ICH: how to cure it, id it, understand it.

[Salty88]

Thanks for the tips. I want to never experience these problems. But chances are you will.

[salty joe]

How could a fish like a manderin that eats little living things be fed during QT? I would guess that the bare bottom rule would need to be broken for fish like jawfish, twin spot goby, fish that bury themselves to sleep, etc.

I would never trust the absence of visible symptoms of ich. Once a fish is eating well, I will always treat for ich before releasing fish to DT.

[xris]

I have had luck with ich x. It works really well, plus water changes every day until it's gone.

[rorynate]

mella green is not reef safe!!!!!!!

[seven2sam]

*well put.

[tang named junkyard]

I tried ginger a while back on a bad outbreak on a blue tang. He's been ich free for months now.

[Rosscopeco]

Ginger might cure cancer but I'd stick with the chemo.
My tank recently proved my issue with most quarantine procedures. No new additions for well over a year and BAM. Marine velvet.
That means my heavily stocked tank was contaminated all along with no symptoms. No amount of time in a QT tank watching for so called signs will help you.
Using a QT, looking for parasites that require a gill cutting to be observed under a microscope, is like playing Russian roulet. Best to be the Booky.
Treatment of everything you put in your tank is needed if you want to rid yourself of these types of parasite.

Ginger= BS.
Garlic= BS.
Medic = BS. The boss could not answer my simple questions. He did say that the product would not work to rid the tank of parasites.
Hyposalinity= Yes if applied properly for 99% of the time.
Peroxide dips= Unknown quantity.
Copper= Bad for everything.

I don't believe in total quarantine as there is always something that people have missed that ends up biting them in the backside. 99.9% would be nice to see.

[davemercier]

This is very good information indeed, thanks to all who've added input here!

[igotshotbymike]

I think I'm more confused than when I started reading this thread.

Does not seem to be a definitive correct answer?

Get cleaner shrimp/ Cleaner shrimp don't work
Use Hyposalinity / Hyposalinity don't work
QT/ I don't QT
Use garlic / Garlic don't work
Punctuation/ Only when not tired

No one has mentiond this yet but is anyone willing to admit they ever said or at least thought about saying Fu*~ it!!
Ether these fish are going to beat it with there immune system, or they are going to die and the tank will stay fish less for 10 weeks and I'll start over from there.

Sure glad ick don't efect coral

[dans40]

I have had a few problems with ick. It seems like at the beginning of my experiences every time a fish swam in an odd way I freaked out, then I would go to my fish store and buy something. Since then i have noticed our fish are a lot stronger than we give them credit for. I have one fish that gets ick almost every time i get something new. I have continued to do the same thing, provide the best I can and three days later he's perfect. Long story longer I am very happy to see everyone post nice, helpful ideas and experiences. It really helps when every other post isn't done by a know it all.

[vaporized]

I only treat Ich with Hypo. It works most of the time. However, I just put 5 fish through Hypo. They went throught 8 weeks at 1.009. Then I raised the salinity / specific gravity and observed them for 1 month and all looked well. There were zero signs of Ich, all the fish were very active and feeding well. No flashing, labored breathing, or lethargic fish. Therefore, I added these fish back to a display that sat fallow for 12 weeks (nothing new had been added during this time to the display) and 2 weeks later..... BAM!!! Ich is back!! It makes me so mad, I do not want to rip out 150lbs. of live rock to catch these 5 fish. My refractometer was calibrated and I was extremely diligent. Usually, I would say Hypo works every time, but now I stand corrected.

[bbsal]

Im no expert but from the sound of this thread there seems to be no anwser to what acually cures ich! I had a ich problem with my hippo tang when i first got him he was shipped to me so all the stress i figuered he was bound to get ich and sure enough he did.

What i did to cure it was left him alone! He got spots all over his sides so i fed him good with selcon and this 5starreefbar its called its basically a mixture of food like nori clams oyster mysis shrimp etc. good stuff.. anyway within a week it went away. i did raise my temps in the tank to 83 for that week but its now been months and months and no signs of ich

also my other fish never came down with it. So i guess like others stated there is no difinitive anwser to what cures ich every reef tank is different. I wish there was a reef safe cure in a bottle but seems there never will be!

[Rosscopeco]

Your tank most likely still has Ich. It's just that you can't see it.

[bbsal]

Originally Posted by Rosscopeco

Your tank most likely still has Ich. It's just that you can't see it.

Your probably right but since the fish are healthy and there immune system is up they wont come down with it. my hippo is a beast it eats like a rottweiler dog and is growing nicely and a bit more agressive then what most people say about them it runs my tank fo sure it keeps the yellow tang clowns and flame angel in check.

