question about ick treatment
 

My clownfish has ick, which probobly means that others have it as well. I bought "kick-ick". It says that "protein skimmers can appreciably reduce effectiveness of the treatment." My question is, since the directions say to treat on the 1,4,7,10, and 13th days, is it going to hurt the tank to have the skimmer shut off that long? Has anyone used this stuff and had problems. I asked around and quite a few people recommended it.
Thanks for the help
Cheers

dont use that...use polyp lab medic...[url]www.jlaquatics.com[/url]

The only proven treatments for ich are quarantine and treatment with copper or hyposaliniity in a separate tank since either of these treatment are harmfull to your live rock and invertebrates.

I personally have not had luck with PolypLabs Medic...

I agree... if you have QT I'd say quarantine him and use a low cupramine dosage.

I would not use Kick-ick...

I've found copper to be the most effective route against ich. I would remove all the fish (not inverts) to a quarantine tank. Maintain proper copper levels for two weeks in the quarantine tank and check the copper level twice per day.

Since no biological bacteria will survive in the QT due to the copper, regular water changes will be necessary (and hence extra vigilance in testing the copper level).

While the fish are in quarantine, the display tank should remain fallow for 4 to 6 weeks. While running fallow, you may want to gradually increase the temperature in the display and slowly decrease the salinity (as inverts, corals permit).

Rick

I watched as an entire tank of fish died while using Kick-Ich. IMHO, it's pure garbage.

I agree that treating in-tank with something in a bottle is too often ineffective.

I'd buy a small tank at the LFS and setup a quarantine tank where I'd go with hyposalinity for about 5 weeks.

The thing is if one fish has Ich, it's a good bet that the other fish also have Ich. If you could QT your fish, leaving you display tank fishless for the same time period (5-ish weeks) then the Ich will be removed from that system as well - giving you a fresh, clean start.

start soaking your food in garlic juice and kent marine-c , worked for me

Rick 55555,
Since no biological bacteria will survive in the QT due to the copper, regular water.....
I agree with your post with one exception
Why do you think this is so? It has been my experience that the denitrification process continues very well at least as far as ammonia is concerned during the course of a copper treatment at a therapuetic level. some bacteria may be affected but not all.
I use some seeded crushed coral in the filter bags of an over the side filter along with a few pieces of seeded lava rock in a 29 gallon qt. I do cleanup water changes 2x per week 8 gallons each. I also use an ammonia alert badge and test for ammonia every few days. It has not been an issue.

Jennibee13 Garlic is not proven to do anything against parasites or other diseases in a marine environment. I use it as an appetite enhancer s. Further, the active immuno beneficial element in garlic for people is allicin and it only remains active for about an hour after the garlic is pressed.The manufactured hobby products contain concentrated garlic juice and citric acid as a preservative. While they do no harm I don't think they have much therapuetic benefit either. I hope I'm wrong. Garlic simply is not a substitute for quarantine and treatment.

Get a cleaner shrimp, (skunk shrimp)

I have 2 in my tank, they work wonders.

(only if you don't want to quarantine)

I've been thinking of getting a cleaner shrimp anyway. I understand that the fish have to get comfortable to let the shrimp do its work. I have started the hyposalinity, with the understanding that the shrimp, crabs, and snails will most likely die (I am working on getting a small QT tank for them, but work is very busy right now). The reason I'm treating the display tank and not taking the fish out is because the parasite spores have to be in my substrate. This is going to be a long process. Thanks for the posts. Wish me luck.

Update: found a small tank that I can set up as a QT. Question: what kind of filtration do I put on it? This is the first QT tank that I have set up. I'm looking forward to getting my fish back to health, but need a little help getting things going.
Cheers

I have a ten gallon with a hang on filter. You need to medicate as directed but also change 50% water every two-three days in the QT tank. When you do this put water from your display tank in the QT tank. I used Ich-X for about a month now and my tang is looking and doing alot better. Originally I was to medicate for 11 days then on the 28th day medicate again for 10 days. (I guess the ich starts up again on the 28th day, don't completely understand the process) The guy who owns the reef store by advised me to do this and so far so good, thought for sure he'd be dead by now. I also soak my fish food in garlic, and was told I should always do this as preventative care. Good luck

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11571646#post11571646 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by svynx [/i]
[B]Update: found a small tank that I can set up as a QT. Question: what kind of filtration do I put on it? This is the first QT tank that I have set up. I'm looking forward to getting my fish back to health, but need a little help getting things going.
Cheers [/B][/QUOTE]
On my 30g QT, I have a bubble filter (can't recall the brand) that is run by an air pump and I have a HOB powerfilter.

Throw in some PVC fittings to give the fish some shelter and hiding spots.

Here is a good read on QTs by Steven Pro:
[url]http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/sp/feature/index.php[/url]

You don't want to use water from the main tank to do water changes on the qt. All you are doing is giving the ich a possibility to reinfect the fish....

Cleaner shrimp and other tank inhabitants are so hit or miss with ich. I would never depend on them as the sold ich treatment....

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11569767#post11569767 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jennibee13 [/i]
[B]start soaking your food in garlic juice and kent marine-c , worked for me [/B][/QUOTE]


me too