Ich treatment

[ecancienne1983]

How long do u have to treat a tank after an ich out break and is just treating the tank good enough to get rid of the ich do i need to change sand or clean rocks or all the water. My lfs td me id have to take everything out and bleach the tank live rock and everything but that just seems so harsh any help would be great thanks

 

[navaljonf]

what treatment method? You likely just need to leave your tank fallow for 8 wks.

 

[ecancienne1983]

Im at work and i cant remember the name of the treatment but its some all natural copper free treatment my lfs gave to me to use and whats fallower mean and its only been under treatment for almost 4 weeks now

 

[fcbayern]

I wouldn't bleach live rock, as it won't be live anymore. Garlic isn't a bad ich treatment if you have inverts I used it and it cleared up quickly. Some fish are just prone to it like powder blues and will get it again and again. Leaving the tank fallow is just letting it sit as it is. If there's no fish in there to host the parasite in theory it should just die out, when you put a new fish in put a few drops of garlic oil in when feeding.

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

Garlic is not a cure to ich, it just stimulates the appetite of the fish. If you've already begun using the the medication I guess just finish it. I personally would never add any medication to my dt (that's what qt is for), and definitely don't add any thing to the tank that you don't have a test kit for.

 

[navaljonf]

The only 2 methods that work are hypo and copper. Garlic helps your fish's appetite and giving the propero environment will help beedQ

 

[Holygral]

Ugh, one more time, there are only 3 known proven treatments of MI. And ALL must be done in a qt. 1.Copper, instructions must be followed to a T, MUST be done in QT, very hard on the fish, 2.Hypo, to be done correctly it needs to be done with a refractometer, swing arms are to inaccurate and inconsistent, must be down in a qt, may take 4-8 weeks, and a lesser use transfer method, uses a ton of salt rodi and labor. Also DT will need to be fallow (fish less) for 8-10 weeks for MI to die off without a host (fish) to keep it multiplying. There are NO reef safe meds, ick out, ick cure, ick rid or any of the other snake oils out there. Ick outbreaks are caused by stress. Also do not do copper and hypo at the same time.
Fish get ich from stress, too small of a tank, too many fish, incompatable tank mates. Or bad unstable parameters. I personally don't qt or am sure I believe in it. I have 3 tangs all from different sources and have never had to deal with it, is it luck or a stress free tank, really hard to tell. Unless you are goingbto qt EVERYTHING, fish, corals, lr, or anything wet, then you are not going to keep it out of your tank. Just remember there are NO safe reef ich meds,:

 

[Needles15]

Where can I get garlic oil from!?

 

[ecancienne1983]

Ok than how do i keep my dt fish less when theres fish in it that could possibly be infected but arnt showing symptoms of ich but ive had 4 die from it??? If i move them to another tank than wont they just bring it over there to the other tank?? Than let it die off in the main display than put them back in wont it just bring it back in there? Just seems like its and never ending thing and all the fish need to die for it to go away?? I cant treat my main display bc of my cleaner shrimp so im lost on how to cure this and how to save my fish

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

You catch the fish and transfer them to a qt tank, treat them with an ich medication (follow the directions exactly) and after you leave the tank fallow for 8-10 weeks transfer the fish back to the dt

 

[ecancienne1983]

And theres no other way to do this than to put the fish in a qt with a copper based treatment?

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

Ugh, one more time, there are only 3 known proven treatments of MI. And ALL must be done in a qt. 1.Copper, instructions must be followed to a T, MUST be done in QT, very hard on the fish, 2.Hypo, to be done correctly it needs to be done with a refractometer, swing arms are to inaccurate and inconsistent, must be down in a qt, may take 4-8 weeks, and a lesser use transfer method, uses a ton of salt rodi and labor. Also DT will need to be fallow (fish less) for 8-10 weeks for MI to die off without a host (fish) to keep it multiplying. There are NO reef safe meds, ick out, ick cure, ick rid or any of the other snake oils out there. Ick outbreaks are caused by stress. Also do not do copper and hypo at the same time.
Fish get ich from stress, too small of a tank, too many fish, incompatable tank mates. Or bad unstable parameters. I personally don't qt or am sure I believe in it. I have 3 tangs all from different sources and have never had to deal with it, is it luck or a stress free tank, really hard to tell. Unless you are goingbto qt EVERYTHING, fish, corals, lr, or anything wet, then you are not going to keep it out of your tank. Just remember there are NO safe reef ich meds,:

I don't think I could sum it up any better than Holygral did

 

[jeffaquarius]

I disagree with the belief that Garlic Xtreme is just an appetizer. It is a vitamin C and it boosts the immune system of fish. I have applied this to my tank when I had an ich outbreak an it worked. However, it depends on how bad the outbreak is. It has to be combined with reducing the stress of fish in the tank. I did not fallow my tank but I was successful to eradicate it.

 

[Holygral]

I disagree with the belief that Garlic Xtreme is just an appetizer. It is a vitamin C and it boosts the immune system of fish. I have applied this to my tank when I had an ich outbreak an it worked. However, it depends on how bad the outbreak is. It has to be combined with reducing the stress of fish in the tank. I did not fallow my tank but I was successful to eradicate it.

Garlic: What has been Studied Versus What has been Claimed by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

Facts about garlic in the reef industry

 

[jeffaquarius]

Not all articles your read anywhere including the internet are true. With regards to the ich, even if there is no scientific evedince I have already proven it to myself. The author himself just repeated everything what he reads. It is a common knowledge that garlic is a herbal medicine and being consumed by people to heal ailments. I gathered the facts myself through experience and not just by reading.

 

[TheTodd]

I've always felt that if the end goal is to irradicate Ich, you go with copper or Hypo in QT and leave your tank fallow. Those have been scientifically proven to kill the parasite. Big money has been spent proving that time and time again.

That being said, fish can overcome Ich in the right conditions. Proper diet, stress free surroundings, etc. That does not necessarily rid the environment of Ich, so you run the risk of it popping back up when new fish are added.

If I had an established tank that was fully stocked, I would probably go with the "let them get over it" choice , but with new tanks, it is best, IMO, to QT prior to adding fish and keep things like Ich out from the start.

I'm not sure I buy into "garlic is a medicine"...it stimulates appetite and boosts immunity, but I have seen nothing scientific to show it actually kills anything. I'm not against using it, as it definitely has positive effects.

 

[Holygral]

Marine Ich

 

[jeffaquarius]

I am not saying that Garlic works all the time but it worked for me. We know that stress on fish is the main factor of an ich outbreak. An ich may be present in a tank but may not penetrate if none of the fish is weak and if their immune system are at work. We also know that ich will not survive for 6 weeks without a host. Keeping fish healthy with good immune system means disallowing ich to have a host. Garlic may not be a medicime but it boosts the immune system. Prolonging the ich to starvation for 6 weeks is an indirect way of killing the parasites. But please dont get me wrong. I never claimed that copper is not effective. I am only responding to the OP question about any other ways without having to fallow the tank.

 

[jeffaquarius]

Deleted the double post