Terrible ick problem please help

[jsedita74]

I have a 220g which has developed ick problem. I've lost a few fish already and have begun doing weekly water changes. I have also purchased some supposedly reef safe ick killing medication which seems to be doing balls... Some one please help I don't have a quarantine tank and refuse to put copper in my tank. Is there anything else I can do to kill this damn ick???

 

[bullitr]

i am dealing with the similar issues with my 435 .
although i quarantine/copper treatment all my fish before i put it on my display but ick happens still when you are introducing new fish.Right now i am catching all of my fish and i will put it on 2 quarantine tank and let my tank be fishless for 2 months. unfortunately its the only way to eliminate future problem.
its not convient nor economical but again i think it will be better in the long run.

 

[Engine8ff]

Second bullitr. The only way to get rid of the pest is remove the fish and qt them for at least 8 weeks, 12-16 is the best if you have a real bad case. I'm not 100% positive but I dont think there is anything out there that will rid your tank other than removing the fish and treat the fish and just letting the eggs die in the main. Sorry to here about your situation and good luck.

 

[mx838]

Ick is like a cold to the fish. If the are comfortable in the tank they will eat and move on but if stressed they will lose the battle. You can up the temp to 82 and over feed with garlic to help speed the process. The key is to keep them eating. Ick is a tough culprit but is managable. dont give up

 

[GhostCon1]

Might have better luck on the "Fish Disease Treatment" forum.

 

[jsedita74]

Ok so I don't have the luxury of a qt tank but my question is this. My clowns are showing zero signs of ick . Seems only the tangs are affected. So let's say the tangs that are affected die and the clowns remain can I leave the clowns in there and still wait the 16 wks for the eggs to die off? Or do the clowns have to go as well? Also I have a coral order coming in. Is this going to affect the corals?

 

[GhostCon1]

Ick can only be transferred to fish; it will not affect inverts.

If you want to risk it, you can leave the clowns in. However, this is pretty much hit and miss.

 

[jsedita74]

So once I take out infected tangs do you think the ick will transfer to the clowns?

 

[jd474]

Once cryptocarryon is in your system, it's probably there for good. The only way you're going to positively eliminate it, is to remove your fish and go fallow for at least 2 months, until the parasite runs it's life cycle. If there is a fish host, it'll always be there. Your other option would be to remove all your corals and try to get some chloroquine to treat with, but it's hard to get without a vet Rx. Even if you don't see symptoms, it's still going to be there, and any time there is a stressor, you'll run the risk of an outbreak.

 

[jsedita74]

So basically if I remove the fish w ick but leave fish that aren't affected in there the ick will still stay alive???? Is this correct?? This is crazy. This ick is like cancer for fish !!! ***!!!!!!

 

[RaeRae]

I cant pin point what I did but this is it. Feed with garlic ,uv sterilizer and temp at 81 deg and I havnt seen ich in months

 

[jd474]

So basically if I remove the fish w ick but leave fish that aren't affected in there the ick will still stay alive???? Is this correct?? This is crazy. This ick is like cancer for fish !!! ***!!!!!!

Yes, it's a free living organism. UV can be effective, but it only effects the free-floating parasites that pass through, and crypt. needs a high UV dose to actually kill it, which most commercial sterilizers are too small to do this (esp. a tank your size).

 

[scubasteve06]

So basically if I remove the fish w ick but leave fish that aren't affected in there the ick will still stay alive???? Is this correct?? This is crazy. This ick is like cancer for fish !!! ***!!!!!!

As long as there is a host i.e. a fish in your tank it will live. If there isn't something for it to host on it will die off in 6-12 maybe even 18 weeks.

 

[GhostCon1]

Starting to see some disinformation in here.

Ich, even if it is not present, is not always in the system. This is a myth that a thread over in the "Fish Disease Treatment" forum has debunked.

UV can be effective in killing off ich. However, there are certain flow rates that have to be run through the UV unit as the amount of contact a certain organism is in with UV determines if it will kill it. I believe ich requires one of the longest contact times.

There are three stages of ich:
1. Obviously when YOU first notice it in the system as the white spots (yes, I know out of chronological order, sue me). This is the parasite in the host that is boring out of the fish to reprodude.
2. When the fish goes to sleep, the ich parasite exits the body (the white dots you see) in the area the fish sleeps in. So, even if the fish appears to be fine because most fish return to the same spot to sleep, ich will reinfect them. (Ich is active at night.)
3. The free-swimming ich. This is the stage where ich can spread to other fish and infect the entire system.

The above is not 100% correct on everything or in the way that it occurs, but this is the general life cycle of ich.

To completely destroy ich you would have to remove EVERY fish from the system and let it go fishless for a minimum of two months as this is the life cycle of ich with no host.

If there is a fish in the system, ich can infect it and it can be a carrier to spread to other fish. Even if the fish shows NO signs of infection, assume ich is still present.

The only way to make sure no ich sees the DT is proper QT, inspection, and treatment of new fish before introduction into the DT.

HTH (and ich experts correct anything I messed up or post a link please).

 

[jd474]

While we're debunking myths, garlic has absolutely zero medicinal benefit with regards to parasitic treatment. Even people like Noga, and other reputable fish vets, suggest it's "appetite stimulant" is anecdotal at best.

 

[bullitr]

While we're debunking myths, garlic has absolutely zero medicinal benefit with regards to parasitic treatment. Even people like Noga, and other reputable fish vets, suggest it's "appetite stimulant" is anecdotal at best.

I agree

 

[WarrenG]

Yeah garlic "myths"... During the last 5 years or so some of my fish have had ich 3-4 times during times of relatively high stress, and not feeding formula 2. Resumption of feeding formula 2 instead of something else has eradicated it every time, within a week or so.

I have even tried not feeding the formula 2 to see if the ich would go away on its own and it never did, just got worse. A few days of formula 2 and it declines and then disappears. I've never lost a fish to ich, and several of my fish have lived 10-18 years each. Say what you will, but I see no reason not to believe the garlic (or some other ingredient) in formula 2 is helpful.

If you don't think it works, don't use it. If you haven't tried it yet for ich, I suggest you try it. It's good food and inexpensive, so what is the risk?

 

[Specialtang]

garlic has absolutely zero medicinal benefit with regards to parasitic treatment

I agree it does not work on ich.

An ich cycle is 8 weeks during this cycle you do not want to streess the fish out. the best way is to use a UV Filter, and lower your salt mix to 1.016 to 1.020.

So you do not kill your pods use the UV filter to clarify the water

Increasing the water temp actually increases growth / reproduction as the way I understand it.