Got ich...have a coral tank

55semireef · #1 07/19/2006, 08:11 PM

I read this article http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-12/sp/index.php and figured that I want to use kick ich. I have this product readily available at my store. I have a Condy Anemone, lps, softies and mushrooms. From the article, I read that kick ich is reef safe.

Well my Purple Tang and Blue Tang I found white spots over the body. More on the purple tang. I just noticed this today. I am about 99% sure it had to do with bringing in my yellow wathmen goby or some invertebrate. I guess ich can travel with inverts. My water quality is real good. You know the uusal, no nitrates etc.

So what do you guys think?
Should I treat the tank or catch the fish and treat them in hospital tanks with copper. Should I treat my tomato even though she doesn't have any visible signs?

kraze3 · #2 07/19/2006, 10:05 PM

As far as the kick ich goes I have no experience with it. I think it may be sort of a quieted subject here. Personally I never heard a 100% success story using it.

If you choose to treat the fish with copper, I would recommend hypo its easier and safer, you will need to treat all fish. Ich is only visible during one stage in its life cycle so its possible your tomato is infected and you cannot see it. Leaving your main display fishless will cause the ich to die off due to lack of hosts. Treating fish with hypo for 6-8 weeks and leave the main tank fishless for that time. I treated my fish at 1.008 for 9 weeks, no signs of ich since.

I have no experience with the copper so I cant help you much there but here are some ich links

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/tr...marineich.html

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php

55semireef · #3 07/19/2006, 10:11 PM

Well how in the world am I going to catch all my fish? I mean I have a purple tang, blue tang, tomato clown and a yellow watchmen goby. There is just no way I can catch these guys without taking my tank apart and I AM NOT doing that. I have corals that I am not messing with. Are there any traps available?

kraze3 · #4 07/20/2006, 10:37 AM

Yes you can buy fish traps, and you can build your own. I invested in a BIG net that usually works after a few tries

check this link also
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=707656

55semireef · #5 07/20/2006, 09:44 PM

I caught my purple tang. All I have to do is catch my Blue Tang. My tomato clown and watchmen are unaffected.

geckofrog · #6 07/20/2006, 10:13 PM

I use coppersafe on a cooper only tank. Its a 2.5 Gal (all my fish are generally small)

It gets rid of ich reasonably fast without any adverse side effects

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...&N=2004+113016

shilo_1 · #7 07/20/2006, 10:15 PM

If one fish in your tank has it, they ALL can get it. Ich is a cyst that at some stage in its life cycle drops off in your tank. If you leave ANY fish in the main tank, the life cycle of ich will not end as it still has a host. You will have to remove every single fish and leave the tank empty for 6-8 weeks before adding them back - this is how long it will take to kill ich in the tank. You will also have to treat the fish in your QT - hypo is best usually.

CICHLID77 · #8 07/20/2006, 11:10 PM

Hello all,

Has anyone used SANO BROAD SPECTRUM REEF TANK REMEDIES for the treatment of ICH in a reef aquarium?

Thanks!

55semireef · #9 07/21/2006, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CICHLID77
Hello all,

Has anyone used SANO BROAD SPECTRUM REEF TANK REMEDIES for the treatment of ICH in a reef aquarium?

Thanks!

Can you please just make a new thread please.

Quote:

If one fish in your tank has it, they ALL can get it. Ich is a cyst that at some stage in its life cycle drops off in your tank. If you leave ANY fish in the main tank, the life cycle of ich will not end as it still has a host. You will have to remove every single fish and leave the tank empty for 6-8 weeks before adding them back - this is how long it will take to kill ich in the tank. You will also have to treat the fish in your QT - hypo is best usually.

I took my Blue and Purple Tangs out and into tanks treated with copper. I left my yellow watchmen Goby and my Tomato clown female in my tank because I simply could not catch them. And I am not taking apart my tank. NO way. They have no signs of ich. Tangs got it easy. I also added a Skunk Cleaner shrimp today. So I have a Coral Banded Shrimp, a peppermint and now a skunk. Won't any of those clean ich off fish?

