Is this ich and how can I help him?

[biker 2k]

Well,
i did it....

quarantine tank is set up...
it is a 30 gallon i used 80% water from main tank and 20% from reverse osmosis unit, salinity in q/t tank started at 1.019 and now at 1.017 will drop some more tommorow.

tang does no look good and has stopped eating.....

actually no one is eating hmmmm...

thanx for the help

whats the deal with garlic do you think i can get the tang eating again, is there anything i can give him that he can't resist?

[DgenR8]

Try feeding your tang nori, or fresh caulerpa. There is a possibility that soaking in garlic may have some effect on the ich. I don't know if it somehow strengthens the fish, or if it offends ich, but many people report good results.
Soaking anything your fish will eat in Selcon is a good idea, as it will strengthen the fish, giving him a better chance at beating the parisite.

[aaronc]

After removing your fish from the main tank and placing them in quarantine. Is it possible for ICH or any other fish related illness to survive in the main tank longer than 6 or 7 weeks. Could ICH survive in an anemone or mushroom anemones? Will copper kill white and black ICH?

Thanks,

Aaron

[ATJ]

The parasite that causes marine "Ich", Cryptocaryon irritans, must feed on bony fish in order to complete its life cycle. The reproductive phase can last up to 28 days (and in some cases up to 35 days) but at the end of this phase, the infective offspring have less than 48 hours to find a host to infect. If they don't, they starve to death. Invertebrates, including corals and anemones, cannot host the feeding stage.

Copper is effective for marine ("white") "Ich". It is generally not effective for black "Ich", which is caused by a type of flatworm. Formalin baths are more effective for the latter condition.

[aaronc]

must the whole tank be treated to remove the flatworms in the case of black ICH? Or can I simply give the fish a bath?

Thanks,

Aaron

[ATJ]

The best solution would be to move the fish to a treatment tank and leave the main tank without fish for at least 3 weeks. This would result in all the remaining turbellaria dying off. The fish should be given at least 3 formalin baths, each 3 days apart and then left in the treatment tank for a few weeks to ensure all the turbellaria have been eliminated.

[cuongvynguyen]

cleaner shrimp will eat ich

[DgenR8]

Originally posted by cuongvynguyen
cleaner rasp or cleaner shrimp

cuongvynguyen,
[welcome]

It's good you found us
Cleaner WRASSE has a very poor survival record in captivity, and really should be avoided. They perform a vital service in the wild, and should be left there. The less people buy them from LFS, the less those stores will get them in, and more will be left to do their job in the ocean.
Cleaner shrimp, or cleaner goby is a much better choice, they tend to live much longer in captivity, although are not terribly effective once the parisite has a strong hold in a closed system.

[ATJ]

Originally posted by cuongvynguyen
cleaner shrimp will eat ich

Cleaner shrimp will not reliably control "Ich" if they even feed on the parasites at all. Do a search in this forum for cleaner shrimp and see how many people have lost fish to "Ich" with cleaner shrimp in their tanks.

[billsreef]

As this thread is getting rather long and bulky, I'm going to lock it. However, as it contains much usefull discussion I will leave it intact and linked to in the listing of usefull info on Cryptocaryon irritans.