Ich

[Pickupman66]

OK. so somewhere somehow, I got Ich in the tank. the Sohal is showing signs of it while none of the others are. I am sure it is brought on by the stress of his move and the new surroundings. that said, the fish eats very well and has a voracious appetite. constantly picking at the rock, demolishing nori sheets in less than a minute (saw him eat a piece at least 2" long like spaghetti).

I dont want to deal with more stress by yanking the fish and doing a FW dip, so im thinking about going HYPOsaline on the entire system to kill the parasite.

from what ive read, this is the best way to kill the parasite. warm water and hyposaline in a QT while the DT remains fish free for up to 6 weeks. since I have no inverts at this time, why cant I just do the entire tank as hypo.

if I do this, how long do you think I need to keep it hypo? from what ive read, they parasite cannot survive at 1.010.

do you think 1 week is sufficient? 2? or do I you keep them at hypo for 6 weeks? it was my understanding that the 6 weeks was just for the empty tank but I cannot find how long to keep them hyposaline.

 

[tkimmons85]

I have had ich and prob still have it in my tank. But Im a firm believer in that a healthy fish is more ich resistant. When my purple tang got it really bad I fed a mixture of minced garlic, meaty cubes, and flakes at night with seaweed during the day. The signs of ich on the tang went away and everybody is still fat and healthy. Just my two cents

 

[Pickupman66]

TK, I was thinking that myself. the fish is eating like a champ! then again, I dont want to deal with this every time I add a new fish or cause some stress. the whole setup is relatively new. it did cycle, but nothing major, and the water tests good. all other fish show no signs at all of infection.

the other thought is if I do this now, QT all new additions, then I dont have to worry about them ever getting it again.

 

[andywe]

Ich is also a freshwater problem too..I would double check what "Science" is behind Hypo working for them.

 

[Pickupman66]

Andy. Completely different.
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Ich.html

http://www.chucksaddiction.com/ich.html
Here is a good Hypo article.
http://atj.net.au/marineaquaria/hyposalinity.html

 

[mixer911]

I got a ich breakout in my tank over the past couple of days. I have lost some fish I have had for over a year It sucks....

 

[Pickupman66]

Rick, any idea where yours came from? new fish? I know my source. I got a fish that I should not have gotten. it was in the tank 3 days and didnt make it. that was about a week ago. dumb on my part. lesson learned. hopefully it wont be costly.

 

[mixer911]

I think I know where mine came from. It started a little while back. I thought I had it under control, then I added a flame angel this weekend and signs of it poped up again. Now since yesterday I have lost the Flame angel, Kole tang and 2 Clarki clowns. My yellow tang has spots this morning now and he was fine yesterday.

 

[tkimmons85]

Wow sorry to here that, those were some beautiful fish. From what I read on a good marine Ich article on here is that marine ich is diff from freshwater ich and can lay dormant in a tank for long periods of time if the fish are resistant to infection. Thus putting a "wall" up to the parasites life cycle. The way I saw it in my tank previously was when my fish got stressed out from a new addition "the purple tang" the tang got it first and then one by one they all got it. At that point there was no point in taking any fish out to do a Qt or a dip. So I started soaking garlic cloves in my sump and feeding fresh garlic for about 3 weeks. The ich has gone away and has been seen since.

 

[mixer911]

Thanks Travis, I will have to give that a try. Just cant win, all my sps are finally looking great and now the fish strat dropping, lol.... I have never had an ich problem like this before. Crazy how it just pops up in a few hours on healthy fish.

 

[Pickupman66]

yea, I read some stuff that the garlic is more of a myth than anything else. I do know it has antibiotic properties in humans as an herbal antibiotic, but the article I read last night in RK was that is was mostly BS when it came to saltwater. I soaked some nori in some minced garlic I keep on hand for cooking. when I put it in, the sohal seemed a bit confused by the smell. he did try to eat a fiew chunks of the garlic but spit them. he did eat the nori after the naso showed him where it was. guess the strength of the scent confused him.

http://web.archive.org/web/20080514060735/reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/sp/index.php


the only things I do know for a FACT: garlic will repel Vampires, Garlic scents sprayed on fishing lures can sometimes attract bass to bite, and I love to put a ton of garlic in my food. too much of it (like that pizza I had in Boston once) and you can smell it oozing out your pores the next day!

 

[TomStill]

I will say that I had a brief period of ich in my tank and my tang had it. I put some minced garlic in the flake food I was feeding and let it soak in and then fed it. It was amazing how fast the ich went away, about a 1-2 days. I dont think its a myth, I agree what was said earlier, a healthy fish helps fight ich. Just my 2 cents

jon

 

[tkimmons85]

Maybe the garlic just enhances the overall health of the fish, slime coat, etc. Instead of killing the ich like everyone says ot does. All I know is my fish dont have ich right now, so whatever that is worth to ya.

 

[ameares8]

Rick, do you think the Flame Angel was your problem with ich? That was a pretty fish, sorry that you lost the others as well.

 

[tkimmons85]

Also my fish were a bit unsure of eating chopped garlic at first, but now they fight over it. What helps too is getting it cut up small enough so it can be easily swallowed.

 

[Pickupman66]

I only have preminced garlic on hand at the house. reading those articles makes me believe that the chemical in the garlic is only available right at and shortly after destroying the cellular structure of the garlic.

very interesting. mine is fine enough for the fish to injest as it is the size of the sand granules.

Guess I opened a can of worms with this discussion. that said, it looks like we will be headed towards hypo tonight and will remain that way for several weeks just to be safe. I had planned on adding some frags on the 25th, but I dont think 2 weeks is long enough to maintain the hypo. now is the time to do it as I have no inverts and no corals. basically a FOWLR tank.

 

[tkimmons85]

Good luck man I hope your fish make it though looking great.

 

[mixer911]

Rick, do you think the Flame Angel was your problem with ich? That was a pretty fish, sorry that you lost the others as well.

I don't think the flame angel was the culprit, but I do think it started the flare up again. I think I introduced it a month or 2 ago as I started to see signs of it on the Kole a little while back. I know it is partly my fault also, as I did not QT it first. I actuall have a QT tank sitting in my spare room empty. Just got to get it running.

I definately think the garlic will help as I have read too many cases where it does help to say it is a myth. It may not fight the ich, but i think it does help the fishes' immune system keep it at bay. Hypo is the best treatment for it, so time to setup the QT tank.

 

[Pickupman66]

yea, basically, im going to turn my whole setup into a QT for a few weeks.

 

[Pickupman66]

Fish looks no different tonight. some very tiny spots on him but acting perfectly normal. ate a good sized chunk of the nori sheet. I divide it 4 ways and give them a 1/4 when I get home and then another 1/4 a few hours later. in between they get some formula 2. this fish will eat and do it voratiously. I think ill hold off teh hypo for a day longer and re-evaluate tomorrow. if I see any signs of worsening, ill go hypo. if not, I may let it ride to see if it gets better if it does, then the ich should die out due to it not being successful hosting in fish. give it 6 weeks with no new additions (budget constrained as well) and I should be golden! lets keep the fingers crossed. as of now, it is very very mild on the fish.