Tell me if this will work....

[jodinm]

One of our tangs has come down with ich. We have isolated him and have read every thread on ich treatment and have started the following treatments:

1) We have lowered the salinity level in the main tank (1.016)
Please advise how long the salinity level should be dropped (Hyposalinity Therapy) I have read a mininimum of 3 weeks??!!
2) I have mixed freshly minced garlic into the brine shrimp and fed to them.
3) We have given the infected tang a freshwater dip as well

Please advise if there is anything else we should try.

Our tank has several varieties of tang, some clown fish, snails, a starfish and live rock.

 

[kevin2000]

A few thoughts.

Hyposalinity is normally defined by an Sg closer to 1.009 rather than 1.016. Hyposalinity will kill off most of the inverts within the tank ... which means that most people who use hypo will do so within a QT. Many hydrometers are not accurate enough to accurately register SG at that low level and some would argue that use of a refractometer is an essential part of using a hypo QT.

Freshwater dips are not considered effective in eliminating ich as some of the trophonts will burrow too deep within the fish which effectively insulates them from the FW.

Further ... if one of your fish demonstrates signs of ich them it would be prudent to assume that all fish have ich. You should QT all fish and treat with either hyposalinity (salinity of 12-14 which often equates to an SG of 1.009 depending on temp.) or copper treatment.

The duration of hypo treatments is often debated ... many would argue that you should do so for 4-6 weeks.

Since your show tanks infected you should note that ich needs a fish to continue its life cycle ... if you leave your show tank without any fish for 5-6 weeks then any ich within the show tank will natually die off.

Heres a good link discussing ich.
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/marineich.html
Heres a related link discussing how to peform hyposalinity
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/hyposalinity.html

Hope this helps.

 

[jodinm]

We are trying to bring the salinity level down slowly and just haven't gotten down to the 1.009 level yet.

We really don't have a QT tank to use so that is why we haven't pulled all of the fish. Is there no hope if we leave the remaining fish in the show tank?

Thank you for your help and the information!

 

[kraze3]

If you leave remaining fish in show tank, they most likely will become infected and the ich will not die off. By lowering the Sg in your main tank your going to kill all inverts as well as LR and LS. I agree with Kevin2000, your fish should be caught and treated in a different tank while your main display stays at its reg sg and remains fishless for 6-8 weeks