Kick Ich - Need Help!

[taimur85]

So I recently bought a powder blue and stupidly do not have a qt setup. No surprise, he got ich. I tried soaking food in garlic, and that actually worked in about two days as he was completely spot free for about a week after that. This morning I noticed both he and now my Regal tang are all iched up! I've had the Regal for about 2 years and he has survived EVERYTHING with no spots or issues. My other fish all look OK, but I'll monitor of course.

My question is what are the best next steps to take? I figured I need to set up a qt, but can I do this with water from my main tank? Won't it have the same parasites?
Do I qt all the fish or just the tangs?
Is there anyone that could qt them for me until i get my system setup?
Would it be worth just sticking with the garlic soak and seeing if it gets worst/better?

Sorry for all the questions, just don't want to lose all the little guys!

 

[jennm]

I hate it when folks learn the hard way

http://www.imagine-ocean.com/best-practices-quarantine-procedures-obtaining-new-fish-specimens/">Here's a QT article.</a>

Meanwhile, get some Metronidazole and Focus, and use it in their food. Garlic will help mask the taste. All the fish potentially have it - all should be treated.

It's in the display now, the only way to (maybe) get rid of it is to leave the display fishless for at LEAST a month (more for good measure.)

Jenn

 

[taimur85]

Thanks, Jenn. That article is very informative.

I'm going to being the search for a QT tank today and see what I can do to save these guys. Will the corals/inverts be ok with this stuff in the tank and when it goes fishless for a month?

 

[jennm]

Ich won't bother the inverts. Do not medicate the display. Kick Ich which you mentioned in your post title, won't harm them if you do use it, but there are more effective treatments. The Metronidazole and Focus in the food is your best bet if you have to treat in the display.

I've seen decent results with Kick Ich but it's not my first choice - again sometimes options are limited. I have found that if you are going to use Kick Ich, dose it at night, and if possible, leave your lights off - at least for a couple of days. I had seen anecdotal reports of it working better that way, and I had a conversation a while back with the manufacturer and mentioned this, he was unaware of it, but after some discussion about it the thinking was that perhaps the UV light emitted by your aquarium lamps might decrease its efficacy. Untested/unproven theory (full disclosure) but it made sense to the manufacturer, based on numerous anecdotal observations of how it seemed to work better that way.

Could also be that less light - less stress on the fish, or a bunch of different variables. So take that bit with a grain or two of salt.

Jenn

 

[taimur85]

Just wanted to provide a quick update.

I have been feeding a little more than normal with the metro and focus, and turned the lights off for 2 days. The fish look GREAT!!

No more white spots, but I'm going to continue to feed with the meds for another day or so. I retested everything, and it looks like my nitrates are higher than normal, so that could have caused the increased stress?

I've heard keeping/growing algae helps to combat high nitrates, but i'm not really sure where to start there. I've seen a tank or two with the little boxes attached to the DT with algae in it, but what are the other options?

Thanks again to Jenn and the good people at the The Fish Store for all the help!!

 

[stacy22]

You need to learn about the lifecycle of Cryptocaryon</em>. Disappearance of the spots does NOT mean the ich is gone.