ICH ICK and more ICK

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DJLiquid

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Aug 24, 2008
Messages
162
My Royal Gramma has ich after 3 months of being fine and now my super cool percula clown seems to be getting it. I really don't know what the use of placing them in a QT tank will be when they will just get it again. I don't have another tank at work anyway (that's were my nano reef is) and wouldn't be allowed to. Both of the fish still have their voracious appetites. Is it possible for the ich to eventually go away? How do fish in the wild cope with ich ??? If these fish croak I am only going to keep coral as these parasites are too much of a headache. :bad-words::bad-words::bad-words::2gunfire::2gunfire::2gunfire::rocket:
 
All my water parameters are ok. I started doing weekly water changes (10%) two weeks ago.
 
I use distilled water and red sea salt.
SG- 1.023 which I started using two weeks ago. Before that I used the Ocean water in a box, maybe I should have just stuck to that.
 
No, all three must be quarantined. I would use hyposalinity and leave the tank fallow for at least 30-45 days, this way ich will not be reintroduced.
 
Doesn't ich just become dormant and lay waiting if no host is available to prey upon?
 
There is no dormant stage, but reproduction phases can vary. Hyposalinity is conducted in the quarantine tank, not your main system.
 
I really don't know what the use of placing them in a QT tank will be when they will just get it again.

The purpose of the QT is to treat the fish so it wont be introduced back in the system. I`m not innovator but he was suggesting you QT your fish and treat with hypo. He mentioned leaving your main tank fishless for 30-45 days.
 
A couple good articles...

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

And the best article on hypo...

ATJ's Marine Aquarium Site - Reference - Hyposalinity Treatment

As Innovator mentioned, the best thing for the fish is to put them in a QT and do hyposalinity on them. Then let your main tank go fishless for 6-8 weeks which will break the life cycle of the ich and they will not be able to survive. At the end of the 6-8 weeks, you can reintroduce your fish to the main tank and be fairly well assured that the ich is gone, assuming you follow the hyposalinity instructions to a 't'.

If you do hypo in your main tank, it will kill everything that is not a fish - including corals and polyps. Basic rule I've always subscribed to... if a treatment kills ich, it will kill everything else too. As you can tell, I'm not a huge proponent of "reef safe" ich treatments.
 
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