I Have Ich and I Need Help.. Stat!

[Big Tex]

Ok guys I I've been slacking off on my DT tank maintenance due to long hours in the shop and tons of field service calls, and now I have the dreaded marine ich! I'm worried most for my flame angel ( barely showing spots) and my blue forktail blenny (covered the worst) my caramels are showing no signs and I want to catch it now before it gets bad. I'm open to any and all suggestions on treatments. Whatever works the fastest and is the most successful, btw its a fish and inverts only tank so no coral to worry about.

 

[seablue36]

Our LFS told us if we get it to do fresh water dips just like you use salt when you get it in a fresh water tank. Haven't had to do it but I have heard a lot of people say it. It's worth a try.

 

[Mr tap water]

Hi there
In my own personal experience I found The best method is to feed your fish heavy and add extra vitamins to your food this will build their immune system up to help fight it off their self good luck

 

[Mebbid]

The only way to get rid of marine ich in a reef is to let the display tank go fallow (fishless) for no less than 6 weeks. It is safe for the inverts to stay in the display tank. Then you need to remove all your fish into a separate tank and do whatever preferred method of treatment you want. A hyposalinity treatment is by far the safest route to go and is med free which is always a good thing.

Take a look at this for explanations and suggestions on how to treat:
Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

Explanation for how long to leave tank fallow:
Fallow period for cryptocaryon irritans (ich) - Reef Central Online Community

I had an ich outbreak shortly after I set my tank up I had my tank set up for a month when it hit and had to leave it fishless for longer than I had fish in it. It's a long battle but it can be won and in the future quarantining your fish will prevent you from ever having another outbreak.

 

[Mebbid]

Our LFS told us if we get it to do fresh water dips just like you use salt when you get it in a fresh water tank. Haven't had to do it but I have heard a lot of people say it. It's worth a try.

Fresh water dips are stressful on fish but can be a life saving technique. When I had my outbreak my clowns were hit hardest by it and I thought they were going to die. A freshwater dip removed a large number of the spots on them however it doesn't solve the problem. It also places HUGE amounts of stress on the fish to do those dips so I don't recommend them for general practice.

 

[melosu58]

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com
Http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...ture/index.php

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

Three good articles that will tell you everything you need to know about ich.

 

[Big Tex]

Dam everything is so vague like, this works but I don't recommend it, and this works to.. but I don't recommend it.. ok I'm asking you guys how can I deal with this without the use of a quarantine tank? I just dont have one, and I can always wrangle up my shrimp and hermits and toss em in my bedroom reef tank, my dt is a fish only remember so no corals to worry about.

 

[Mebbid]

Every treatment for ich has its ups and downs. Copper will kill everything, hyposalinity has pH problems, other medications are expensive and not guaranteed to work, and the tank switching method is a LOT of work and fairly stressful for your fish.

Me personally, I prefer hyposalinity but others will have their own opinions. If you are going to treat your coral free display tank then Metronidazole (general cure) is a possible treatment method.

 

[Big Tex]

Every treatment for ich has its ups and downs. Copper will kill everything, hyposalinity has pH problems, other medications are expensive and not guaranteed to work, and the tank switching method is a LOT of work and fairly stressful for your fish.

Me personally, I prefer hyposalinity but others will have their own opinions. If you are going to treat your coral free display tank then Metronidazole (general cure) is a possible treatment method.

Where do I get that? And what about the heat method with freshwater tanks, is that out of the question with marine?

 

[Mebbid]

Marine ich is a different species altogether. It can survive temps up to the mid 90s so high heat is out of the question. You can buy it online through a lot of places. If this is a bigger tank it's going to get costly though.

Ich and External Parasite Treatments: General Cure

I know it's safe for freshwater inverts but I can't guarantee that it's safe for saltwater inverts as I just haven't tried it before on my salt tank.

 

[Big Tex]

Marine ich is a different species altogether. It can survive temps up to the mid 90s so high heat is out of the question. You can buy it online through a lot of places. If this is a bigger tank it's going to get costly though.

Ich and External Parasite Treatments: General Cure

I know it's safe for freshwater inverts but I can't guarantee that it's safe for saltwater inverts as I just haven't tried it before on my salt tank.

Well I already have pimafix and it treats body and fin parasites, would it work?

 

[Mebbid]

Nope. I would put absolutely 0 faith in pimafix fixing ich.

 

[Big Tex]

Nope. I would put absolutely 0 faith in pimafix fixing ich.

Well I quarantined my blenny in my 4g nano tank in my restroom for now and the spots have completely disappeared off my flame, the clowns are still clean and my six-line is out, he was hiding the whole time my blenny was in this morning. I'm going to try to hypo the nano tank because nothing else is in it but sand and a few live rock pieces and hope my other fish can fight it off.

 

[tonedogz]

you'll need a refractometer to do hypo a hydrometer is not accurate enough