Fish with ich

[ptreef]

Been dealing with ich for a while now, trying to treat with metro and focus but it doesn't seem to be going away any time soon. This morning, it looks like the parasites are coming out of the skin on my powder blue tang.

All fish are eating great and seem to acting normally. Is there anything I can do besides waiting it out? QT doesn't really seem like an option at this point. Heat in the room is a major issue

 

[oceandeep85]

this is my first foray into saltwater, so my advice could be completely invalid.. but in freshwater, I always had great luck by keeping the lights off, or low, cranking the heat up slowly to the upper range of tolerable to your fish and increasing salinity. I've actually never used medications for ich and this works every time.. for me... again, I'm a noob.. so, this could be completely wrong advice for a Marine setup. I think you're probably nearing the end of the infestation if you can actually see them protruding from the skin but your fish are acting normally. I'd have some other folks weigh in.

Reefers?

 

[stacy22]

Marine Ick and freshwater ick are NOT caused be the same organism. What works in freshwater is completely irrelevant for marine fish.

Cryptocaryon</em> infections are best treated by cupramine or by the tank transfer method. All fish must be treated in order to eradicate ick from your tank.

Cryptocaryon has a wide tolerance range for salinity and temperature.

When the white spots "disappear" from the fish this IN NO WAY means the infection is over. This is a simple progression of the lifecycle of this protozoan.

 

[ptreef]

would running a large UV help? the tank is a 210, so the uv would be pretty expensive. i have a small one rated for half the tank size running in the sump, but i know it wont help a whole lot as far as free floating ich in the display

 

[oceandeep85]

stacy22;972939 wrote: Marine Ick and freshwater ick are NOT caused be the same organism. What works in freshwater is completely irrelevant for marine fish.

Cryptocaryon</em> infections are best treated by cupramine or by the tank transfer method. All fish must be treated in order to eradicate ick from your tank.

Cryptocaryon has a wide tolerance range for salinity and temperature.

When the white spots "disappear" from the fish this IN NO WAY means the infection is over. This is a simple progression of the lifecycle of this protozoan.

Despite the fact that I clearly admitted I could be way off base... *ahem*.. I stand corrected.

 

[ptreef]

it also might be interesting to note that the tangs all stop and wait for the bannerfish to pick at them! They freeze right in front of him, he pecks at them a couple times and then they keep going

 

[bcrueter]

I have always: incressed temp slowly(i heard it speeds up the life cycle of the ICH), feed heavly(A fish tha keeps eating usully can stay healthier)and feed metro and focus. just my .02 cents

 

[jennm]

UV will help, but it's not a cure-all. UV, if used properly, will kill the free swimming parasites if they enter the UV through the water going through the UV.

That being said, not all the water, and not all the free-swimmers are likely to go through the UV. So to that end, it helps knock down the population, but it doesn't knock it out.

Have you figured out the cause? That's half the battle.

Now that it's present in your tank, it's there to stay, the best you can do is keep it under control.

Jenn

 

[lant]

thenewpufferintown;972944 wrote: would running a large UV help? the tank is a 210, so the uv would be pretty expensive. i have a small one rated for half the tank size running in the sump, but i know it wont help a whole lot as far as free floating ich in the display

If you have sand, UV won't help much.

I would just provide optimum conditions for the fish and let them ride it out for 6 months. Most fish will actually survive ich if given the right conditions. If they survive, they are less likely to get ich in the future.

Wait a year after seeing any signs of ich before adding new fish.

 

[ptreef]

I don't plan on adding new fish, but I believe it came in a little over a year ago with my hippo tang, he got through it but it has been showing again for a while. Never stopped eating so I've got high hopes.

Substrate isn't sand, more like crushed coral/aragonite, but less coarse, more solid than sand if that makes sense.

Temp is naturally high because of the room temp, standing at around 82

all fish are pretty active and seem to be functioning fine

 

[lsu_fishfan]

Some people say chloroquine Phosphate works on ich, but can't be used in your reef tank.

 

[ptreef]

So now things have gotten much worse. Lost a banner, powder blue and two clowns the last couple days.

 

[jennm]

Can you post pictures? Maybe it's something other than ich?

What are your current parameters, and any other relevant information.

Jenn

 

[jdavid]

There might be a reason why your fish are stressed out, causing them to be more susceptible to the crypto. Saying, there is likely a separate issue that needs to be worked out before the (remaining) fish can get better. Whatever is stressing them out is lowering their immune system which has been keeping the parasite from wreaking havoc since the first go round a year ago.

You will notice that the white spots come and go. When they go, it's not over. That's just a cyst that has either fallen off into the substrate of the tank or burst into free swimming parasites. If you remove all fish/vertebrates from your tank (inverts can stay) for three months to cure the DT. MOST of the time the they will all be dead, but it has been studied and in rare cases the parasite can stick around for longer without any fish present, up to 6 months

Meanwhile you can treat your fish in a separate tank. I'm not telling you what's the right move, I'm not sure if it's best to pull the fish out and treat them, or if that will stress them out too much and finish them off. But it's the fastest way to ridding your DT of crypto.

I have a bottle of Cupramine, you only need to dose 1 mL per 10.5 gallons, wait 48 hrs, and dose the same amount again. Then you wait 14 days then begin to pull the copper out of the QT with cuprisorb or carbon. Its a $25 bottle (250 mL) but if you only need 20 mL or so and have a clean dropper/syringe/etc I'll fill you up.

I'm super close by. I can throw a rock and hit flowery branch

 

[jdavid]

thenewpufferintown;972936 wrote: Heat in the room is a major issue

How hot?

 

[ptreef]

No test kit but I'm as sure as I can be that parameters are normal. Just did a 40 gallon water change. Temp stays around 82 now.

Will that medicine kill the corals?

 

[jdavid]

thenewpufferintown;975475 wrote: No test kit but I'm as sure as I can be that parameters are normal. Just did a 40 gallon water change. Temp stays around 82 now.

Will that medicine kill the corals?

Yes it will kill corals and any other invertebrates (shrimp, snails, crabs, cucumbers, urchins, ETC)

Can't use it in the DT. You would have to pull all the fish out and treat them in a QT tank. I know you said that's pretty much not an option, and it may not be the best plan of action anyway. Just offering up what little help I can, should you choose to take that path.

To be clear: the display tank treats itself over time if there are no fish present to host the parasite. The fish can be treated in a quarantine tank and held there while the parasites die off in the DT

 

[ptreef]

Yeah a QT tank isn't an option because of the heat or I would've done that. And I'm sure the added stress wouldn't help.

 

[jdavid]

I don't understand why the qt would be any hotter? You don't need lights so that's a big heat reduction. Any air conditioned room should work

 

[jennm]

Good advice all around.

Something is amiss - heat could be part of the problem, but you really need to take a look at the big picture to see what is causing the stress that is wearing them down and making them susceptible to the infestation.

A best guess about parameters isn't enough. Get at least basic test kit (avoid API it's junk) for ammonia, pH, nitrite, nitrate. Some also contain an alkalinity test - that's more important for corals than for fish, so the first four are a must.

Check your specific gravity, make sure your hydrometer or refractometer are calibrated and accurate.

Behavior - are there any territory issues or sparring among your fishes? The stress of being picked on can encourage an outbreak.

Temperature is an issue, but if it's constant and not swinging, that's probably not a huge concern but it could be more of a consideration if other stressors are present.

Check for stray voltage too. I've seen it more than once when a faulty piece of equipment casts voltage and that can cause a never-ending outbreak too.

Treating the symptoms is only half of the solution. Finding and addressing the cause is the other half.

Jenn