Ich infestation

[OceanMist]

about a week ago I put a powder blue in my 85g, and he started scratching against sand/lr, in a hope it was just some unharmful parasites I added a cleaner wrasse but I have just put on my new lights (2x150w halides) and I can now clearly see its ich, although it's not too bad yet, and neither the wrasse or my 2 percs are affected (from what I can tell), is there a treatment I can add to the water that does not contain copper or anything that could harm a reef? (although I have no inverts/corals yet I will add them soon)?.

 

[Squado]

Sorry to hear that. I had the same exact problem that you had. I bought a blue tang, put it in my tank and the next day ich appeared. I returned the fish the next day only to see that ich infested my whole tank. I lost my percula, gramma, and tang from this problem. Their wasn't anything I could find to put in the main tank to fix the problem. The only fish that made it through with no problems was the six line wrasse. I am currently not adding any fish for the next 6 weeks to let the ich die off. Your only solution would be to either feed the fish with garlic and vitamin c and hope for the best, or quarantine all fish and treat individually. From my personal experience, I would quarantine all fish and treat with a medication in a qt tank. Anything else is kind of a crap shoot. HTH............

 

[OceanMist]

thanks for the reply, I cannot see ich on any fish but the tang, if I was to return the tang would my other fish become infected?

also would a UV sterilizer kill it? I plan on getting one anyway so If it would work I could get one now.

 

[Charlie]

The ich cycle is an interesting one. Apparently the parasite can drop off into your substrate and reproduce there. Once there, it can release huge numbers of unseeable tiny ich parasites in 28 days. They must find a fish host within a day or two, or they will die. That's why aquarists leave tanks fishless for 6-8 weeks in order to ensure that their display tank is ich free.

Shortly after I got started with sw I brought home 2 Perculas that proved to have ich within a few days. I removed the fish but could not kill the ich. One fish died and the other was returned to the lfs. I left my tank fishless for 6 weeks and decided to follow the advise that I got on this site from day one. ALWAYS USE A QT TANK. It's a pain in the neck but it can also save you money and spare you lots of aggrevation in the long run.

Heck, I've ot a few small fish in my QT tank as we speak.

 

[angelscrx]

Vitamin C shoudl boost the fish's immune system and help them fight off the ich but only time will tell.

 

[OceanMist]

would a UV sterilizer work though, I've read it can kill it? if it does kill them it would kill the ones free-floating and it would kill the rest when they drop off the fish to multiply.

 

[ntswift]

I cannot see ich on any fish but the tang, if I was to return the tang would my other fish become infected?

Yes they will. Ich has already been introduced into the tank. Ich will stay in your tank until you go without any fish in your tank for 6-8 weeks. Then you have to qt your new fish and treat them as if they have ich. Just because they dont show signs doesnt mean that ich isnt in your tank. It just means that your fish are healthy enough to fight it off. I've heard the UV sterilizer can help with ich however I have no personal experience trying one. The only sure fire way to get rid of ich in a reef or soon to be reef is to go fishless for 6-8 weeks. Sorry for the out break. I had the same thing happen in my tank so now I have to choose my fish very carefully and make sure they are nice and healthy. Other wise I have to get rid of all my fish now or qt them, treat them, then put them back. Its a big hastle but I'm hoping I dont have to do that. HTH

 

[Fluff]

Here is an article I did on ich and how to treat it. HTH

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/article_view.php?fldAuto=50&faq=2

Also, I'm moving this to the sick fish forums.

 

[roka64]

would a UV sterilizer work though

It might kill some of them, probably not all of them. I think a few months back some one tried the UV and it didn't work.

in a hope it was just some unharmful parasites

Parasites, by nature are harmful.

 

[OceanMist]

Parasites, by nature are harmful.

what I meant was non-lethal