Ick

[tsunami]

I keep getting ick!!! I have tried everything. I have been doing 25 percent water changes every week and using a UV sterilizer, but my fish keep getting ick. In addition I have tried several products to include seachems cupramine and paragaurd. I don't know what to try next, but I can't keep throwing money away on fish that are going to die from ick. I can't believe that ick is this bad in saltwater fish because it isn't in freshwater fish. Everyfish that I have putten in the tank for the last 2 months has gotten it. So, please let me know if you have any suggestions or tid bits that might help.

Tsunami

 

[wbholwell]

Are you careful to bring your replacement water up to the same temperature as your tank before you do a water change? If so, and the treatments aren't producing any results, you may want to consider moving all of your fish to a quarantine tank for treatment while letting the ick lifecycle runs it's course (typically 2 to 4 weeks.)

Good luck!

 

[broreefr]

I understand that ick is like a parisite that lays eggs, these eggs once in the water will hatch after 28 to 30 days. That is probably why the ick is coming back.

Seems as if you are doing all you can with the sterilizer. I believe temperature fluctuations can also bring on ick so that may be worth keeping an eye on also.

Best suggestion I can offer is to let the system go without adding any new fish for at least sixty days ???? That will give the eggs time to hatch and if they have no fish to attach to and lay more eggs then the ick should die off naturally.

And you would serve yourself well to quarentine any new fishes after that before adding them, that way if they show with ick then you can treat them in that tank before adding them to the main display tank

 

[tonester_man]

Do you happen to have a puffer? They are ick hosts from my understanding.

 

[tsunami]

Thanks ya'll. The temp. is normally very close to the tank temp. when I add the water. I think it may have come from some of the original fish that I had added.

Yes, I did have a puffer, but I know that all fish can be carriers. I was just wondering if there is some “miracle” drug or if just waiting for the life cycle to run its course is the best idea. How do the fish stores do it because they have to deal with new fish and stuff all the time? Huh?!?!

I can't move all of the fish to my quarantine tank because it is like 8 fish of good size because the show tank is a 140 and the quarantine tank is a 58 gallon.

 

[tsciarini]

I second all of Broreefr's comments. Allow atleast 30-40days (to be safe) after the last sign of Ich (or removing all fish to QT).
It can commonly be brought on by stress so consider what other factors may be involved here.
Good luck!

 

[gclackum]

I had a problem with Ich about two or three months ago. It affected four fish in a very bad way, a large sailfin tang, a regal tang, a powder blue tang (new fish) and a bicolor angel. I used a couple of products from Ruby Reef, one was Rally(sp) and the other I believe was Kick Ich. I noticed an instant improovement in all of the established fish, new fish died but it was about dead already. The remainder of the fish recovered.

 

[fishwhisperer]

Tell us about your system. What size tank...how many fish? Are the fish stressed? Stress is a big ick factor. Ick may be ever present in a system but stress will bring it out.

 

[lifestudent]

Broreefr wrote: ....
Best suggestion I can offer is to let the system go without adding any new fish for at <span style="color: magenta;">least sixty days </em></span>???? That will give the eggs time to hatch and if they have no fish to attach to and lay more eggs then the ick should die off naturally.

And you would serve yourself well to quarantine any new fishes after that before adding them, that way if they show with ick then you can treat them in that tank before adding them to the main display tank

:yes: After having dealt with Ich for 6 months and using some of the "remedies" that you did and after losing several fish to it, I did lots of research. Based on my research about their lifecycle, I was successful when I moved all of my fish to a QT tank and had my display tank be fishless for 44 days. The articles I read said go fishless for 40 days. But hey, I figured "What's 4 more days for extra insurance."

I did not use UV or any meds during those 44 fishless days. Without a host to feed on, the parasites in the water die.

Broreefr wrote: Seems as if you are doing all you can with the sterilizer...

I have heard good things about folks that use ozone. Mojo reported to me that he's not had any cases of ich (on his powder blue tang [another ich magnet]) ever since he started using ozone.

Tsunami, please keep us updated about what you decide to do and your results.

Bob

 

[family reefer]

The fish stores have no problem because their fish only holding tanks can, and often are, treated with COPPER. Do not add this bagged water to your reef tank! Also, they often run the salinity a little lower(1.019) sort of a slighty "hypo-salinty" This also helps with the parasites.

 

[tsunami]

Well.... I have lost enough fish where I can safely put them into my quarintne tank. So I moved the green bird wrasse, frogfish, and the lionfish to the QT tank. I am just going to leave the tank fish less for a while. I was wondering though. Is it ok to have inverts in there or will they act as carriers later on. Exspecially since I will not be treating the tank with anything. Thanks for all of your help.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

inverts aren't hosts, so you should be fine. bump up the temp of the tank SLIGHTLY to like 80 or 81 while it is fishless. This will accelerate the metabolism and, ipso facto, the life cycle of the parasite. Just slighty, dont turnm it to 85 or anything!

 

[cwgibson]

it is ok to leave inverts in the tank,remember ick is an invert. leave your tank fish free for about 6wks and the ick will starve;then slowly add your fish back to the dt.

 

[tsunami]

Thanks. I just have some extra snails and crabs and I thought it would be nice to have them in there to clean up some of the algea and possible debri. Thanks.

 

[raisedonnintendo]

any one like that retro look?