Help i have ick !!!

[Robbiesamp]

My lavender tang and my flame angel both have ick! I went in vacation and got back and saw they both have a ton of white spots! THERE IS NO WAY I CAN CATCH THEM!! What can I do

 

[Aquaman024]

Sorry to hear.... Do you have corals or inverts in the tank? If not you can always use copper as a last result. It will kill all inverts in your tank though.


Check your parameters and make sure their all good. If not water change and get them in line.

 

[Robbiesamp]

Ok yea I have a full reef tank and I haven't checks in a while and haven't come a water change in a week ill look at that!! Thanks

 

[Daniel Fishy]

Gein parameters in line, wc and feed them. A healthy fish usually wins the battle sick or malnourished fish are weaker.

 

[Robbiesamp]

Yea my fish are super healthy and I herd that using some garlic in the food will help

 

[Daniel Fishy]

That's good hopefully they pull through.

 

[Holygral]

Sorry to hear.... Do you have corals or inverts in the tank? If not you can always use copper as a last result. It will kill all inverts in your tank though.


never use copper in your main, it will leach into the sealant and can never be used as a reef tank again

 

[Holygral]

Most of what you hear about garlic is old wives tale, none of the allege benifits have been proven


Garlic: What has been Studied Versus What has been Claimed by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

 

[Robbiesamp]

Ok will ill try it it's not bad !!

 

[TheTodd]

I think the garlic is more of a trick to get them to eat. If they are already eating good, then it will probably not help. If they suddenly get picky, I would try it.

If you can't treat (which you can't do in a reef), then you are limited to trying to keep water parameters pristine and fish as stress -free as possible. Healthy fish can win the battle, but I've also lost healthy fish to Ich in the past, so its no guarantee.

 

[melosu58]

Read these

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: A Quarantine Tank for Everything by Steven Pro

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part II by Steven Pro

 

[tsharkey]

My 210 gallon reef tank was infested with ick less than a week ago. I put in some new fish and my gold rim tang, powder blue tang, my blue tang and my copper band butterfly. I raised my tank temperature to 86 degrees. (ick cannot reproduce at 86 and it begins to die at 86) I also use a diatom filter at night so when the ick drops off the fish at night the diatom filter kills them but it is not a huge necessity for you. I then took a bunch of garlic powder and added water to that and boiled it in the microwave. I then poured all of this into the tank. Yes it does stink but the fish love it! I then fed my fish nothing but new life spectrum mixed with garlic the rest of the day. I waited till morning to check on the ick and still it was present. I added more new life spectrum and garlic. When I came home I was shocked. Every last bit of the ick was gone! My fishes colors had never been better! They are all still doing great and garlic has no effect on corals or inverts. I highly suggest adding a LOT of garlic to your tank once and then adding some gradually till it is all the ick is gone. You may find it to be a risky move but I promise it is not and it is completely safe!

 

[TheTodd]

I've gotta disagree. These are both freshwater Ich treatments, that do help in freshwater, not so much in saltwater.

Marine Ich can survive and reproduce between 50-90F. I've actually read as high as 100F! At 90F, you are putting major stress on your fish, if not killing them. Causing stress is exactly the opposite of what you want to do if you are not treating with copper or Hyposalinity. Raising the temperature is a freshwater trick, but in saltwater, it merely speeds up the life cycle a little.

A diatom filter can grab Ich during its free-floating stage (if it happens to pass through it) but does nothing during other stages of the life cycle. It gets some, but will not get it all, especially if the Ich has places to lodge into and most reef tanks supply lots of places to hide out.

Garlic stimulates feeding, which leads to healthier fish, which gives them an advantage in fighting this off. It is not a cure...never has been. It's actual immunity boosting capability is questionable. Dumping garlic water in your reef tank seems like a bad idea to me.

 

[tsharkey]

Putting garlic directly into the tank did spur feeding but it also creates such a string immune system in the fish. Since I introduced so much garlic into the tank it circulated through the tank for hours instead of only circulating during feeding. Thus the fish are constantly digesting the garlic. So when the ick dropped off during the night the immune system was string enough to the point where it did not reproduce and also began to die. Also with the temperature at 86 degrees it will not reproduce and without being able to reproduce and is unable to hook to a fish, it will die. If garlic stimulates feeding and creates healthier fish, how is putting it directly into the tank a bad idea? Not trying o start a dispute but I do wonder how it worked for me and yet and made my fish better without having negative effects on the system?

 

[TheTodd]

There is no scientific proof to back up the statement that garlic boosts immunity or even increases appetite. It is questionable at best. I used to believe in this idea until I read more of the actual research.

A fish having a stronger immune system helps them fight off the parasite, it would have nothing to do with the parasite actually attaching onto a fish.

The fact that the Ich disappeared could be simply that the "disappearing" is part of the life cycle. That fools most people that have "remedies" other than copper or hypo into believing that their fish are "cured". Nothing was done to kill the Ich, therefor it still exists in that system and will likely come back in the future.

I'm absolutely not trying to put anyone down or turn this into a battle. There are simply myths out there that have no scientific backing. Big money has been put into researching this parasite and its been figured out. They know what works and what doesn't. I've never heard of turning your reef into garlic soup to cure Ich. Garlic is not a cure, so I would not do it.

 

[Robbiesamp]

Well I work at my local fish store and we drew with some garlic extract and I picked up some and tried it tonight with feeding my fish we will see what happens ( it cant hurt)

 

[TheTodd]

I agree that garlic can not hurt (although I question adding large quantities to the water as previously mentioned). If adding it to food makes your fish eat better, than that is a big plus. It is absolutely not a cure though. Just using garlic does not eliminate Ich. At best your fish are strong enough to fight it off. It will still be in the tank and can have negative consequences when adding new fish down the road. They will be stressed and more susceptible at that point.

Keep us updated. Good luck!

 

[Robbiesamp]

Will do and I will be getting 2 cleaner shrimp this weekend so will that help

 

[TheTodd]

Just understand that cleaner shrimp don't do much. They clean the skin around where the parasite has burrowed, but don't dig into the skin where the parasite is. Those white spots are skin reactions to the burrowing parasite, not the actual enemy.

 

[Hondatek]

Just understand that cleaner shrimp don't do much. They clean the skin around where the parasite has burrowed, but don't dig into the skin where the parasite is. Those white spots are skin reactions to the burrowing parasite, not the actual enemy.

Todd is correct . The cleaner shrimp or wrasse will get the dead tissue off that is caused by the ich . Not the parasite itself .