How to cure ICH??

[HotSauce]

all my fish ( 2 ocellaris, longnose hawk, firefish, coral beauty) are currently battling ich. i just set up a QT with power filter, heater, PVC. what's next?

1. which treatment method is more effective and safe? copper or hyposalinity? i have coppersafe but dont have have the copper test kit for it

2. will ich die in my main tank if i leave it fishless for 6 wks. only live rocks and a hairy mushroom in there

thanks

 

[quarryshark]

You do really need to get the copper test kit of you are going treat with that method. Too much copper can kill your fish, not enough copper will not eradicate the parasite.
I prefer the copper treatment, however some others prefer hypo. I'm sure other opinions are forthcoming. A lot of it depends on how bad the infestation is.
Yes 6 weeks should be fine, I left mine for 8 with good result.
Good luck!!

 

[HotSauce]

how much copper should i add. i have coppersafe and it says 1teaspoon or 5mL per 4 gal of water. what level should i look for if i will test for copper?

 

[jamal-188]

how much copper should i add. i have coppersafe and it says 1teaspoon or 5mL per 4 gal of water. what level should i look for if i will test for copper?

It is often times difficult to test for copper. I would add the suggested amount and then add additional when you do water changes according to how much water you change out.

 

[Gauge]

I found that following the directions was not sufficient when I tried copper. I had a test and it usually read the copper levels as 60% of what they needed to be if I followed the directions. I would highly recommend a test if you're going to use copper.

In answer to your question of hyposalinity vs. copper, I think that copper is probably the better solution. Hyposalinity sounds better on paper because it's less stressful on the fish and on your pocketbook, but it's much more difficult to execute. If you have too much evaporation one day and your salinity jumps a point or two, you have to start all over. Copper is much easier.

 

[quarryshark]

Yup, or use (I don't work for them ) cupramine and their test kit (Seachems). It gives you a target level of .5 ppm and the test kit (in my experience) works well.

 

[SquishyFish]

I would highly suggest this article....

http://www.reef-aquarium.net/resources/disease/ich.html

 

[Xhilr8]

I had the problem of Ich and I found that hyposalinity along with full dosage triple sulpha everyday for 6 days worked. Leaving your tank fishless for 6 weeks will also work. You might want to turn up the temp to speed up the life cycle in your fishless tank.