I have a 45 gal tank...60lbs live rock, mushroom corals, anchor coral, and some polyps. 3 green chromis, Royal Gramma, 2 clowns and a hippo tang which I put in on 06-24. On the 29th I noticed some ich spots on the hippo tang. Per the advise of pet shop, I put in a cleaner shrimp and the hippo keeps going to it. Several weeks later, still have not lost any fish but ich is still there, I am doing 20% water changes weekly, feeding high quality food with some liquid garlic added. Fish are eating well, but the ich seems to be getting worse on the Hippo Tang and my Royal Gramma. Like I said both are still eating well, not sure what else I can do. The cleaner shrimp set up its cleaning station, but then I read they will not eat ich nor will a cleaner wrasse which I was told to get. Any other advise out there?
Ich problem
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tgirl6868
New member
This saved me had bad case of ich. Got it off of www.drfostersmith.com it's by Fishvet No-ich
It Effectively treat marine ich in aquariums housing corals and anemones. NO-ICH Marine is a copper and Malachite Green free water treatment that biodegrades in 4 to 5 days. It leaves no harmful residue and does not harm fish, invertebrates, or nitrifying bacteria. Use NO-ICH to safely eradicate the marine parasite known as "white spot" or ich Cryptocaryon irritans in fish-only or reef aquariums. NO-ICH also successfully treats the freshwater parasite, Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, with no harm to fish (including scaleless species), plants, or invertebrates. 16 oz treats 200 gallons.
It Effectively treat marine ich in aquariums housing corals and anemones. NO-ICH Marine is a copper and Malachite Green free water treatment that biodegrades in 4 to 5 days. It leaves no harmful residue and does not harm fish, invertebrates, or nitrifying bacteria. Use NO-ICH to safely eradicate the marine parasite known as "white spot" or ich Cryptocaryon irritans in fish-only or reef aquariums. NO-ICH also successfully treats the freshwater parasite, Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, with no harm to fish (including scaleless species), plants, or invertebrates. 16 oz treats 200 gallons.
First off...anything you hear that would eat ich is a myth.
Secondly, that tank is too small for the hippo. Treat the tang and find an appropriate home for it.
Third, you are pushing your bioload. Once you rehome the tang, you will be fine
To treat ich, you have 3 methods. You will need to get another tank, preferable 40 gallons to use for a hospital tank. You can either treat with copper for 2 weeks and then monitor the fish in the for 4-8 weeks. Or do hypo, which involves the use of a refractometer and keeping the salinity at 1.009 for about 4 weeks and monitor them at regular salinity of 1.025 fro another 4-6 weeks.
Or use the tank transfer method which involves the use of multiple tanks.
Your main tank would need to stay fallow(fishless) for 8-12 weeks to be sure that they ich is gone from the tank or you will need to start all over.
No such thing as a reef safe treatment.
Some wil lsay by keeping the fish well fed that they can fight off the ich with their immune system. I totally disagree with that. Ich is still in the tank and has potential to kill your fish and have an outbreak in your tank.
And finally...you have learned a lesson alot of us have. Learn to use a quarantine tank. Well your fully stocked so you may not need one right now after you treat the fish.
Secondly, that tank is too small for the hippo. Treat the tang and find an appropriate home for it.
Third, you are pushing your bioload. Once you rehome the tang, you will be fine
To treat ich, you have 3 methods. You will need to get another tank, preferable 40 gallons to use for a hospital tank. You can either treat with copper for 2 weeks and then monitor the fish in the for 4-8 weeks. Or do hypo, which involves the use of a refractometer and keeping the salinity at 1.009 for about 4 weeks and monitor them at regular salinity of 1.025 fro another 4-6 weeks.
Or use the tank transfer method which involves the use of multiple tanks.
Your main tank would need to stay fallow(fishless) for 8-12 weeks to be sure that they ich is gone from the tank or you will need to start all over.
No such thing as a reef safe treatment.
Some wil lsay by keeping the fish well fed that they can fight off the ich with their immune system. I totally disagree with that. Ich is still in the tank and has potential to kill your fish and have an outbreak in your tank.
And finally...you have learned a lesson alot of us have. Learn to use a quarantine tank. Well your fully stocked so you may not need one right now after you treat the fish.
And Ill bet you still have ich in your tank.
tgirl6868
New member
Actually no... And it worked very well...
Cloudburst2000
Active member
You either need to treat with copper or hyposalinity after moving all your fish to a hospital tank. I think hyposalinity is the best method personally. DO NOT do either of these in your main tank as they will kill all inverts (corals, crabs, shrimp, snails, etc). And copper would be absorbed by the rocks, sand, equipment, tank itself rendering all of them useless for a reef system. So do NOT under any circumstances add copper to your main tank...EVER. If you do the copper treatment, do it in a hospital tank ONLY. And then that hospital/quarantine tank can never be used to house anything BUT fish in the future...another reason I like the hyposalinity method better.
But anyhoo, after removing the fish from the main tank, you must leave that tank fishless for a minimum of eight weeks (ten is even better). Why? Because while ich only infects fish, the parasite goes through a life cycle. Ich cysts are produced which can attach to any hard surface like rock, coral skeletons, snail shells, etc. You need to wait to make sure all the ich cysts in the tank have completed their life cycle before adding fish back into the tank. If the ich cysts complete their life cycle and can't find a fish to attach to, then they will finally die. But if add fish back into the tank before the ich life cycle is complete then you will get an ich outbreak again.
And I agree that the hippo tang is completely unsuited to your tank size. You have a high bioload anyway which is likely stressing the fish out. Usually, it is stressed fish that come down with ich. Fish can carry ich a long time with no symptoms but once they get stressed out...BOOM, you have an ich outbreak. Treat the hippo and then take him back to you LFS.
But anyhoo, after removing the fish from the main tank, you must leave that tank fishless for a minimum of eight weeks (ten is even better). Why? Because while ich only infects fish, the parasite goes through a life cycle. Ich cysts are produced which can attach to any hard surface like rock, coral skeletons, snail shells, etc. You need to wait to make sure all the ich cysts in the tank have completed their life cycle before adding fish back into the tank. If the ich cysts complete their life cycle and can't find a fish to attach to, then they will finally die. But if add fish back into the tank before the ich life cycle is complete then you will get an ich outbreak again.
And I agree that the hippo tang is completely unsuited to your tank size. You have a high bioload anyway which is likely stressing the fish out. Usually, it is stressed fish that come down with ich. Fish can carry ich a long time with no symptoms but once they get stressed out...BOOM, you have an ich outbreak. Treat the hippo and then take him back to you LFS.
dzfish17
Active member
Good advice. I learned my lesson... nothing goes into my tank without going through QT first.
I learned my lesson the same way. I even beleived the whole reef safe treatments. They never worked. They kept the fish alive longer but didnt cure it
Thank you all for the quick response. Well I don't have a hospital tank and I doubt I can get one running that will be large enough for all the fish in enough time. I agree with you on the hippo tang, I need to remove it and I've tried but so far I have not been able to catch it and its only 2" long and it will get even more stressed. So you don't think the good water quality and premium food will help with the stress level? Not trying to duck the issue but I am trying to save the fish without taking my tank apart to get the fish out.
I understand that, but what about filters and it would not be cycled. If I use substrate from my main tank will it have ich in it? How do you keep a hospital tank cycled without fish in it, and the cycling process of a new tank will kill the fish too. Not making excuses and I will set up a tank, just not sure how to keep it running when there is no fish??? Will it work with just an airstone and for how long?
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