Ok- One of the two clowns (the larger one) has passed to fish heaven. The small remaining one still has ich but looks marginally better- we started kick ich yesterday. Looks like the ich may have spread to the chromis. We do not have a hospital tank set up and fell like we should continue with the treatment we started- also I have some garlic xtreme we mixed in with the frozen food we are feeding them right now. You all keep talking about freshwater dip- would someone mind telling me how to set that up? Can I use a clean bucket? we have plenty of RO/DI water.... I would love to save these fish. Will moving them in and out of fresh water just stress them out more? ALso- is it safe to add new fish? One daughter is so sad over the one that passed and the other daughter does not understand and keeps looking for it.....Thaks Y'all
One clown has gone to fish heaven
- Thread starter HollieR14
- Start date
supertech99
New member
the parasites cannot adjust their internal preshure like fish can. The protoza die when placed in fresh water, the fish just drink to attempt to equalize their presshure. it is not to be in the freshvater for an extended period of time. I think 3-5 min is what is commonly suggested, don't quote me on that though. Its really easy to make your own garlic additive, garlic, ro water, blender! thats it and my fish LOVE it. the parasites life cycle lasts about 30-35 days. now that the ich is in your dt, it will be difficult to ever be "free" of the parasite all together. adding extra stress coat should help the fish fight off new infections. increasing your temp will help 82-85 ok for fish not for inverts. a 10 gal qt is all thats needed you can pick one up for around $10 that will allow you to remove your fish and place them in hyposalinity at a high temp without hurting any inverts.
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NeveSSL
Got tubes?
Sorry to hear that, Hollie. 
I'm sure she will enjoy the Big Reef in the sky!
I have been extremely fortunate and have not had to deal with ich yet, so I've never done a freshwater dip (except on some of my corals), but this article seems to be good: http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/hyposalinity/ht/ht_fwbath.htm
Maybe someone who has done it can chime in.
Brandon
I'm sure she will enjoy the Big Reef in the sky!
I have been extremely fortunate and have not had to deal with ich yet, so I've never done a freshwater dip (except on some of my corals), but this article seems to be good: http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/hyposalinity/ht/ht_fwbath.htm
Maybe someone who has done it can chime in.
Brandon
Pickupman66
New member
HOllie,
sorry to hear about your clownfish woes. it has been a long time since I have battled ICH of any type. a freshwater dip can work as Idid it once on a yellow tang. that said, when fish get ich, they may have had the parasite already and it just was able to come to head when their immune systems are low. this is most always caused by adverse water conditions in the tank (at least when I have seen it). be sure to test everything in your water and post it here so it canbe evaluated. this may eliminate the ich the next time you get an addition for your tank.
sorry to hear about your clownfish woes. it has been a long time since I have battled ICH of any type. a freshwater dip can work as Idid it once on a yellow tang. that said, when fish get ich, they may have had the parasite already and it just was able to come to head when their immune systems are low. this is most always caused by adverse water conditions in the tank (at least when I have seen it). be sure to test everything in your water and post it here so it canbe evaluated. this may eliminate the ich the next time you get an addition for your tank.
THanks pickupman66, we tested today - here is the lowdown
temp - 78.3
salinity 1.025
ammonia 0
nitrate 10
nitrite 0
ph 8.3
alk
calcium 460
phosphate 0
doing a water change in the AM, the chromis are doing fine- eating like little pigs
we tried to get the clown to eat some live brine shrimp today- i think he tried one little bit....i am worried he will not make it through tonight.
temp - 78.3
salinity 1.025
ammonia 0
nitrate 10
nitrite 0
ph 8.3
alk
calcium 460
phosphate 0
doing a water change in the AM, the chromis are doing fine- eating like little pigs
we tried to get the clown to eat some live brine shrimp today- i think he tried one little bit....i am worried he will not make it through tonight.
Pickupman66
New member
hmmmmm....
Mikeyjer
New member
Anytime when you add new fish, be sure to have garlic additives or formula 2 around. Start feeding it from day one then you'll never have to deal with ich. I recently added few new fish. One from the meeting at Fins, sure enough he had ich and I had my formula 2. So I start feeding it, within a few days later. All gone.... In my other tank added a blenny tuesday, ich again. I bought more formula 2 while at the store cause I knew this might happen since the store where it came from is known to have that happen..... Two days later, no sign of ich... Just keep on working on the feeding part, I would raise it up to 2-4 times daily and feed NOTHING but garlic formula. Good Luck!
TitansFan
Active member
the freshwater dip could just stress them out more in my opinion. It would be a bandaid as the ich would still be in your tank. Does your tank have large changes in temperature from night to day? This can stress fish out as well. The stress lowers their immunity which allows the ich to flourish.
It wouldn't hurt to mix some metranidazol in their food either.
Do you have any inverts (shrimp, crabs, or snails ect)? or corals? if not u could consider running your whole tank in hypo salinity.
sorry for your loss.
It wouldn't hurt to mix some metranidazol in their food either.
Do you have any inverts (shrimp, crabs, or snails ect)? or corals? if not u could consider running your whole tank in hypo salinity.
sorry for your loss.
I did not do the fw dip yesterday- we also thought it might just stress out this fish so much that it would kill him. He made it through the night - next dose of medication is today -
Michael - when you say nothing but garlic . . .do you mean every time i feed give them the liquid garlic stuff mixed in with the food? of just squirt some of it in the tank?
Hey Titans fan- David works at Nissan too, yes i do have some snails and crab and a couple of small pieces of coral-
The temp is consistent....
Thanks y'all -
You have really taken the time to educate me on the ich thing and I apreciate you being so patient with your answers - I know it's just one little clown fish but our overall tank health is important.
Michael - when you say nothing but garlic . . .do you mean every time i feed give them the liquid garlic stuff mixed in with the food? of just squirt some of it in the tank?
Hey Titans fan- David works at Nissan too, yes i do have some snails and crab and a couple of small pieces of coral-
The temp is consistent....
Thanks y'all -
You have really taken the time to educate me on the ich thing and I apreciate you being so patient with your answers - I know it's just one little clown fish but our overall tank health is important.
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