ick on powder blue tang

[harjit]

Does anyone know if Maracyn 2 work on ick.
I just noticed ick on my powder blue which is in my 120g reef with live rocks.
I just can't catch the fish as it keeps going behind the rocks.
Does anyone know if i would cure this fish without taking it out and not harming my other fish and corals,crabs.snails etc.
PH 8.4
salanity 1.23
tep 83

 

[TerryB]

An antibiotic will not cure ich. You should not medicate in a reef tank anyway. None of the so-called reef safe treatments for ich actually work. The only thing that you can try in the tank is soaking the foods with garlic for a few weeks. It may not work, but then again it may help with a light infection.

Terry B

 

[harjit]

Well just wokeup and noticed the fish dead.
Did remove it from the tank.
I am sure the ick is still in the water floating around.
If i make a water change will it help reduce risk to the other fish.
I did feed fish with garlic soaked food from last night .

 

[gatordvm]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12715937#post12715937 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by harjit
Well just wokeup and noticed the fish dead.
Did remove it from the tank.
I am sure the ick is still in the water floating around.
If i make a water change will it help reduce risk to the other fish.
I did feed fish with garlic soaked food from last night .

Sorry about your fish The ich was likely in its gills causing suffocation.

A water change will not significantly remove any amount of the parasite. After it falls off the fish, it reproduces in the substrate. As long as there are fish in the tank, ich will be able to complete it's life cycle. Many fish with good immune systems may not even show signs of ich, but it is there lurking. If your parameters ever get out of wack, large temp fluctuation, or any other type of stress, ich may raise it's ugly head again. The only way to eliminate ich from your tank is to remove ALL of the fish to QT and allow the display tank to remain fallow (without fish) for 6-8 weeks. Unless you do this, any new addition my succumb to the parasite. There are threads stickied above that have information of the life cycle and appropriate treatment regimens to eliminate it.

 

[harjit]

Thank you for everyone's help