Saltwater & Reef

Greenmaster · 06-26-2011, 04:40 AM

So after 10 days there is no sign of Ich... I believe that a combination of three things saved my fish and put the Ich into remission.

1. Lots of Skunk cleaners... I have six or seven Skunk cleaners in my tank and they service most of my fish well, some of them are very bold, jumping onto a fish in open water and cleaning a fair distance from their post. (I also have two Fire cleaners but they don't like to clean.)
2. I added Brine shrimp cysts to my tank... lots every day, I would say that there wasn't one cubic inch in the tank that didn't have hatched brine shrimp filtering the water. Also I don't have a skimmer, UV, or anything else that can kill/remove stuff from the water, so they stay in the water column. Brine shrimp may or may not filter the Ich out of the water, but I felt it may help so I tried.
3. I fed garlic in my food. Not a huge contributor but I feel like it could have made a difference.

Sqasnatch · 06-27-2011, 04:12 PM

That's the first time I have heard of anyone using brine shrimp cysts. Did the cysts make a mess of things?

Jason7894561230 · 06-27-2011, 05:59 PM

Well im glad that its all gone with no fishy lose

Greenmaster · 06-27-2011, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sqasnatch

That's the first time I have heard of anyone using brine shrimp cysts. Did the cysts make a mess of things?

Ya I came up with the idea myslef.... I'm not sure if the brine shrimp would eat them or not, but brine shrimp are filter feeders and they filter out usually phytoplankton but they do eat other things of similar size (eg. egg yolk, yeast, and bacteria). Phytoplankton ranges in size from 50µm to several feet in size. Ich in the Theront stage are between 40-69µm. I'm hoping that the brine shrimp will filter out and eat the Theronts thus braking the Ich cycle. If this works or not or even had any effect is unknown... the only way to do it would be to experiment with them and do several studies. But I know that if I ever get Ich again, I will be "saturating" the water with brine shrimp.

If you get a good hatch rate the cysts hatch and then swim in the water column until they get eaten or die from starvation or bad water parameters. They seem extremely sensitive, they Cyano die off causes 4-6 hour spikes before balancing out again and that tends to kill off most of the brine shrimp... I think.

Sqasnatch · 06-27-2011, 11:19 PM

Interesting. Well I will try it myself next time I get ich. I have tried to grow out brine shrimp like 4 times now. Not having any luck at all.

Greenmaster · 06-27-2011, 11:22 PM

I buy a big $20 can of them and then just add the cysts to the tank they hatch within 20 min to an hour (some take longer). But if you have a skimmer or UV or something like that it can/will, take out/kill your brine shrimp.

MABJ · 06-28-2011, 02:52 AM

Sea monkeys

Gregcoyote · 06-28-2011, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MABJ

Sea monkeys

That's an expensive way to buy brine shrimp eggs! Who ever thought a brine shrimp looked like a monkey anyway?

Greenmaster · 06-28-2011, 06:48 PM

Sea Monkeys are an artificial breed. They are hybridized brine shrimp.

Sarcothelia · 06-28-2011, 07:51 PM

Very easy to breed though. Just put a bag in a goldfish tank and feed cyclop eez hehe.

Gregcoyote · 06-28-2011, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greenmaster

Sea Monkeys are an artificial breed. They are hybridized brine shrimp.

Maybe not on this forum, but I must know more about the Sea Monkeys. I grew up with comic books that sold these before I figured out they had to be a kind of shrimp. So they aren't eggs?

Greenmaster · 06-29-2011, 12:48 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea-Monkeys
Most brine shrimp (and sea monkeys) come as cysts... kinda like eggs only they last longer and can live in harsh conditions... They are hatched eggs that have gone into a "hibernation" state.

rain87 · 06-29-2011, 07:22 AM

Found your post not sure what time I started reading it but it took me at least 5 hours. Awesome journey and I am excited to see how it continues. It has been a great read so far I am one of the few who joined late and have read every post.

Greenmaster · 06-29-2011, 06:03 PM

Welcome aboard

Sqasnatch · 06-30-2011, 12:01 AM

I would just like to say this is awesome post. I joined this forum like when this post started, and it's been here for months now and still goin, the never ending journey part a million..... Lol