I need some help with ICH

[Ziggy953]

Hey gang...about a week ago I went through a power outage of over 10 hours and since then my tang has not been doing very well. She has been stressed out color has not been good and in the last 2 days she has developed ICH....What can I do without taking her out of the tank, as catching her will be a bear?

Thanks

[roka64]

Dude, sorry to hear that! I think you already know the answer to that question. You'll have to QT and go fishless for 8 weeks. Do you need a QT? I have a 20G you can use.
Soak food in garlic.
1. Leave the net in the tank and see if you can catch it that way.
2. Try building a trap.
3. Turn the lights off and let them go to sleep and then turn on the lights.

[Hara]

I think I would be looking for additional stress factors. I lose power quite often where I live and have multiple tanks. The fish are not usually stressed to the point of detriment. Is there anything else that could be the culprit?

As for what can you do to treat the ich.....the best bet is still removal and either hypo or copper type treatments. Nothing done in the tank will be fool proof and the longer the fish is in there, the larger the chances of the fish infecting others.

[melosu58]

I agree. I would use that tank Scott has and QT him. What kind of tang is he?

[Ziggy953]

This is a powder brown....Nothing in the tank has changed. I've done PWCs on my regular schedule, I've been feeding the same as I always have, I've not added anything other then corals in the last 3 or 4 weeks....I'm not sure what the deal is. The tang is the largest and most aggressive fish in the tank, though it doesn't chase others around or anything. All of my fish have gotten along well. The only event that has happened was the extended power outage a couple of weeks ago. That was bad as the tank temp dropped a few degrees and I was forced to run only one pump via a car battery for 10 hours...

I'm going to try and catch the fish today and do a FW dip and then put her in hypo for QT for a while and see how things go....

Do you think adding a UV sterilizer would help kill any ich remaining in the tank?

[melosu58]

IMO I would not do the FW dip as I have seen many times a fish get worse or most of the time die from the stress of a FW dip. Now as far as a UV sterilizer that is the debate of the century. I think they are good for SW tank but realize they only kill parasites and algea spores that travel through the lighted chamber. I`ve not had ick or algea for over 7 yrs. Is it because of the UV or because of the other things I do like feeding every other day or weekly PWC`s. We will never now but I believe the UV is a big part. DUCK !!!
That happens when I support UV`s LOL. All this is IMO.

[roka64]

I wouldn't to the FW dip either. I firmly believe the QT and hyposalinity will do the trick. I'm not sure about the corals, but if you up the temp, slowly, to 82, that speeds up the life cycle of ich. Are you soaking your food in garlic? This will help to boost the immune systems of all your fish.

[Ziggy953]

OK...FW dip is out...I have still been unsuccessful in catching the fish and I can't dismantle the rockwork at this point as I have corals that have grown over more then one rock fusing them together.

What garlic do you use to soak your food in? I need to get some ASAP!

[roka64]

I use Garlic Guard . Personally, I read the contents of minced garlic (from my grocery store) and the bottle of Garlic Guard and the GG had more preservatives in it. You probably could use the grocery store kind (correct me if I am wrong).
I soak my frozen for about 20 minutes no more than 30.

[Ziggy953]

I've not seen it locally at the stores I go to..so I will probably have to order it....I just called to of the 3 and they don't have it...BRK doesn't open until Thursday so I can't check with them yet...