ICH? help plz

[critofer]

Hey guys,

Today i noticed that on my clowns there were some greyish white spots on them. I think it is ich, is there an ich treatment that i can put directly into the tank? But i also have invetibrates in my tank too.

Thanks guys, I dont want this to get outta hand...

[scottwhitson]

No there are no reef safe Ich treatments. You have to remove the fish and treat them with hyposalinity or copper. If you only have inverts such as snails, crabs etc you could remove them and the use hypo in your main tank but you couldn't use copper because it would ruin your rock.

[critofer]

okay, do i treat my inverts thouhg?

[scottwhitson]

No you can leave your inverts alone but you have to leave the main tank fishless for a MINIMUM of 6 weeks, 10 weeks would be safer. Are you going to setup another tank or what is your plan?

[critofer]

I dont know, i dont have really anymoney right now, what ever is the cheapest method

[Palting]

Grayish white spots? May not be Ich. Ich looks like salt crystals, usually seen on the fins before it spreads to the body. How about a pic?

[L8ndeb]

Originally Posted by Palting

Grayish white spots? May not be Ich. Ich looks like salt crystals, usually seen on the fins before it spreads to the body. How about a pic?

+1 Need a pic. Doesn't sound like ick to me.

[steelhead77]

Originally Posted by L8ndeb

+1 Need a pic. Doesn't sound like ick to me.

Agreed. Are your clowns hosting in a coral? It could be coral or anemone stings that cause the white spots. It takes a bit for the clowns to become immune to stings when they first dive in to a host. Be patient and keep an eye on things. As long as the fish are otherwise healthy and eating and swimming normal, my guess is that the marks will be gone in a few days.

[unclejed2]

Originally Posted by scottwhitson

No there are no reef safe Ich treatments. You have to remove the fish and treat them with hyposalinity or copper. If you only have inverts such as snails, crabs etc you could remove them and the use hypo in your main tank but you couldn't use copper because it would ruin your rock.

Correction;

Kick-Ick, Rid-Ick and Marine-Max by tropical Science are all reef safe. I always recommend Marine-Max.

[scholls22]

I just had ick on my coral beauty early lsat week. LFS recommended a freshwater dip or a product called Herbtana, which is reef safe. Members on here said to just watch it and feed him. I just fed and probably overfed last week and he is fine. No signs of ick at all. It cleared up in about 4-5 days by itself

[steelhead77]

Originally Posted by unclejed2

Correction;

Kick-Ick, Rid-Ick and Marine-Max by tropical Science are all reef safe. I always recommend Marine-Max.

They may be reef safe, but they are also all ineffective.

[Palting]

Originally Posted by scholls22

I just had ick on my coral beauty early lsat week. LFS recommended a freshwater dip or a product called Herbtana, which is reef safe. Members on here said to just watch it and feed him. I just fed and probably overfed last week and he is fine. No signs of ick at all. It cleared up in about 4-5 days by itself

It did not clear. It just went deep and into the gills. Not only does your fish still have Ich, your whole tank has Ich. Here's the Cliff notes on Ich: http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/ich...hlifecycle.htm

Anyway, to the OP critofer, if you are still following your own thread, how about a pic or a better description since what you have may not be Ich?

[etepperman]

Hi,

Most tanks have some ick in them. While not all do, most of us have at one time or another put a fish in the tank with ick. And once that is done it is very hard to eradicate it. Some ick can live up to 90 days in the dormant stage, and most of us just don't have the means to move all our fish out for such a long time. So we live with the ick in our tank.

In most cases ick is no big deal if the fish are health. I went 11 years with occasional ick in my tank popping up on a fish here and there, but feeding them well usually fixed the issue.

<<< DON"T STOP - KEEP READING >>>

I say USUALLY, because after 11 year it finally got the better of me, I added a new fish and boom, I had the biggest outbreak of ick I have ever had. Inside of 1 month, all my fish had died. I was very sad. I kept my tank empty for about 6 weeks, and I just started to add some new fish. So far the ick has not popped up again. I have also added a 2 week QT tank. I would highly recommend setting a small one up.

As for your current ick issue. Don't panic, watch the fish, if you can get it out into QT then do so. If you can not, then just keep feeding it well. If the fish is well adjusted and health than chances are it will clear up.

my 2 cents.

-E

[unclejed2]

Originally Posted by steelhead77

They may be reef safe, but they are also all ineffective.

False, to make a blanket statement is irresponsible.

[jacklink]

I too have just had an outbreak after years of success. Lost 5 fish after my wife brought me home a "gift" flame angel... My 6 Line and maroon clown lost their spots and appear healthy for now but I know their not out of the woods. Does anyone have experience with using a UV sterilizer?

[lordofthereef]

Originally Posted by unclejed2

Correction;

Kick-Ick, Rid-Ick and Marine-Max by tropical Science are all reef safe. I always recommend Marine-Max.

Well here is what is written about Marine-Max

"Marine-Max - Disease Prevention and Life Extension 16oz The best selling, copper free, pro-biotic saltwater disease prevention in the world! Marine-Max formulates 5 different strains of specially cultivated bacteria that protect against the full spectrum of common aquatic diseases -- all naturally! Marine-Max also contains a unique formulation of genetic RNA and DNA combined with 17 anti-oxidants to insure cellular strength and boost natural disease immunity."

Based on what the manufacturer itself says, this isn't any more a treatment for ich than vitamins are a treatment for human diseases...

And here I was excited to learn about a product I had never heard of!

[steelhead77]

Originally Posted by unclejed2

False, to make a blanket statement is irresponsible.

Really? Which one has ever PROVEN to be effective? IMHO, to claim that any of those will cure ich in a tank Is extremely irresponsible.

