Treating ICH with Biomechanical Filtration

[Seatrout]

Hi Guys, this is my first post. I have been avidly reading all sorts of issues on this great site for over 18 months.


Cryptocaryon irritans:- well where to start. Everyone with a sw tank and their grandmother will have their own view on Ich, treat with copper,chloroquine garlic,hydrogen peroxide,hyposalinity,fresh water baths,Uv, quarantine tank, hospital tank................within 2 weeks all fish are dead without proper intervention.

Having never had ich before but have witnessed it with friends tanks, I unwittingly introduced on infected fish( emperor angel) into the aquarium about 6 months ago, I literaly sh*t myself, within 6 days ich took out my regal tang and coral beauty( the infected emperor angel was still alive and kicking, but my sailfin tang was looking poorly).

All of the fish were best of pals, no bullying or stress.

I do not have a hospital, quarantine tank or sump.

I knew all the inns and outs of treating ich, but with no HT or QT I thought about a different approach to the infestation:- Mechanical/Biological Filtration (Biomechanical).

Since the size of the parasite in all of it's life cycle stages are between 25um and 250 um, then "why not filter the little buggers out?"

I prefer to use an exterior filter for my 220L tank, the one I am using is the Fluval FX6, a quality filter.

As soon as I spotted the ich infestation I ordered 3 nominal felt filter bags from fleabay, ( 1 micron, 5um and 10um) cut them to shape and installed them in the filter, the filter bags are used for biodiesel.

Within 1 week the were 50% less visible ich spots on the fish, week 2 50% less again, week 3 no visible spots at all. Week 20 all fish healthy and alive, introduced a new fish into the aquarium( coral beauty ) bullied for the first week, stressed to hell:- no spots present, accepted as part of the gang now.

I know,I know,I know that there is still a chance that their is ich still present in the aquarium, but I have used this technique on another 2 infected aquariums with the same results:- no dead fish, no chemical intervention.

So why did it work I hear you ask.

Well, I have my own theories, less stress to the fish being transported from one tank to another, stressful chemical intervention,stressful freshwater bathing.
High volume micro filtration to remove the parasite via the fx6.

 

[ThRoewer]

Well, ich "going away" slowly as the fish acquire immunity is a rather common thing and leads many to the false assumption that some miracle cure or other measures did it.

While a mechanical filtration can work, it requires a special filter to actually capture the parasites. Filter socks or bags may not be enough as these parasites are not hard and may be able to squeeze through finer pores than their nominal dimensions would suggest.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[Triggerfish]

I unwittingly introduced on infected fish( emperor angel) into the aquarium about 6 months ago, I literaly sh*t myself, within 6 days ich took out my regal tang and coral beauty was looking poorly).

am i understanding that within 6 days of adding what you assume was an infected fish you lost two fish to what you thought was ich from that newly added fish? the life cycle typically would not act that fast to kill fish that quickly, especially from an initial outbreak.
marine velvet on the other hand can have quicker outcomes as you mentioned.

 

[sellmecorals]

you LITERaLLY sh*t yourself?

 

[daviesp007]

I agree with Triggerfish on this, if what you say is accurate, then Velvet would be more likely. Velvet can be mistaken for ich. To understand ich better, I would encourage you to read this piece about ich:

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forum/index.php?threads/marine-ich-myths-and-facts.23132/

And this one about velvet:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/PIC/article.cfm?aid=84

Although these parasites are different, treatment is pretty much the same. I have had ich and velvet in my 90 gallon reef, but it wasn't until I got velvet that I lost fish... and quickly at that. The only way I cleared my system was to run the tank fallow for 2 months, quarantine the fish in a separate tank, and treat with copper.

 

[BeachBumm]

you LITERaLLY sh*t yourself?

They could of been using adult diapers !

 

[Seatrout]

Guys, I do know the difference between Cryptocaryon and Oodinium infestations, the difference between the two are subtle yet distinguishable.

Using the 10,5 and 1um filters worked for me and on another 2 tanks.

I am not staying or stating it's a miracle cure, but filters have been used for years to filter parasites from drinking water. Even your RO unit has a 5um filter to remove dissolved /suspended solids.

Personally I think it was a combination of um filtration and lowering stress levels.