F@$kin Ich

[derrick orosz]

So 3 months ago I got ich in my DT so i took all the fish out and put them on my QT for 8 weeks and left the DT with just coral and two blood shrimp.

3 weeks a go I put a couple of the fish back in and everything seemed fine until today when my blue tang clearly had ich and clowns where acting strange.

Looks like I'm back at square one of leaving my DT fishless for... i guess 12 weeks now. Grrrrrrrr

Now I have a purple tang, blue tang, magnificent foxface, FOUR clowns, 2 blue eye anthias in my 55 gallon QT :s

Tomorrow I get to rip the DT apart so I can catch a goby and have it with no fish and just the inverts and shrimp.

At this point I'm really considering just giving up and selling everything

 

[AdInfinitum]

How did you treat the fish when they were in QT?

 

[derrick orosz]

I used both cupramine copper and nox-ich. All fished seemed fine in the QT for the last 5-6 weeks they where in the qt

 

[Kevin Tran]

I have a bowder blue tang and a yellow belly blue tang living with ich for 6 month now, on and off. For some reason ich doesn't bother them or effect other fish and I have altogether 15 fish in my tank

 

[monizb]

Feed garlic with food my tangs loved the garlic and I have never had ich again now I have wrasses and clowns and I use garlic guard twice a week

 

[AdInfinitum]

Copper for minimum 4 weeks in the QT and min. 9 weeks fallow. 10 is the guarantee number... I love Hypo and have used it successfully for years but recently there is growing anecdotal evidence and some scientific studies that suggest that C. Irritans has become resistant to lower and lower salinity bordering on the safe zone for most fish. My own recent experiences agree...

If your fish are healthy and have adequate resistance which some time in lowered salinity can help them attain (moderate Hypo weakens the ich and strengthens the fish) then the one number that hasn't changed is that without addition of fresh genetic material an Ich colony becomes non-viable after 10-11 months. So if you don't add any new infected material for that period your tank will eventually become Ich free.

 

[Neopimp]

I went hypo a while ago and haven't had it return at all.

 

[sunnykita]

My hippo tang got ich, I'm sure it was stress related buying and moving an adult in mid winter, I added garlic to the food for a few weeks, and it disappeared and never returned. This was a mild case, just a few spots. The garlic xtreme worked in this instance.

 

[TORX]

Hard to say, but a healthy fish can survive ich. All of my tangs showed signs within a few days of being in my tank. Powder Blue shows signs when ever I add anything to the tank. Feed lots of garlic enriched foods and green seaweed. It may just be coincidence, but I also noticed that longer lights out periods tend to help with signs of ich and stress. I have even blacked out through the day and just left a lamp on in my living room through the night for a few days. I have only ever lost 1 fish from ich. I do do things differently then most though. As some people know, I have added a 2nd large foxface and multiple same body tangs successfully, it is a long process though.

 

[sunnykita]

Hard to say, but a healthy fish can survive ich. All of my tangs showed signs within a few days of being in my tank. Powder Blue shows signs when ever I add anything to the tank. Feed lots of garlic enriched foods and green seaweed. It may just be coincidence, but I also noticed that longer lights out periods tend to help with signs of ich and stress. I have even blacked out through the day and just left a lamp on in my living room through the night for a few days. I have only ever lost 1 fish from ich. I do do things differently then most though. As some people know, I have added a 2nd large foxface and multiple same body tangs successfully, it is a long process though.

I like the idea of trying less lighting too, the tangs are so prone to stress related ich, I found my hippo overcame it quickly. I wasn't looking forward to a fallow tank for months.

 

[Poseidon]

See this is where me and a lot of hobbiest differ.

I believe ich is in every system, and that you absolutely cannot I eradicate it, once you "know" that, instead of focusing on trying to make your tank "ich free" you need to focus on making your fish stress free and happy and healthy, through getting them the proper foods, making sure there's little to no aggression Etc.

I've fought about this one forums with even "Mr. Saltwater tank" dude, who basically laughed at me but couldn't respond when I asked why, if your theory (the common theory that ich can be killed off and can be managed by meds and QT etc) is so right, does almost everyone STILL get ich at some point in time?

Fish health and immune system is the focus, no point in trying eradicate the disease that has a ridiculous life system and will pop up in ANY tank with stressed or weak fish, even if there is no new introductions and the tank has been ich free for years.