[Rosscopeco]

It's highly likely your hippo tang still has ich on the gills. If I could get all my fish out I'd do hypo with a hydrogen peroxide dip during transfer.
The pretending its resolved itself method will always come back to haunt you.

[bbsal]

Wow even after 8 months? It hasnt shown a sign of ich in def 8 months now i would of thought if he was still carrying it it would of came back by now i always keep a close eye on him but never once seen any signs of ich.

Hes a beast though i mean all my other fish got to fight for food when i feed cause he goes in a frenzy the minute i walk near the tank and scoops up food like a dyson vaccum cleaner.

[Rosscopeco]

8 months or 18 months, it's probably still in the tank. Total natural immunity is possible but I'd put my money on the Ich.
It's nearly impossible to tell if the gills are infected unless you fancy a little surgery and have a microscope handy. Visible signs of infection can be non existent until something goes wrong in your tank and sets off a massive outbreak. Only then can you see the so called white spots.

[jimmyj7090]

Originally Posted by bbsal

Im no expert but from the sound of this thread there seems to be no anwser to what acually cures ich! I had a ich problem with my hippo tang when i first got him he was shipped to me so all the stress i figuered he was bound to get ich and sure enough he did.

What i did to cure it was left him alone! He got spots all over his sides so i fed him good with selcon and this 5starreefbar its called its basically a mixture of food like nori clams oyster mysis shrimp etc. good stuff.. anyway within a week it went away. i did raise my temps in the tank to 83 for that week but its now been months and months and no signs of ich

also my other fish never came down with it. So i guess like others stated there is no difinitive anwser to what cures ich every reef tank is different. I wish there was a reef safe cure in a bottle but seems there never will be!

Posts #1, and #3 are rock solid. A lot of the rest is, well, kind of fishy.

[bbsal]

Originally Posted by jimmyj7090

Posts #1, and #3 are rock solid. A lot of the rest is, well, kind of fishy.

No clue what you meant by that post lol!

Well if he has it in his gills still after 8 months i guess he will always have it but he never shown a sign of it at all never thrashes against rocks doesnt seem the least bit stressed and looks fantastic hopefully he will never come down with it

Def my favorite fish by far he eats out of my hand wich im a bit carefull about because them top spines from what i hear are not only sharp but venoumous lol.

[greg1786]

Originally Posted by Jedidad

I've had success in the past using a short 5-10 minute freshwater dip. the fresh water supposedly causes the cysts to burst and release the parasites into the water. then rinse the fish to keep from transfering the parasites back into the main tank. just be sure to get the ph of the dip water the same as that of the tank. the salinity difference is enough shock to the fish as it is. also be sure to keep a very close eye on the fish during the dip so you can put them back in salt water if they begin to act funny.

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[Stockpickinguru]

Ive use the hyposalinity method to treat ich with good success. I put the fish into 1.017-8 water in QT and then lower through water changes and it has worked well

[Brittle]

I find all this information very interesting. I was always under the impression ick was ick. It was found in almost all aquarium water freash and marine, it's a protozoan (Ichthyophthirius multifiliis). Kind of like we have the bacteria streptococci is found on the skin of people (which is mostly known for strep throat). Even though it's on us we don't need medication. We just need to remain healthy and our own "good bacteria" keeps it in check. And infections only occure when the immunity is down. Which could be caused from many reasons. Improper diet, stress, enviormental changes, sleep disterbances ect. Like I said I always thought Ick was the same way- always present. That is why it important to stress fish as little as possible, give them a healthy inviorment, make sure there not tank bullied, good variety of diet ect.. Because if the fish immune gets to week it can not reproduce enought "good bacteria" and the protozoan has nothing to keep it under control and it multiplies. Like any infection the more stress the harder it is to fight off the infection, and it becomes opportunistic which other diseases can enter the lessons ick causes on the skin. Which can lead to death. If a whole aquarium is infected I would think something else is going on to cause all the fish to become ill. If it's only one or two fish then the fish itself is becoming stressed somehow. Now I'm not sure? Is Marine Ick different?

[ilovetang]

I had never cured my fish...

[tekjunkie28]

I don't care if I think u kill ICH or not. Ich is like MRSA its on EVERYTHING and it's only going to affect you when you are sick or in a hospital. I know a lot of political with Ich and they don't lose for nor take them out when the supposedly have ICH. Sometimes I think ich is blown way out of proportion. Our tanks are too sterile and fish need to keep up an immune system. Remember if you don't use it.. Lose it.

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[Rookieofsalt]

Clean shrimp seem to work on curing ICH. However, I just have when lowering the 1.020salinity. Is this effects the corals in the tank?