Ich treatment

guitarfreak11 · #1 10/12/2007, 09:53 AM

What are some of the best ways to cure ich in a pair of clowns and a blue tang? I have setup a quarantine tank with a powerhead and a heater. Anything else? I will be putting copper in it to help cure them. And i think im going to buy a cleaner wrasse as well to pick off the ich. They aren't infected too bad. They barely got it during the night. One has it worse then the others as the others only have one spot so far. I am gonna put some pvc for them to hide in also. What kind of stuff do you feed them? i heard garlic works great to help cure is that true? Thank you!

Konadog · #2 10/12/2007, 10:14 AM

I would read thru this thread, a lot of good info to help you:

Is this ich and how can I help him?

OC CJ · #3 10/12/2007, 10:57 AM

what helped for me in the past was hyposalinity and furan 2. i also soaked the food in vita chem.

guitarfreak11 · #4 10/12/2007, 02:46 PM

over how long of a period do you have to lower the salinity and to what level? then how long do you keep them there? they are in a qt tank right now and i am treating with copper right now. What does the vita chem do? and what kind of garlic do people usually soak their food in?

evad1 · #5 10/13/2007, 11:52 AM

garlic just helps them to stay eating..fish are atracted by smell and some say it helps..i always dip my food in garlic since there is no negative. vitachem is good to help boost there imune system..
i would continue to qt them for about 3-4 weeks if your water is good in your qt tank and make sure no sand in qt...

xtm · #6 10/13/2007, 02:24 PM

No copper and absolutely no cleaner wrasse. (Not undermining their capability as a cleaner but a general consensus is that they feed mainly on parasites and should be left in the ocean) Copper is too harsh for most fish, and especially with Tangs - which can even destroy their gut fauna and other necessary microbes in their stomachs - (R. Fenner 1999) link

I suggest you put them through Hyposalinity treatment for 4 weeks min. Leave the main display fallow (fishless) for at least 4 weeks. Maintain your SG at 1.010 no more, no less. You can do a good .100 drop in SG within two days but when ending the treatment period, you HAVE TO SLOWLY bring up the salinity to about .005 per day to avoid osmotic shock.

Check your Ammonia everyday, check your temp (I maintain mine at 83' to speed up the Cryps' lifecycle) and frequently siphon the bottom of the treatment tank. I would change 1/2 of the water every 3 days.

skairik · #7 10/13/2007, 02:46 PM

Adam, ozone works like a charm although it won't kill the ich on the fish itself. You'll also want to get to the root cause as to what caused the ich to manifest itself to begin with. Until the cause is actually discovered and remedied then you're likely to experience future outbreaks of ich.

After my PB tang developed Ich some of my other tangs started exhibiting signs of it as well. I simply let my ozonizer do the work for me. Many reefers avoid the use of ozone for one reason or another but it remains nonetheless a very viable form of pathogenic control/eradication when used properly. It is so effective at ich eradication that you need only dose the minimum. On my 240g, which has 9 large tangs among other fish, I have the 100 mg Red Sea deluxe model dosing ozone at 30 mg's with my ORP set at 380. Not only was the Ich eradicated fairly quickly but I have yet to ever see it re-appear.

guitarfreak11 · #8 10/13/2007, 09:28 PM

Ok thanks guys. I know what did it...the sick fish from the wholesalers....Put both the clowns in a qt tank with copper. Cleared up the other fish taht only had a couple spots, hes fine now. The original one that caused the others got even worse and it died this morning. So the others will stay there for a couple days.