Ich Questions on Foxface Rabbitfish - URGENT

[Capnbob]

Hi,

I have a foxfaced rabbitfish who has ich. For the last 2 days or so Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve noticed little white specks on him that looked like grains of salt. I thought it might be ich but I wasnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t sure if it was just bubbles stuck to his skin. Today I came home from work and itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s blown up all over his body and heââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s no long a vibrant yellow like he normally is but a white-ish yellow.

Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve been reading up on treating ich. There are a few contradictions that Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve stumbled upon and so I have some questions that Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢d like to ask before I buy anything to treat it tomorrow.

First off, I have a 46 gal. bow front reef tank with only three fish in it ATM. The fish are a percula clownfish, a blue damsel and my foxface rabbitfish.

My first question is do I need to now treat all 3 fish for ich even though only 1 fish is show signs? And if I do need to treat all of them do I only need to do a freshwater dip for the 2 that appear to be fine and then QT the rabbitfish, or QT all 3 fish?

Also, I canââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t treat him with any additives until tomorrow because all of my LFSââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s are closed right now. Should I do a freshwater dip right tonight to slow it down?

Lastly, I canââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t figure out what the heck to treat it with. There are many options out there that Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m seeing and I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t know which is most appropriate.

In case itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s asked hereââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s my equipment info:

46 gallon bowfront. Rena XP3 Canister Filter, Coralife Super Skimmer for up to 65 gallons. Two Maxi-Jet 1200's with Hydor Flo water deflectors. 200 Watt Marineland Stealth heater. About 50-70 lbs. of live rock. Current USA 36" Power Compacts w/ 1 - Dual Daylight Lamp (10,000K and 6,700K) and 1 - Dual Actinic Lamp (420nm and 460nm).

Nitrites, nitrates, pH, salinity, and ammonia are all at perfect levels.

ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦As a side note this is occurring about 4 days after my flame angel died from a cloudy eye infection of some sort that killed him and only 2 days after I ran through a generator nightmare because of a power outage that took place here. Frustrating indeed.

 

[Freed]

You could just do hyposalinity in the tank but alot of the "live" stuff and critters on your rocks would possibly die. Fresh water dips do no good as has been indicated by leebca here in the disease forum and can actually harm or kill an already very distressed fish. The best way to treat them would be to put the fish in a QT and do hypo at 1.009 SG or you could put your live rock in a garbage can or other container for 4-6 weeks and run hypo on the tank. Hypo is the best with the least amount of side effects or harm to the fish as medicines can be lethal if not constantly checked and kept at optimum levels. I have had my CBB and six line wrasse in QT since 2-10-06 and they are fine as pie. Ich showed up the 2nd week I had them and has not showed up since the beginning of March.

 

[Capnbob]

After looking into it a bit I've decided to set up a QT and treat it with Rid-Ich.

I have a 10 gallon tank with a 75 watt Stealth heater and an airstone that I've put my three fish in and have added the suggested amount of Rid-Ich.

My question is this... Do I need to run any filtration if I'm going to be doing small water changes daily? I have a Maxi-Jet 600 powerhead with an aquaclear filter but it seems to really be knocking my foxfaced around.

Also, do I want to change a small amount of the water out before adding more Rid-Ich and if so do I add freshwater (with salt of course) or water from my main tank?

Thanks in advanced!

 

[Freed]

Keep a close eye on your ammonia and nitrates if you do not use any type of filter that has nitrifying bacteria already growing on it. The bacteria is what would keep the ammonia in check. An air driven sponge filter would be very useful here. Also you will want to beware of a "cycle" in your QT tank as I am guessing you just started it running, correct?

I also understand Rid ich or Kick ich has no documented ich killing affects unless I am mistaken. The best way and most safe way to kill ich is to use hyposalinity measured with a calibrated refractometer.

 

[Capnbob]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6970309#post6970309 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Freed
An air driven sponge filter would be very useful here. Also you will want to beware of a "cycle" in your QT tank as I am guessing you just started it running, correct?

I am just starting the QT out. I bought a Aqua Clear filter for it today. I know I should remove the carbon if I'm using Rid-Ich but should I also remove the "BioMax Insert."

How do I prevent a Cycle from starting?

 

[Freed]

The cycle will start no matter what you do as long as there is fish in there along with uneaten food/ waste. I don't know about what to do with the filter though. Hopefully someone else can chime in here as well. Will get with leebca and see if she can offer any advice.

 

[arizona tech]

leave the bio max insert in and remove the carbon, bag and feed the guys every other day i have learned if you have those fish in a ten gallon the readings swing in a blink, good luck, go with hypo it works those meds are usually a miss i tried ick attack and it didi nothing for me

 

[Capnbob]

Iif I do use hyposalinity don't I still need something like Rid-Ich to initially kill the ich and then the hyposalinity keeps it from coming back (or something along those lines...)?

Can someone direct me to a good guide for hyposalinity?

 

[Freed]

No, hypo by itself will kill the ich. Ich can't live in a salinity or SG that low if you do it for at least 4-6 weeks after the last spot of ich you see is gone.

You can drop your salinity down to a SG of 1.009ppm or salinity of 10-12 ppt in a few days.

Bring it back up slowly though over a couple of weeks after hypo is done. Make sure you use a refractometer and not a hydrometer.

 

[leebca]

Capnbob,

To respond to your first post. . .

All fish need to be removed from the reef tank and treated for the disease. No FW dips will cure the fish. All 3 in the same QT if the QT is large enough.

There are a few options for treating Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans). This article, in two parts, outlines some of them. This article is a good one to read to give you general information about the parasite:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.htm
(Part 2):
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-10/sp/feature/index.htm

Most aquarists either choose the hyposalinity treatment or the copper treatment. The least stressful for your Foxface would be a hyposalinity treatment. In order to perform this one properly, you'll need to have an instrument on hand called a refractometer. Only this way will you be able to be very accurate in measuring the salinity.

A fish dying with a cloudy eye just a bit earlier could mean it too died of Marine Ich. Some fish die even before the aquarist can see the spots, because sometimes the parasite starts in the gills where you can't see them.

This is a short explanation of the hyposalinity treatment process:
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/hyposalinity.html

Besides checking for ammonia and nitrites, you must also check pH twice a day. The one thing that often goes wrong during a hyposalinity treatment is that the pH is hard to control. You should also be checking the salinity at least twice a day to make sure it is where it belongs.

Good luck! :rollface: