Ich in my saltwater tank

[twoodrough]

I had hoped I was wrong when I saw a spot on the fin of my new royal gramma. But another spot showed up today. Time to learn how to treat ich in my marine tank.

From what I have read, using heat won't work the same way it does in a fresh tank.

Copper won't work because I have inverts.

There is no way I am going to catch this fish. My rocks give her too many places to hide. I would have to decimate my tank to get her.

I have read where some people say to lower your salinity, and tonight I read where you are supposed to raise your salinity to battle ich.

She is still eating and acting normally with just a little flashing, but not much stress showing yet.

What do I do? I probably should have asked this question about 4 days ago when I saw the first spot, but one of the places said it might go away on its own. Now, with the other spot showing up, it is time to figure out something to do.

I am due for a water change tomorrow (Tuesday) so I could adjust salinity, or start to anyway.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Jasonrusso]

You can't really beat ich without chemicas, but you can make your fish healthy enough to fight it off. Like the cold virus, it's always around us, but when we are healthy we fight it off. I've used garlic extract on food and immune booster before. I have puffer, lionfish, and an eel so copper is out of the question but I've kept it at bay for 2 years.

Sent from my VK810 4G using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Sniperhank]

You can't do any type of treatment for ich in a display tank. You'll kill everything that isn't a fish off.
You are only mentioning a spot here and there, you are SURE that it isn't sand? If this is ich, though I would tend to agree with there being flashing, you will either need to address this in a hospital tank or by ensuring that all parameters are pristine and that the pure and stable water quality will be enough to support the fish's immune system.

 

[PB_Smith]

one way to tell if it is ich or sand is look at it with just actinic lighting on. If it is ich it will fluoresce white a bit, if it's sand it just looks like sand.


I have this scare every so often and that is one way I found to tell easily.


Hyposalinity treatment is the safest proven method of treating ich, but it will also kill any other crustaceans and coral.
While many attribute success to garlic, there is no science that supports it, but that is not say it can't help.
Ich isn't always present in OUR tanks, but you can be pretty certain it is in any lfs or suppliers systems, so any new fish should be quarantined if possible.


one thing you can do is to do small water changes daily using a gravel vac vacuuming up from the sand bed each time. The cysts you see on the fish are actually the end stage of their life cycle. When they disappear it is because the cyst has ruptured releasing thousands of trophonts (larval ich) into the system. Then they settle in the substrate for about 10 days, then on to a free swimming stage, the only stage of the life cycle when they are susceptible to treatment, until they attach to a fish and begin the cycle all over again.
By regularly vaccing the sand, you remove some of the trophonts.
Flashing/scraping the gill plates and rapid, labored breathing are the first symptoms as the ich gets trapped/attached in the gill tissue and it is much easier than attaching to the body or fins.


What else is in the tank?
is the gramma the only fish?

 

[twoodrough]

I have the gramma, and B/W ocellaris, a peppermint shrimp, an emerald crab, and a trochus snail. It is a 20 gallon tank. I had a 10 set up since last summer and just upgraded to the 20 and added the gramma a few weeks after set up and good water tests.

So there is not any direct treatment without catching the fish?

I keep my water params pretty good, so I have to hope that is enough? I hate just waiting and watching.

 

[twoodrough]

Did my PWC today. I did 3 gallons instead of my usual 2, and wiped down and cleaned out the equipment in the tank (which I normally do). I am going to have LFS do another water test this weekend, and I assume everything will be in line as usual. Now I wait to see what happens.

 

[Darbell43]

You can beat ick without chemicals, Try a freshwater dip.It works because I did it myself a few days ago for ick spots on my fish.

 

[Marty.h]

You can beat ick without chemicals, Try a freshwater dip.It works because I did it myself a few days ago for ick spots on my fish.

I'm afraid you are wrong once it is in the system the only way to fully remove it is go fallow and remove all fish to QT however if you feed well then they will build up an immunity to it if you lucky but Ich will always be in the system just waiting for a drop in an immune system or some stress and it will strike !!

Yes dipping the fish will offer some relief make sure PH is the same and temp if freshwater dipping but as soon as it goes back into the DT the ich is waiting !!

 

[Darbell43]

No, you don't have to break the whole system down if you catch it early. ick has to fall off of the host and be in the free floating stage to infest a tank. When I see one or two spots it's time to remove the fish.Plus my system is pristine, So I'm not worried about it coming back.

