I think I have ich...

[h8z2luze]

Well not me but my fish lol. I have one damsel in my tank. I've had it cycled for a couple weeks and want to add fish and take him out but I noticed 2 very small white dots on his tail. I had a freshwater tank that had ich before it was not fun... If I take him out and leave the tank fish less for 6-8 weeks that will get rid of the ich right? Won't that cause an ammonia spike or cycle when I add fish again? I have a cuc and emerald crab in there as well as 60+ pounds of LR and some corals. Do inverts get ich?

 

[tonedogz]

the ich will die without a host fish so your tank will be ich free. If you go slow adding fish you should be ok with the ammo.

 

[h8z2luze]

I was just scared to lose the bacteria since there won't be much of a bio load. Should I put a little fish food in there every few days to keep it up?

 

[tonedogz]

inverts are not affected by ich. If you feed the inverts I think the bacteria will be ok.

 

[h8z2luze]

Ok. How much do u think I should feed? Few pellets a day?

 

[tonedogz]

yeah that should be good. you can check if anything rises like ammo. nitrite, or nitrate.

 

[h8z2luze]

Hmm well whatever it was is gone overnight. He has no white spots at all now. Must have been sand or silt or something.

 

[crister13]

Definitely could've been. My fish get sand on them a lot and I get really scared then I watch it fall off and I'm relieved. Hope it was just that! GL!

 

[h8z2luze]

I hope so too! It just appeared then went away so I'm thinking it had to be that.

 

[OscarFan76]

I'd watch him for a few days. I've seen ich disappear and reappear. Oddly my tank had ich, I fed garlic and it seemed to help. It eventually went away in a couple of weeks and I haven't seen it for months.

 

[mikestanked]

I had the same thing happen before and it came back and i lost a pair of clowns,now the same thing has happen again, Today My LFS guy told me that the ick has left its host and will reappear even stronger and eventually kills its host.

 

[nikki_kaiser]

Ich is terrible and just when you think your fish is safe after QT another one in the tank gets it. Its frustrating and i think that lots of people have lost fish due to it. There's also a lot of confusion regarding marine ich and freshwater ich. I really like this link because it clarifies quite a bit and is helpful especially with the understanding of the parasite and it's life cycle and facts about treatment. I hope it helps.

www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/fish-diseases-treatments/23132-marine-ich-myths-facts.html

 

[tonedogz]

the reason for it coming back is it was never completely out of your tanks. you would have needed to qt all the fish and leave the main tank fishless for 6 to 8 weeks to kill off the ich. Ich needs a host fish and without it it dies, thats why the main tank needs to be without fish, evidently the ich had fallen off the fish before you got to it and now it lirking there till it finds a suitable host. If your still having a problem the above is what you need to do.

 

[mikestanked]

I'm currently treating my tank with Kordon's ich attack, and a garlic pppower medication and its helping a lot my maroon clown has no spots and is looking better than ever.

 

[mikestanked]

And I'm only on day 3 of a 10 day treatment!

 

[Hondatek]

Only cure for marine ich are hyposalinity and copper. The reason it seems to be working is because the ich dropped off your fish to reproduce and it will be back in greater numbers.

 

[crister13]

I've "cured" a couple fish with garlic but it's a risk. It boosts immune system so your pretty much beefing up your fish so they can beat it themselves. But only proven is hypo and copper, although other things help.

 

[mikestanked]

How should I "soak" the food? I've just let it thaw in tank water then added the garlic meds and waited a couple of minutes the feed?

 

[crister13]

What meds? Its just garlic juice. Kent garlic extreme works well. Just squirt some one and soak for whatever. I usually soak like 30 mins.

 

[mikestanked]

I'm using Seachem's Metronidazole marine and freshwater medication, not garlic, sorry. But it says it can be used with garlic guard