Ich

[BillyHalloween]

My 55 gallon mixed reef tank has ich. I bought a firefish, had him in quarantine for 4 weeks and saw no issues. Placed him in my tank and 2 days later, freaking ich. I would assume that my tank already had it, but I had no other fish that had suffered from it that I had noticed. I do see a few spots on my damsels now though. I don't have many fish in there. 2 dominos, lawnmower, watchman goby and 2 small clowns. I have a pistol shrimp and a few dozen hermits and snails. My biggest problem at the moment (other than the ich that is ruining my reef tank) is that after I got the firefish in the tank, I went out and got a royal gramma that is now in the quarantine tank and I will have no place to put him if this crud doesn't get worked out. Anyone have any suggestions for treatment? I have read a lot of stuff and nothing sounds too great. Anyone know of any decent methods or medications that I could try? I have lots of coral in my tank. Softies, LPS and SPS. Thanks everyone!

 

[new2corals]

I have no idea, just wanted to say good luck and I wish you well. I hope you get it all worked out soon!

 

[Steve W]

You might try a cleaner shrimp. It's a long shot but short of setting up another tank and putting all your fish in it and treating them there, I don't have any other suggestions.

 

[StephLionfish]

Ich is beneath the surface of the skin, so a Cleaner Shrimp (or Cleaner Wrasse) won't get it. You might want to stop by Aquarium, on Papermill Dr. They will likely let you use one of their fish traps, then you can treat your fish in a QT. Hyposalinity, copper, and Crypto-Pro are one's I've read that work.
Good luck.

 

[scubba.steve]

Billy im sorry to hear you've lost your starfish, feather duster and most all your corals..... i DEFF would not recommend that product that you used.. and i hope they are recovering in your wife's tank... best of luck bro

 

[LawmanRob]

What product did he use????

 

[scubba.steve]

What product did he use????

I cant remember what he told me rob.. Sorry it was in a text... Something with the name blue in it

 

[BillyHalloween]

What product did he use????

Sorry guys. I am not getting notifications of postings. Stupid gmail. I used 2 products... In the "Rally Pack". They are Ruby Reef Rally and Ruby Reef Kick-Ich. The Rally killed a lot of my corals. I have some softies left, that's about it. The Kick-Ich did nothing for the ich. I wrote the company. They came up with a bunch of excuses. Blah Blah!! Figures. Anyways, I cought my 4 remaining fish and have them in quarantine . Lost lost a clown last night... down to 3. I guess we will see how it goes. Starting my fishless ich starvation now. Just a note... DO NOT USE KICK-ICH or RALLY.... It is bad news!!!!

 

[BillyHalloween]

Here is an email from the people at Ruby Reef...

Hello Billy,

I have some ideas about what happend in your tank, but Rally ( or Kick-Ich) is not the culprit. We have sold literally tens of thousands of bottles of Rally and Kick-Ich over the last fourteen years and if either had the effects you describe we wouldn't have made it past year one with either product.

If it was just the fish I might be inclined to attribute it to the fast killer velvet and that you started treatment too late. Alternatively, there is a very nasty and lethal bacteria known as Vibrio that attacks everything including humans (Keep your hands out of the water!) and can be introduced by humans. Most strains of Vibrio are susceptible to Rally but, like all microbiological agents, it is inevitable to occasionally encounter resistant strains. The wide spectrum, across the board losses you described defenitely sound like something Vibrio is capable of. But if Rally was capable of causing this type of disaster you can be sure that -- after 14 years -- no one would be buying it anymore.

Were there any other medications in the tank?

I am truly sorry to hear about your losses.

Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

Best regards,

Sam Grillo, Ph.D.

 

[StephLionfish]

That Kick-Ich is crap. I used it on one of my favorite fish I've ever owned (in my avatar) when he got ill, and it didn't do a thing. I did it exactly as the instructions told me to, and caught the disease early. Nope, he died absolutely covered in ich. I'm disgusted with the product, and I will totally butt-in on conversations between LFS employees and costumers about the stuff.

I feel your pain, and I'm sorry 'bout the clown. Again, good luck to the rest of your fish.

 

[BillyHalloween]

That Kick-Ich is crap. I used it on one of my favorite fish I've ever owned (in my avatar) when he got ill, and it didn't do a thing. I did it exactly as the instructions told me to, and caught the disease early. Nope, he died absolutely covered in ich. I'm disgusted with the product, and I will totally butt-in on conversations between LFS employees and costumers about the stuff.

I feel your pain, and I'm sorry 'bout the clown. Again, good luck to the rest of your fish.

I am sorry to hear about your lion. That really sucks. Their product is garbage!! They claim that their products are used by big aquariums throughout the world. Who knows. Hopefully they have better luck with that junk. Thanks for the input!