regal tang ICH

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electrikat

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Aug 9, 2004
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Exactly how do you do a freshwater dip. Is it just plain water, no salt? What about ph? I assume the dechlorinator part. How long on average? She's been in Qt since I got her two weeks ago.
 
I agree, skip the dip! It can't kill parasites that burrow into the skin anyway! Read other posts here about cupramine or hyposalinity treatment (requires a refractometer).
 
i disagree i did a fresh water dip yesterday and if done right its not to stressfull on the fish at all. i have found that copper if not done just right can cause more problems than good.
as for ph use 1 TBS spoon per gallon of baking soda to raise your ph to tank conditions, and salt, and water temp a perfect match
i hope i was not to late with this but i hope it helps
michael
 
well I did another post on this because the white "ich" has turned brown and looks like the same diatom algae that's on the glass and sand. Any idea?
 
border324 said:
i disagree i did a fresh water dip yesterday and if done right its not to stressfull on the fish at all. i have found that copper if not done just right can cause more problems than good.
True if done correctly FW dips can be beneficial but they also need to used for the right circumstances. If the fish is already in the QT, dipping the fish would be unneccessary unless heavily infested. As far as the copper is concerned, that can be true of any med used so as long as the directions are followed exactly, it shouldn't be an issue. It really depends on the sensitivity of the animal.

as for ph use 1 TBS spoon per gallon of baking soda to raise your ph to tank conditions, and salt, and water temp a perfect match
Even 1 tspn per gallon would kill the fish 8O

Cheers
Steve
 
electrikat said:
well I did another post on this because the white "ich" has turned brown and looks like the same diatom algae that's on the glass and sand. Any idea?
Never heard of this to tell you the truth. Any chance of a pic?

Cheers
Steve
 
The guy that owns the lfs I use alot says it looks like some kind of fungus or infection caused by the original outbreak of ich. I think she'll probably die tonight. He gave me some coppersafe as a last ditch effort to save her but she is pretty much just laying on the bottom and breathing heavy. But on the bright side she was that way before when the ich had her and she came back from that for about a week till the fungus or whatever got ahold. We'll see. If she's still alive tomorrow then maybe she's a fighter.
 
If you have it available, do a large water change will well aged SW being sure to maintain treatment strength of what your using. The coppersafe is not going to have any effect on bacterial or fungal infections so I wouldn't use it. I don't know what you have been using to combat the C. irritans thus far but you should be very careful of mixing meds. FWIW, you could also try some Furacyn at 30 mg/gal as a last ditch effort. It's a 3 day treatment and usually fast acting and can be used with copper meds.

What have you been doing to treat the ich thus far?

Cheers
Steve
 
I stopped it a week ago and have since changed 25% water and run carbon for a week.
 
Good, agree with Steve, do the water change and start the copper treatment.
Do you have a copper test kit? Need it to get it to treatment level. If not follow direstions to the tee and definately get the test kit. Too much or too little may do her in.
Please don't dip her, at this point I doubt if she could take it.
 
electrikat said:
I stopped it a week ago and have since changed 25% water and run carbon for a week.
So when the treatment was finished, it sounds like the ich was still a problem? Hence the post for the dip?

If the coppersafe is all the LFS has then that's really all you can do but you must treat with an antibiotic as well. Be sure as Quarry posted above you get the proper test kit to measure the copper and be sure you keep an eye on water quality. Both the antibiotic and the copper will destroy the biofilter in the process.

Both must be performed in a QT and not the main tank.

Cheers
Steve
 
a uv sterilizer helps great i would not sell mine for the world.
steve-s i study chem in school. i have had a sw tank for about 4 years now and i have always use baking soda to raise the ph in my qt tank. i dont put it in my main tank . i have a ref. if you would like to check it out ?
baker
 
Well she didn't make it. I'm not sure I want to try another blue. This is the second one(one regal and one powder) that we have lost to ich. I know they are susceptible to it but this is rediculous.
 
Sorry to hear about the tang. Keep your head up, I have had some painful experiences in this hobby as I'm sure most of us have, but we are here as a community to help and that is inspiring. I have a cool little hippo that had ich initially and was treated with hypo. Take your time and get another, it's the best thing you can do right now...but find another supplier. Start with a nice healthy specimen that eats. Having an ich treatment like copper (& test kit) ready is also good. As you probably know, you'll have to drain, rinse and dry out the qt to let whatever was in there die off. Sounds like they are coming to you with more than ich from that lfs; ich shouldn't kill in 2 weeks (if it was already advanced, you would not have bought him). Anyway you need to get a good fish to begin with, qt, give him good water quality and plenty of swimming room (and hiding places), offer a variety of food (they do not take long to eat) and you will be rewarded with a happy & healthy tang!
 
border324 said:
steve-s i study chem in school. i have had a sw tank for about 4 years now and i have always use baking soda to raise the ph in my qt tank.
Then I guess I shouldn't need to tell you that baking soda has very little effect on pH overall (volume depending) but does have an enormous impact on alkalinity. Even 1 tspn/gal would raise the alkalinity 20 mEq/l in SW so imagine what 1 tbsp/gal would do.


i have a ref. if you would like to check it out ?
Please post it 8)

Cheers
Steve
 
electrikat said:
Well she didn't make it. I'm not sure I want to try another blue. This is the second one(one regal and one powder) that we have lost to ich. I know they are susceptible to it but this is rediculous.
Sorry for your loss :(

Agreed with srgetz but if you feel easier using copper, I would highly recommend Cupramine of all other forms of copper. It is the least harmful and tolerated by a wide variety of fish. Just be sure you get the corresponding multitest copper test for an accurate reading. A ammonia alert badge would be a plus as well.

If you have a refractometer and are sure you are treating C. irritans, the absolute best treatment if needed is >>hyposalinity<<.

Cheers
Steve
 
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