[unclejed2]

Originally Posted by lordofthereef

Well here is what is written about Marine-Max

"Marine-Max - Disease Prevention and Life Extension 16oz The best selling, copper free, pro-biotic saltwater disease prevention in the world! Marine-Max formulates 5 different strains of specially cultivated bacteria that protect against the full spectrum of common aquatic diseases -- all naturally! Marine-Max also contains a unique formulation of genetic RNA and DNA combined with 17 anti-oxidants to insure cellular strength and boost natural disease immunity."

Based on what the manufacturer itself says, this isn't any more a treatment for ich than vitamins are a treatment for human diseases...

And here I was excited to learn about a product I had never heard of!

As someone who has been into preventative health supplements and herbs for 35 years I can attest that in a vast array prevention through diet and supplementation works. Marine-Max is used by countless aquarists to insure the health of their fish, with overwhelming success.

Originally Posted by steelhead77

Really? Which one has ever PROVEN to be effective? IMHO, to claim that any of those will cure ich in a tank Is extremely irresponsible.

Prove a sterilizer works or that a fuge will eliminate algae....I use Marine-Max and it works. I, like I said, suggest it, I would never make a blanket statement and say; "use Marine-Max, it works 100% of the time, guaranteed." That would be irresponsible of me. Many products are subjective to the particular aquarium they are being introduced into.

[L8ndeb]

I gotta agree with steel. I don't believe that there is a miracle cure for ick. If there was, MANY aquarist would be all over it, as the majority have had to deal with it sometime in our aquariums.
From my reading and experiences, best measures are a QT, good stable water parameters, and healthy diet, and a healthy specimen to begin with. Things like Marine-Max, Kick-Ick, and Rid-Ick are a crap shoot at best. If you encounter an outbreak, either hyposalinty or copper (in a QT) have seemed to work the best.

[jacklink]

I was contemplating a sterilizer purchase but wondered if any one had luck stopping ick using one.

[Palting]

Originally Posted by jacklink

I too have just had an outbreak after years of success. Lost 5 fish after my wife brought me home a "gift" flame angel... My 6 Line and maroon clown lost their spots and appear healthy for now but I know their not out of the woods. Does anyone have experience with using a UV sterilizer?

I use a UV sterilizer, set to a flow recommended for parasites, as one of my first measures when I had an Ich outbreak. Will it cure the Ich on the fish and in the tank? No. Is it effective? Depends on who you listen to. Anyhow, I continue to use it even though I've already eradicated the Ich with hypo because I believe it does decrease the population of disease making it easier for the system and the livestock to handle them. It also decreases good things, but I can and do add the good things back.

[returnofsid]

Originally Posted by unclejed2

Correction;

Kick-Ick, Rid-Ick and Marine-Max by tropical Science are all reef safe. I always recommend Marine-Max.

Correction

These are worthless. If they will kill Ich, they will kill other, beneficial, life forms, in our tanks.

[LaOtIn]

I have battled ICH since I put my first fish in my reef tank. It has come and go, it has killed fish, I have had many fish live and out grow my nano reef tank. Once I had 2 clowns die and my prized yellow head jawfish die....I was so upset that I vowed to take the tank down and get out of the salt. After 5-6 weeks the owner of my LFS convienced me to give fish one more try so she gave me a very healthy, very active, very large (nearly 2-1/2") sgt. major damsel. He ruled my reef, well, him and my blood red shrimp for a month or so. I got the urge to add something, so i added 2 small orange skunk clowns and removed the damsel. Now, mind you both clowns were very healthy, eating, perfect coats and fins. I had watched them in a tank by themselves for a week or so at my LFS. I got them home, long acclimation, etc. 3 days later....ICH! I threw my hands up in the air and said I give up! one of the clowns actually died, but the other is still happy and doing well. after the first died, i decided to take a diet approach to the fight. i started to prepare my own food. i crushed and chopped San Francisco Bay Brand Marine Cuisine, a couple of cubes of frozen brine shrimp and hit that in the micro for a few seconds to melt it. added seachem garlic guard and a dab of a gel based penicillin. put that in the freezer, after it froze i cut it into feeding blocks. I also dose once weekly with seachem stress guard and each water change i add seachem stablity to my water after the change. sucess? who knows, but no ich for a while and my fish seem very alert and happy.

I just thought i would share my story because ich is one of those things that im sure will always be in my tank and will attack fish that are stressed or unhealthy. good thing is, i dont let it keep me up at night anymore. miracle liquids? nah, i used kick ich, rid ich, and one other i cant remember. i did fresh water dips, i did seachem paraguard dips. i have concluded that the dips probably stress out the fish more than help and in a weekened state they die. so whatever.

bottomline, after reading so many posts about ich i have come to the conclusion that everyone is wrong and everyone is right at the same time. because we all have different fish, tank sizes, water params, equipment, habitits, methods, handling procedures, transport methods, etc, etc. and what is PROVEN to work, absolutely, hands down will work in your tank just may not work in my tank. sorry but it just may not. it may, but it may not.

[unclejed2]

Originally Posted by returnofsid

Correction

These are worthless. If they will kill Ich, they will kill other, beneficial, life forms, in our tanks.

Just being argumentative. You have no proof.

[Palting]

Well, I can tell you for sure that Rid-Ich is worthless. Used it on my tank for two continous periods./ One week later, My fish again had Ich. Waste of money.

Unclejed, preventive medicine and supplements are fine. BUT, when you have someone with pneumonia, and you give preventive medicine and supplements rather than proven treatment, that patient will most likely die. Same thing with Ich. If your fish has Ich, then treat the Ich, not this "boost natural immunity" nonsense from Marine Max.