ICH question

C

ChillingBoy

New member
I'm not sure if my tang has ich or not. When my vho is turn on I can't really see any white stop on my tang but when I turn my MH on I can see some spot. I'm not sure if that's ich or some scratch because he hits some of the rock around. He looks pretty healthy, swimming a lot and eating a lot. Should I just soak the food with garlic? My tang swims too fast for me to take him out. Any ideas?
 
If you're able to catch him, you can try giving him a fresh water bath. If he's got ich, the fresh water bath can help. Otherwise if you can't get him (he's in a reef tank) then I'd double up on Thera +A. My $.02 worth anywho.
 
Don't give the Tang a FW bath .. there not effective at eliminating ich and unless you know what your doing your going to do more harm than good.

Ich isn't normally a fast killer and if you have introduced ick into your show tank the problem is going to effect every fish in the tank. I suggest you do a bit of research on ich as well as how to setup a QT that is large enough to hold and treat all the fish in your show tank.

Heres a good start.

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/marineich.html
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/quarantinetanks.html

Hope this helps.
 
Salt like grain on the body or the fins is ich. It might not show on every fish, but they all have the parasites living on them. Use copper if it's a fish only tank. If not, you have to catch him and treat him in a hospital tank. There is a parasite treatment for reef tanks, but I don't care for it.
 
I would recommend using hyposalinity. It's the best way to do it. You will get mixed opinions where some people say copper is the best, or that garlic works, etc. I think copper is something you have to be very careful with using, and for a beginner I'm not sure it's the best idea. You have to be very exact to make sure it works. For example I bought a tank from someone else and inherited a blue tang. It had already gotten ich and they treated it with copper. Two months later and it had ich again. Do searches on hyposalinity or message me if you need any help. It's better just to get it over with and do it the right way the first time. It's no fun but I haven't even had a trace of ich since I did this 6 months ago.
 
Hyposalinity without the right equipment can be just as deadly to copper. Most new people have a swingarm hydrometer, and if it's off it's dangerous to do hyposalinity. Same with Copper with no Copper test kit.

Either way, either get a refractometer for hyposalinity. A Copper test kit for Copper treatments.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10228406#post10228406 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ChillingBoy
how low should i have the salinity?
Click to expand...
Hyposalinity would require you to have a salinity of 12-14 which would equate to an SG of approx 1.009. Hypo should be performed in a QT since it will kill most inverts and harm live rock, live sand etc.

It might be prudent to just observe the fish for a while .. sometimes "spots" are just grains of sand. Further .. if the fish has introduced ich into the show tank your going to have to QT all the fish and leave the tank without fish for about 5 weeks .. you don't want to do that without good reason. Suggest you read the links I provided and in the future never/ever put fish into your ST without prior QT.
 
How long should I keep him in the salinity of 1.009? It look like I kept him in the tank with hyposalinity for a few minutes and he is swimming sideway now.
 
You need to SLOW DOWN .. you went from having a healthy fish with a potential spot that could only be seen in a certain light to an instant hypo tank.

Heres a link which describes how to perform hypo .. forget all that slow acclimation stuff because you rushed by that and theres no going back.

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/hyposalinity.html

Tangs laying flat or swimming sideways is not uncommon when they are placed into a new tank ... hopefully that will change when they get acclimated/comfortable.

Is the tang in the ST or a QT?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10228918#post10228918 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ChillingBoy
Well I got him out already....put him in a QT...I'm using quick cure. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Guess you didn't read me post saying SLOW DOWN.

What do you think is wrong with the fish?

Why do you think quick cure is going to help?
 
As for as ich (and Oodinium) is concerned, I always use a systemic approach. Ich is not something that you live with or compromise with.

You eradicate all possibilites of any of your fish ever getting it, period. What if you go on vacation for a couple of weeks?

Infestation of higher order external pathogens (ie not virus, bacteria or fungus and not things that live inside the host) has little to do with stress. It is a matter of chance, related to the unnatural confinement of captivity thus concentration of the patheogen, and the odds are too high to be taken.

I have started to always actively treat for ich for weeks with copper. I have not had a single incidence of the disease since then. Ich can certainly be eradicated but one has to be thorough.

UV only has marginal impact of killing water borne ich. Diatom filter, seldom used now, does quite effectively reduce the concentration of ich to sub-clinical level infestation, but must be used all the time if drug is not used.
 
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