Will the yellow watchmen goby and my tomato become infested since I left them in? I think theres a good chance they will live since they look perfectly healthy and no signs. MY tangs got it two days ago. Thats all.

shilo_1 · #10 07/21/2006, 06:40 PM

See, the problem isn't simply leaving them in because they look fine. The problem comes when you add the other two fish back in that you have stressed by catching, removing to QT and treating with copper....you are going to just add them back into a tank that has ich ! You may as well just put them back in there right now, since the way you are doing it is pointless. You have to remove ANY and ALL fish from your display so that the ich parasite will die from lack of food. This can only happen if you either remove all fish from the tank for 6 to 8 weeks or treat the display with hypo or copper (neither will make corals or inverts happy.)

Your signature is very appropriate, obviously. Good luck with treating your ich problems.

55semireef · #11 07/21/2006, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by shilo_1
See, the problem isn't simply leaving them in because they look fine. The porblem come when you add the other two fish back in that you have stressed by catching, removing to QT and treating with copper....you are going to just add them back into a tank that has ich ! You may as well just put them back in there right now, since the way you are doing it is pointless. You have to remove ANY and ALL fish from your display so that the ich parasite will die from lack of food. This can only happen if you either remove all fish from the tank for 6 to 8 weeks or treat the display with hypo or copper (neither will make corals or inverts happy.)

Your signature is very appropriate, obviously. Good luck with treating your ich problems.

If I have ich in my tank thats doing nothing, its going to die. My two fish do not have any sign of ich right now. Say 6-8 weeks go by and they still never got ich. Then when I add my tangs back to my tank your saying they are going to get ich again. How is that possible? Yeah I am taking a risk with my two fish that got left behind but I am not stripping my tank. Sorry.

As long as 6-8 weeks go by and they never get ich then I am good with or without fish.

Quote:

signature is very appropriate, obviously.

Thanks for being condescending. Its my second language.

kraze3 · #12 07/21/2006, 07:28 PM

Those fish that are in there could be infected and you may not know it. Ich is only visible during one stage in its life cycle. It can also infect a fish in the gills, etc so you wont be able to see it. Some fish can "fight" off or are "immune" to ich. Now lets say your fish are fighitng it off. All that is needed is just one little ich spec to drop off into the substrat and bang, reproduction and now your tank is infected again. Ich needs a host to live, if the tank is fishless the ich will not survive, but while there is fish there it can reproduce even if the fish dont look infected.

The cleaner shrimp may help soem but I dont think its going to be able to get every last ich spec. Hyposalinity is really the way to go.

You say you "WILL NOT" take your tank apart. Im osrry to say but if you dont remove the fish its possible they could be killed. Its your money but personally taking some rock work apart is better than losing fish I paid for. I also think that since you bought these fish you agreed to care for them and I think it is your resonsibility to help them if you can.

shilo_1 · #13 07/21/2006, 07:35 PM

If you have done any searching at all, you would not have the need to ask the question, as it has been addressed many, many times. http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=282934 This thread has some really great info - especially the second post, Marine Ich.

Ick attacks the gills of a fish first and foremost, so once you start to see it on its skin, then the gills are already badly infested.

I know its a real pain to catch fish in a tank with LR, but unfortunately, without doing that there really isn't any way to get rid of ich - it will always be in your tank, and can rear its head at any time.

Here is how ich works roughly:

1) It is attached to the fish. It feeds off the fish to gain strength.

2) It detaches from the fish and settles on the sand/rocks. At this point it starts getting ready to reproduce by forming cysts. This is why you think that your fish gets better because the ich has detached and is getting ready to multiply.

3) The cysts burst and release thousands if not millions of free floating parasites that swim around looking for a fish to latch onto. In the ocean this isn't a big deal because the ocean is huge. In an aquarium's confined spaces, they will easily find ALL of your fish.

4) They attach to the fish in greater numbers than before and start the cycle anew.

This is why it seems like the fish gets better and then suddenly gets hit by a worse case of it. The only way to clear your tank of ich is to remove all your fish so that stage 3 is disrupted. The little swimming parasites will swim around looking for fish and when they don't find any, they die.

In the meantime, you put your fish in an environment that will kill any parasites still attached to them. Copper and Hyposalinity will both do the trick in killing the ich but this will also kill your live rock, live sand, inverts and corals which is why it must be done separately.

Anyway, I'm done with this thread. I don't want to argue with you. I'm just hoping you'll absorb and apply this knowledge and maybe something can be done to help your tangs and the other fish you have in your tank, because I guarantee that until you leave your tank fishless for 6 weeks, they will all catch it as well.