 

[Darbell43]

I have medicines for parasites if everything else fails. Kordon ick attack. Got it from Pet store for 15.99, it works but you'll have to dose the QT tank for 3 weeks or more.

 

[Marty.h]

So them spots magically appear on the fish then and did not take the free floating stage to get on the fish and affect others by the time you see them spots it's to late !!!

Also some fish will not show any signs or spots at all but the ich will be nicely snug in there gill membranes.

 

[Marty.h]

Just to add my system is pristine has all the best equipment nitrates 0-2.5 phosphate 0.03 and all other paremeters kept in check with a 7 stage dosing system but it's still in mine !!!

Ich don't care where it lives the reason you want pristine water is to keep the fish healthy and keep stress down which then gives less chance of infection all be it the ich will still be in the tank as it is in mine.

All my stock are fine apart from the odd spot coming up on the foxface I introduced a lipstick tang and it was plastered within 2 days with Ich it had no stress and nothing bothered it as all my fish are laid back the lipstick died from it I don't bother adding anything now.

Tangs are very prone to it but I also have in mine

Sailfin Tang
Kole Tang
Jewel Tang
Yellow Tang

And they show absolutely no signs of it at all.

 

[Darbell43]

I know that it will be in my system but I'm not worried about, when you have depleted water conditions that will bring stress in your tank will cause fish to become sick due to a ammune system malfunction, that's why I said my water is pristine. My fish are happy and they eat well. I have a variety of foods for them.Plenty of live rock & plenty of hiding places. I have a large Niger trigger, Yellow Hawaiian tang, a coral beauty angelfish, 2 domino damsels, and a condylactus anemone.

 

[Darbell43]

Man I ain't trying to have a battle of who's knowledge is greater about ick, but answer this how can ick be free floating in a tank that's new and the fish only been in there for two weeks?

 

[Marty.h]

It can come in on the fish or in a drop of water a coral frag an Invert anything that's wet entering the DT can contain it if a fish has spots it's been in contact with the free floating stage so the water in the bag with the fish will contain the free floating stage as if they had come from a QT system strait into a DT they would not have Ich present in any form.

 

[Darbell43]

My fish icked out from a faulty heater and the only one that did was my angelfish my trigger got a freshwater dip because I just bought him day before yesterday.

 

[Darbell43]

My other fish are doing fine they've been in there the longest without ick spots.Thats my tang and 2 domino damels.

 

[twoodrough]

My LFS gave me Metroplex from Seachem today. I haven't opened the package. What can you tell me about this product.

The gramma is doing fine. She is eating and coming out and moving around the tank more (I have had her about two weeks - she is settling in). The first two spots have dropped off and there is one left. Now I wait to see if any more attach to her, or if maybe she is settled and not so stressed and able to fight it off.

 

[Marty.h]

I would defo hold of any chemicals as there is no such thing as a reef safe med that will kill ich 100%.

The problem is some meds can play havoc with the balance and good bacteria in your tank if the fish are looking better and as you are FOWLR I would suggest dimming the lights down ,keep water quality good and feed well.

A healthy fish that is not stressed will shake it off.

 

[54seaweed]

Last night I spent many hours researching freshwater dips for ick ,

freshwater dip: will remove early stage ick YES

returning fish to tank after dip will prevent ick from returning NO

is a tank that held infected fish contaminated YES

will all tank mates infected YES all fish in same tank are contaminated

ick is a water born molecule True

Copper is a well proven method to kill ick True

My findings are freshwater dips do help ick , but only at early stages also any and all fish in the tank that has ick will also be infected and will need treatment, just a fast dip to return to a ick infested tank will not work .

ick is a water born molecule that will attach to fish to survive , this is why you always here people say put all fish into QT and treat with copper the only true known cure,
during this QT period your tank will remain fallow 4 to 8 weeks this will kill of any ich molecules remaining in the tank as they won't have any fuel to survive a fishes flesh is the fuel ,

you may notice only 1 fish seems to be infected but once he is introduced to the tank the whole tank is now contaminated this is why you need to follow the procedures to get rid of it

conclusion the only true cure to ick is qt with copper along with keeping the infected tank fallow 4 to 8 weeks

I agree a freshwater dip solves some issues but when it comes to ick I'll only trust copper