Compare it to humans, ich is a bug, a parasite, the common cold is a bacteria, you can't possible cleanse your comming from cold bug, even if you don't meet anyone for months, if you go run around outside with your coat off in the snow your are GOING to get sick and catch a cold, regardless if you met someone who passed the bug to you- it's everywhere, your body was just able to fight it off until you became weaker and sick,
If that helps explain myself at all. Lol


When I get it in my tanks, I just watch-
What's wrong? Why is that fish stressed? If it's a territory battle I try to change rock work or pull out the aggressive fish,
If nothing like that is evident and the fish is still eating I do nothing and just feed it well, never lost a fish to ich and have had 10+ cases and never quarantined.
Included : hippo tangs, powder blues, dwarf angels, purple tangs, naso tangs, sailfin tang.
All survived

Just me 2 cents haha



Sorry for the ramble, lol

 

[EricTMah]

Very well put Brandon!

I agree 100%

 

[scubasteve]

it is proven ich is in every bit of water both fresh and marine..... there are even trace amounts in our tap water so you cant get rid of it i have lost a couple to ich but only the new guy they never passed it on things i find help alot are proper parameters and slime coat. If you have high nitrates your fish will stress if improper feeding your fish will stress if fighting they will stress and first thing that happens with stress they lose their slime coat (ich bullet proof vest) on first sign of it i put more garlic guard into food and do a water change then the main part add stress zyme fir marine aquarium

 

[saltyair]

I agree , I know sometimes we actually stress the fish more by using copper and other meds. I do believe in qt for observation and to get them eating.
A few tip to help keep ich at bay.
Don't over crowd
when adding a fish turn the lights off for the day
acclimate to ph/temp and salinity slowly - this is a must.
be sure your water conditions are great more times than not

See this is where me and a lot of hobbiest differ.

I believe ich is in every system, and that you absolutely cannot I eradicate it, once you "know" that, instead of focusing on trying to make your tank "ich free" you need to focus on making your fish stress free and happy and healthy, through getting them the proper foods, making sure there's little to no aggression Etc.

I've fought about this one forums with even "Mr. Saltwater tank" dude, who basically laughed at me but couldn't respond when I asked why, if your theory (the common theory that ich can be killed off and can be managed by meds and QT etc) is so right, does almost everyone STILL get ich at some point in time?

Fish health and immune system is the focus, no point in trying eradicate the disease that has a ridiculous life system and will pop up in ANY tank with stressed or weak fish, even if there is no new introductions and the tank has been ich free for years.


Compare it to humans, ich is a bug, a parasite, the common cold is a bacteria, you can't possible cleanse your comming from cold bug, even if you don't meet anyone for months, if you go run around outside with your coat off in the snow your are GOING to get sick and catch a cold, regardless if you met someone who passed the bug to you- it's everywhere, your body was just able to fight it off until you became weaker and sick,
If that helps explain myself at all. Lol


When I get it in my tanks, I just watch-
What's wrong? Why is that fish stressed? If it's a territory battle I try to change rock work or pull out the aggressive fish,
If nothing like that is evident and the fish is still eating I do nothing and just feed it well, never lost a fish to ich and have had 10+ cases and never quarantined.
Included : hippo tangs, powder blues, dwarf angels, purple tangs, naso tangs, sailfin tang.
All survived

Just me 2 cents haha



Sorry for the ramble, lol

 

[scubasteve]

I agree , I know sometimes we actually stress the fish more by using copper and other meds. I do believe in qt for observation and to get them eating.
A few tip to help keep ich at bay.
Don't over crowd
when adding a fish turn the lights off for the day
acclimate to ph/temp and salinity slowly - this is a must.
be sure your water conditions are great more times than not

Ya i only use meds when totally and absolutely necesary as med levels are just low enough the fish can withstand safely but kill everything else plus meds dont help slime coat one the best things i can suggest as its very easy is to give all new fish a methylene blue dip on arrival i now sware by it and not many people do it..... methylene blue helps oxygenate the blood more and increase blood circulation which helps boost immune system and heal any wounds that are visible. Read up on it a bit is really handy stuff to use

 

[saltyair]

Great point I personally use metaflex kinda the same idea just more margin for errors. I did this once when I purchased a fish and it died before I got it home. Come to find out it had been caught using cyanide. If the fish was caught this way methane blue or metaflex will rapidly try to pull out the cyanide. I was able to get my $ back - but if it had slowly died a week later I would have lost. I have not bought a fish since from him.

 

[derrick orosz]

when everyone talks about using garlic do you mean that you get some cloves of garlic and soak it in water with with the food before you feed?

 

[monizb]

Yes get your self a clove cut it up in small pieces and let soak and food ten min or so and drop it in tank

 

[chief hill]

I just posted about this on YouTube. Fish got ich and I did nothing about it other than feed food with garlic and added a uv light. I also believe that ich is in the tank and there is nothing I can do about it.
I refuse to break down a tank and medicate fish. If a fish is healthy it'll go through the cycle and be fine in the end. Or it won't get any signs.

 

[TORX]

I just picked up minced garlic. Mix a very little it in with my food at feeding time.