Ich Treatments that WORK!!

[ajherrera2]

Being that I am going to be going fallow in my DT to try and rid my tank of Ich or other such parasites I thought I'd share some of my findings in the reading ive done..

First off I think its imortant to understand the life cycle of the parasite. Ich will present itself in a way that looks like someone sprinkled salt on your fish. It will come and go, with the Trophont, ProTomont and Tomont stages of the life cycle. Trophont is when the parasite is actually attached to the fish and usually lasts 3-7 days. After this, the parasite falls from the fish and lives in the substrate (ProTomont stage) for a period of hours. Then, during the Tomont stage, the parsite encysts, dividing into hundreds of "daughter" parasites, called Tomites. Tomites are non-infectious and this stage can last from 3-28 days. After this Tomite period, the eggs hatch, becoming Tomonts and go in search of a Fish Host.
Another interesting thing about Marine Ich, is that it seems to drop off Host Fish, AND search out Host Fish at "night." This creates a problem for the fish. Most Marine fish chose the same spot to "sleep," every night. Because of this, the Ich parasite falls off of the fish, goes through it's reproduction cycle, and easily finds the same Host Fish, when it's ready. This explains why some fish can go from doing well one day to not so hot the very next day.

Treatments that people have had success with....

Hyposalinity
Hyposalinity treatment is probably the most successful and least stressful treatment, if done properly. Unfortunately, this can't be done in a reef tank. However, it can be done in a Marine Fish Only tank, with a caveat or two.

Hyposalinity is treatment by lowering the salinity of saltwater, to a level that it will kill the parasite, but NOT kill the fish. In fact, lowering salinity eases a fishes ability to "respire," and increases oxygens ability to mix with the water.

Changes in salinity do need to be done correctly, as to not stress the fish. Lowering the salinity can be done quicker than raising the salinity. Typically the salinity can be dropped from 1.025 to 1.009 in a matter of a couple of days, without negatively effecting the fish. However, once treatment is over, the salinity should be raised back up to 1.025 slower (over the period of a week.) Treatment needs to be done for a period of 6-8 weeks, OR at least 2 weeks after all visible signs of Ich are gone. At that point, salinity can be slowly raised, over a 1 week period. During this same time, the display tank must remain "fallow," or fishless. Without any Fish Hosts, the Ich parasite will die.

1.009 has been shown to be the level where Ich can no longer survive, without negatively effecting the fish. Again, this cannot be done in a reef tank, as motile and inmotile inverts will die. In a Fish Only system, this can be done, however, beneficial bacteria, micro fauna, micro flora, amphipods, copepods, etc. will perish. Those things will re-populate, over time.

Hyposalinity is best done in an established QT tank.

Copper
Copper treatment CANNOT be done in a reef tank and shouldn't be done in a FO (Fish Only) Tank. The copper will leach into the live rock, sand substrate, etc. Later, the copper will leach back out of these materials, poisoning the tank. Copper is very fatal to any Marine Inverts.

Copper treatment needs to be done very carefully and with a very accurate Copper Test Kit. At too low of dosage, it won't kill Ich. At too high of dosage, it kills fish. It's very important to follow the manufacturer directions AND have an accurate test kit.

Transfer Method
This method is effective, but a lot of work...lol.

It involves having 2 available tanks. Each day, the fish are moved from one tank, to another. In between, each tank is emptied, cleaned and refilled with Saltwater. The idea is that the Ich parasite will be left behind, in the used water. This process should be done for a period of 10 days. This treatment is also quite stressful to the fish, with being moved every day. Also, the display still needs to remain fallow for 6-8 weeks.

Hope this is of use to us as a reefing community.

[jtinoco]

Lots of good info on here.

I had a blue hippo tang that developed ick about 4 months after I got it. It got pretty bad where it looked like it had been "breaded" with salt. White spots everywhere. I thought it wasn't going to make it so I thought: what the heck. I placed it in a 5 gallon tank and dosed Super Ick Cure. It was a bottle I had from when I had done freshwater. I followed the instructions. I used a small HOB filter for circulation and an air stone for oxygenation. It went thru the treatment instructions on the bottle and voila! Cured!

Probably not the best way to address the ick but it worked. Unfortunately I still lost the tang later when I drilled the tank.