had.
This time however I used fishvet: No-Ich because I didn't want to watch a massacre, and what could it hurt if they were mostly going to die anyway. It's advertised as a reef safe ich treatment.
People can say whatever they want about stuff working or not working. However, here is my personal experience.
I used it and didn't lose a fish or invert... It's been 2-3 months since I stopped the treatment with no further signs of ich and the PJ cardinals that were prominently displaying the ich before are fine and ich free. I recommend it and would use it again if needed. The $30ish for the 32oz. bottle I paid was money well spent when considering the cost of the fish involved. I did use the whole bottle though in my 37 gallon tank over time following the directions. I hope this helps others and I'd love to hear if others can repeat the results I had.
tebo
New member
Greetings, I have several questions, I have long used hyposalinity, but a few days ago after leaving the tank a friend 90 days without fish, and 60 days the fish in hypo salinity sg 1009, then 10 more days to raise the salinity 1025 , after that six month already on the main tank, a powder blue shows signs of ich, neither fish or rock did not introduce anything new to the main tank,, not understand because it has ich again
any suggestions
regards
any suggestions
regards
mattsreefadise
New member
Dealing with a little bit of ich in my tank. Doesn't seem too aggressive at this point. but all the corals were removed, and I'm going to be doing a hypo salinity treatment on the whole display.
Easy day
Easy day
