Possible to kick ich in a reef tank?

MarkO · #1 01/15/2006, 12:46 AM

I got ich in a 150 with 11 fish (2 tangs), am I going to have to remove all teh fish, or do you think I can kill it naturally?

FWIW, it's been about 3 weeks and it seems to come and go.

Sindjin · #2 01/15/2006, 12:48 AM

Ich usually comes and goes with Temperature fluctuations.
Whats your temp now? Does it fluctuate more than 4deg F?

jcraft · #3 01/15/2006, 12:51 AM

never done it myself, but ive read and heard of people soaking the fish food in garlic and then feeding the tank- evidently the garlic will boost the fishes immune system . . . (may be wrong about the reasoning behind why garlic works, sorry)

the only other method ive heard is to take all fish out of the aquarium and leave it fallow for about 5-6 weeks (the life of the parasite) that way they die off in the main tank . . . still means you have to cure the fish too, but its alot easier to do in a QT

HTH

MarkO · #4 01/15/2006, 12:52 AM

temp is 80.5Âº, average fluctuation is about 3Âº daily

Dubbin1 · #5 01/15/2006, 12:55 AM

The only way you are going to get rid of the ich is to take the fish out and hypo treat them. Garlic has not been proven in studies to cure ich. Here is some reading that will get you started on treatment http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=282934

tmantaylor18 · #6 01/15/2006, 01:42 AM

feed some garlic. seriously. it worked for me. it may still be present in my tank but if the imune system of your fish is kept up then you wont have problems.

kalare · #7 01/15/2006, 01:44 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dubbin1
The only way you are going to get rid of the ich is to take the fish out and hypo treat them. Garlic has not been proven in studies to cure ich. Here is some reading that will get you started on treatment http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=282934

Maybe true, but has worked for me a number of times. Why not try the garlic for a couple days...read up on it, soak food and feed. I used to use something called Kaolic garlic supp and soaked everything in that (get from grocery store). I think they have foods with it alread in though. Can't hurt to try, my ick always cleared up in 2-3 days, max, then feed garlic for another week or so.

MarkO · #8 01/15/2006, 02:51 AM

I've read those threads before, (but htanks for the linkl

)
What I'm trying to determine is if it's possible to kick it without removing the fish??? I know from experience that it's easy to eliminate ich from the reef w/o fish, but wondering if folks with fish have eliminated it completely

iCam · #9 01/15/2006, 02:54 AM

I agree that you should try hyposalinity/copper treatments or something of the sort. If you are able to keep the fish in a QT tank or something for long enough, any exisiting ich in the tank would eventually die without a host.

When the ich goes away, you can reintroduce the fish.

MarkO · #10 01/15/2006, 03:06 AM

well, sounds like it's not possible to eliminate w/o removing the fish.
Time to go fishing

JR719 · #11 01/15/2006, 03:14 AM

Do you have any cleaner shrimp? My tank used to get ick here and there. Since adding a cleaner (and soaking food in garlic) no more. I have not added garlic in who knows how long, but the cleaner is a must have. when the fish get a parasite, they go to the shrimp and it removes it. No problems.

iCam · #12 01/15/2006, 03:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by JR719
Do you have any cleaner shrimp? My tank used to get ick here and there. Since adding a cleaner (and soaking food in garlic) no more. I have not added garlic in who knows how long, but the cleaner is a must have. when the fish get a parasite, they go to the shrimp and it removes it. No problems.

Considering the cleaner shrimp does any fish cleaning, it won't rid of the internal parasite.

zemuron114 · #13 01/15/2006, 05:06 AM

i had ich in my 55 AND 110 gallons. I just left it.. I didn't wanna QT them, nor did i have time to.. I soaked food in garlic and made sure the Temp didn't fluctuate anymore. Ich went away, everything is good

mikeatjac · #14 01/15/2006, 05:33 AM

Why take a chance, 11 fish is a lot. Most will tell you to pull the fish.

NoSchwag · #15 01/15/2006, 09:30 AM

A UV will kill ick if it's rated correctly.

frezel · #16 01/15/2006, 10:05 AM

garlic is a natural bacteria killer, i crush a clove of garlic in my tank every week and it prevents tank from ick and other junk, also i had a friend who had ick and he dosesed his tank with 2 vloves of garlic and it was gone in 3 days plus garlic has no side effects like other chemicals might have toward corals....

Raswank · #17 01/15/2006, 10:12 AM

Garlic works great, Had it once 3 years ago. Used some garlic it was gone and never returned. But what works for one might not work for someone else.

Dubbin1 · #18 01/15/2006, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MarkO
I've read those threads before, (but htanks for the linkl )
What I'm trying to determine is if it's possible to kick it without removing the fish???

And I already answered that in my first post

Dubbin1 · #19 01/15/2006, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by NoSchwag
A UV will kill ick if it's rated correctly.

Only if ALL the ich goes through the UV and you know thats not going to happen.

kalare · #20 01/15/2006, 01:18 PM

Most of you people saying to pull all the fish...I wonder how many of you used garlic, and if you did, did you use it correctly?

wrott · #21 01/15/2006, 01:57 PM

The UV will eliminate a bloom of the parasite in the water--which happens when the cycsts open--a tank is closed--in the wild, ich is diluted away thus giving the fish a chance to recover. Garlic does work and UV.

NoSchwag · #22 01/15/2006, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by wrott
The UV will eliminate a bloom of the parasite in the water--which happens when the cycsts open--a tank is closed--in the wild, ich is diluted away thus giving the fish a chance to recover. Garlic does work and UV.

Yeah I remember reading that there is a stage that the parasite that it is in the water column and that it's not a very good swimmer. I believe all ick meds kill the ick in the water column, not on the fish itself.

Dubbin1 · #23 01/15/2006, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by wrott
Garlic does work and UV.

Yes the UV will work ONLY if the ich pass through it. Again it has not been proven that garlic will kill ich. It has been proven that the best cure is hypo and leaving the tank fish free for 7 weeks....

NoSchwag · #24 01/15/2006, 02:27 PM

I agree.. You are not going to kill ick with a UV if you dont have your UV set up to do that.

wrott · #25 01/15/2006, 02:32 PM

Dubbin1, have you ever used garlic and a UV sterilizer? It appears that you have strayed from the posted question and are ignorant to other's experience.