Ick problem

[reeftankman]

Question about Ick...can it be brought into a tank from coral? I haven't added any fish in quite awhile (just coral), but my damsel has it...what are the chances my other fish will get it...I hate to kill it, but...

 

[natman2]

I hate to say this, but I usually euthanize sick fish. Rarely do the various "cures" work for any length of time. And often the cure is as bad as the disease as far as inflicting stress and leading to death.

I would remove the infected fish
Be sure to feed the rest of the tank with something that has garlic in it right away. The new Formula 2 now has garlic added and all of my fish will accept it.

From my experience healthy fish in good water can fend off ich pretty easily even when inadvertently introduced to the tank. Check to make sure everything is right with your water chemistry.

 

[AMANIQU77]

you may want to quarantine the infected fish. Then observe the other fish in your display to see if they start to show signs of ich too. Quarantine when necessary then do a hypo treatment.

It's not worth doing a hypo in the main tank. I lost quite a few fish doing it and I really don't know why. The more expensive fish lived though.

I invested on a really small QT. I used to be very stubborn about it but found out that there's a lot more peace of mind and a lot less money wasted buying a QT.

I don't really know if corals can carry ich. I did find out that, depending on the stage of that parasite, it could last a few weeks without any host fish. So it may be possible that your invert carried ich even if ich didn't affect your coral.

Sorry about the infection. That sucks. I hate ich. It stresses me out.

 

[melosu58]

You can not do Hypo in the main if you have any inverts. It will kill them

 

[AMANIQU77]

I have a feeling that once you remove your fish specimen in the main tank, the ich may have a possibility of starving due to no presence of fish host. So once you QT the fish, I don't think you have to worry about the display. I may be wrong. But if you have inverts, corals, etc, hypo route in the diplay, like I said in my previous post, is not a good idea.

 

[melosu58]

And you are correct that once you remove the fish from the main and leave it fishless for 6-8 weeks the parasite will be gone. Choose whatever way to treat the fish for ick in the QT.