ich meds...

[petermai]

my lemonpeal angel has ich and i was at a lfs asking for chemicals to treat it. they gave me a bottle of "Ich-attack." it is said that this stuff is safe for "reef"and "liverocks." 5%: active ingredients...herbals containing naphthoquinone and 95% inert ingredients. anywho, i don't have the simple hardware to set up a QT, and i have way too much liverocks to be pulling everything out to catch the fish. i have mainly softies in my tank. so will this "ich attack" stuff kill my corals and my cleaner shrimp and hermits?

because removing the fish is out of the question. are there any chemicals out there that is truely reef safe that i can use to treat the ich outbreak in my tank?

 

[cichlid666]

good luck

 

[Rondelet]

I've never used "Ich-Attack" and can't comment on it. While I don't have much experience with these types of "reef safe" treatments, I don't have much faith in them eitherââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦.

I've recently successfully treated a Yellowtail Angel with Ich in a Q tank with a some zoos, shrooms, hermit crabs, and lots of Caulerpa by: 1) throwing in a couple of cleaner shrimp; 2) UV (in line with a the canister filter); adding metronidazole to the feed at a rate of 250 mg/100 g (of food), which is feed 2x per day. Can't say what exactly what worked, but the infection cleared up relatively quick and the fish (which was getting progressively worse before I started) has been spot free for three weeks. All the inverts are fine. Not sure, but this might qualify as a reef safe treatment. There is a good chance the fish is now a carrier, but without clinical signs for several weeks (I will hold it for at least 5 weeks before I consider moving it), I'm betting the fish will do fine in the long run.

 

[jbittner]

What exactly is the process of soaking food in metronidazole? How long? Which foods? Do you drain the food and just feed the 'meat' to the fish? Thanks

 

[petermai]

at the moment, i'm soaking food in kent's garlic extract with a bit of tank water. i usually soak until the mysis cube(s) are thawed.

 

[Rondelet]

I made my medicated food from scratch. Fresh mussel, clam and squid chopped up in a blender with some chopped up pieces of ON Seaweed Selects (red & green), vitamin supplement. Metronidazole (Seacheme) was added at a (targeted) rate of 250 mg/100 mg of food. Last in was some gelatin (pre dissolved) to help hold it together. I let it set in a shallow plastic tray and then froze it. I've been feeding my angel 2x day and it goes nuts for it.

One alternate option is to use Seachem's "Focus". Add the metro to the Foscus to bind it (Focus acts as a type of carrier) and then soak your feed in this prior to feeding.

Good luck with it. Please post your treatment solution and results as I (and others I'm sure) would be interested.

 

[dahlia]

Hi, interesting thread - I've treated my freshwater discus for internal parasites successfully with food medicated with metro.

My question would be is there a specific amount of powdered metro which could be used on defrosted mysis?

thank you.

 

[petermai]

thanks for all of the reply, i will definitely look into these methods of ich treatment.

 

[Rondelet]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6649581#post6649581 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dahlia
My question would be is there a specific amount of powdered metro which could be used on defrosted mysis?

This is tricky due to the amounts involved - this I why I made a larger amount of feed. At an inclusion rate 250 mg/100g it's relatively easy to measure 250 mg (albeit with low precision). However, if you chunk of defrosted mysis weighs, say, 5 - 10 g, you need to measure out 15-25 mg, which is very hard to do and handle. Further, by just 'sprinkling' it on there is a good chance a large amount will separate from the food and 'wash' away into your tank water. This is why it's a good idea to either use Focus (as noted above) or consider gelatin/freezing.

 

[dahlia]

Good point, the metro I believe is sugar based and does cause a bacteria bloom in freshwater tanks.

Thank you.

 

[Rondelet]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6655746#post6655746 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dahlia
the metro I believe is sugar based and does cause a bacteria bloom in freshwater tanks.

Not so sure about this. Read the label or contact the manufacturer for the product you are using. As far as the Seachem products go, niether Focus, Aquazole nor Metronidazole contain sugar. (And no, I don't work for Seachem!). My guess is that something else is causing the bacterial bloom in your FW tank(s).