When will it be gone?

[ntswift]

I think I already know the answer to my question, but I'm just wondering if you guys know of any other way to tell if the ich is gone? I just had my flame angel die from what I believe :? was ich. It just died this last Sunday. None of the other fish in the tank have any symptoms though. I have two clowns and a scooter blenny along with a bunch of corals. What I'm guessing is that I'm going to have to have my tank fishless for 4-6 weeks? I know I can't do hypo or copper treatments. Is there any other way to get rid of the ich or tell if the ich is gone? Does anybody know why the other fish didn't get sick? Thanks for all the help and input!

 

[TCTFish]

The angel was probably the weaker of all the fish. Parasites have a habit of clinching onto the eaker ones. Healthy fish can fight off ich.

Before deciding to get into a stressing routine, offer some garlic soaked food on ocassion and if your tank is invert safe, get a skunk cleaner shrimp or two. They are proactive in keeping such parasites from becoming a problem...even eating parasites right off the fish. The garlic will help keep the freeswimmers off the fish. Garlic does ward off blood sucking pests off fish as it does off dogs, cats and us...LOL. The garlic also strengthens the immune system and keeps appetite stimilated. Good stuff. Kent Marine make Garlic Extreme and Seachem has Garlic Guard.

If you find other fish start to break out, try Ich Attack. It's an all natural ich treatment safe with inverts, though may take a longer time to get rid of ich than if the fish were isolated in a QT and treated with chemicals.

 

[tmkx3]

I am currently fighting ick and I have used ick attach. I have a 125g tank and it is very expensive to use. It never got rid of my problem. It did seem to slow it down a little. I had to remove all the fish, no fun. I had to remove the rock and divide the tank to catch them. I am now treating with copper cause I don't have a refractor.

 

[ntswift]

I already have a skunk cleaner shrimp and a peppermint shrimp in the tank. I noticed that he was picking at the flame for a while before it died getting all the little white specks off of it. All that hard work for nothing. Oh well, if any of the other fish get any symptoms I guess I'll just have to go fishless for a while. The ick attack I've heard wasnt the best to use from numerous people but if thats the only option then I guess I might have to try it. That will be a last resort type of thing though. I will try the garlic as soon as I can grab some. How often do you feed them the garlic? I use flakes and pellets right now. Occationally I feed mysis, maybe once a week. Will changing what/when I feed them help get rid of the ick? If none of the other fish have symptoms how will I know if the tank is safe to add any thing else?

 

[TCTFish]

A good maintenance feed of garlic soaked food is about once a week. If you are feeding a good quality marine flake and/or pellet, then you can go without changing diet. So long as the food is fortified with the appropriate nutrients and vitamins. That will help keep the immune system of the fish in good health.

Wait awhile before trying to add a new fish. Two months should do it. If there are no outbreaks during that time then the system can be considered safe, however...you should use a QT for new fish. They should be in the QT for two weeks for observation and if they break out with anything, they can be treated right in the QT without compromising the main tank.

 

[steve-s]

You cannot consider a system safe unless you have purposefully implemeneted and effective plan to rid the tank of C. irritans. Even with aquired immunity, the original parasite infestation can last from 6-11 month without the introduction of new pests. QT'ing new arrivals would be pointless (in terms of C. irritans) unless you are willing to take the necessary steps to deal with your current problem.

Garlic and proper tank maintenance are not cures, they are stop gaps. It's pretty near impossible to eliminate a parasite in this manner.

Bit the bullet, Qt the fish aand treat them with a proven cure!!

FWIW, flake is a useless food source and you need to be really picky about pellet foods. Most are very nutritionally lacking and do more to pollute a system than feed the fish. Healthy well chosen foods lead to healthy long lived animals.

Cheers
Steve

 

[ntswift]

So should I keep my tank empty of fish for a while to help get rid of it or would it just stay in my tank because of my corals and such?

 

[steve-s]

Yes, keep the main tank fishless for 6-8 weeks.

The corals/inverts are not a concern and do not require intervention. Although they can harbor/transport the parasite, they cannot feed the parasite. The parasite can only feed off the fish and cannot complete it's life cycle without the fish. No fish, no parasite.

Cheers
Steve

 

[ntswift]

Okay then, I'll just let the tank go fishless for a while. Thanks for the help!