dam ich

[cowfishrule]

HEY
I had a complete tank meltdown in june. dam long-nose butterfly ich'd my tank. i have a eclipse 25g, w/ a bullet goby, sailfin tang, firefish, and a percula clown. this morning i noticed the white spots on the tail of the tang.
i was thinking of giving the entire tank a freshwater bath. i was going to drain it, put in freshwater, then putting saltwater back in. How safe is this? i never had ich problems when i had freshwater, or even discus. all of a sudden, when fish get expensive, they decide to dance w/ death.
if this is not the best way to whack the ich, what is?
id rather not use copper if i dont have to.
please let me know.

 

[carrie1429]

I don't think thats a good idea, for one thing FW baths are not very good on the fish. Do you have inverts LR or Ls? If you don't then you can do hyposalinity. Hypo is much easier than what you were planning to do, it is lowering the salinity level to where ich can't live, but only fish can live through it not inverts or anything. So if you have inverts you could do hypo in a hospital tank, hypo is the easiest and safest treatment for the fish IMO. I think your fish my have gotten ich from being in too small of a tank. Tangs need much more room than 25 gal, then need at least 75 gal because then need lots of space to swim, thats my guess as to how he got ich. For more info about hypo ask me.

 

[ocellaris_keeper]

Please don't kill your fish - they are saltwater animals and they cannot live in freshwater.
Search this site for hyposalinity (lowering the salt level significantly) - the right technique for irradicating the tank using freshwater

 

[bcarp]

Carrie,
I have a ick problem right now with my powder blue tang. I just set up a 10 gallon hospital tank. I put copper in it and going to put the tang in tomorrow morning. I was thinking of dropping the salt level. How low salt level? and how long do I leave him in there?

 

[beth]

Oh, wouldn't you know it....I got 3 blue-green chromis yesturday from the LFS and today they have ich!
Now I get to try out my new refractometer that I just got!
Boy, this would have been a bad weekend with ich, if I didn't have my fish in a QT....but, I do, so my tank is fine, and the chromis should be fine too.

 

[cowfishrule]

Well, after doing some research and consulting w/ a REPUTABLE (sp) saltwater fish dealer, i was given a plan of attack. i did use the hypo method, however i did it right in my tank. i removed 6 gallons of saltwater, and replaced it with cool (not cold) dechlorinated tap water. my salinity is now 1.014, and i used this product called "greenex". i was told to remove my carbon and my phos-x, and to add 1 drop per NET gallon of water. i have to treat the tank like this for 2 weeks, then put my carbon back in to remove the greenex.
i am currently in the process of purchasing a UV unit.
like i previously said, i have mastered the art of the freshwater tank, and i have had discus in the past. i decided to move on to saltwater, because i felt that i was ready to make the leap. each day, just by reading and researching, i am learning more and more. and by watching my fish for at least an hour a day, i am learning more and more about each's behavior.

 

[almarktool]

Hypo only works at 1.009-1.010 1.008 is to low

 

[beth]

Hopefully, your tank is FO??!
The store is trying to sell you a bunch of stuff. If your tank is FO, simply do hyposalinity. It doesn't cost anything more than the price of fresh water.

 

[carrie1429]

Originally posted by BCarp
Carrie,
I have a ick problem right now with my powder blue tang. I just set up a 10 gallon hospital tank. I put copper in it and going to put the tang in tomorrow morning. I was thinking of dropping the salt level. How low salt level? and how long do I leave him in there?
First of all you probably shouldn't do both copper and hypo, but I'll tell you how to do hypo.
You will need to lower the salinity level to 1.009 gradually over a period of 48 hours. You should have the fish in the hospital tank while you do this so the fish can get adjusted to the salinity. You'll need to try and keep the salinty at exactly that level, any higher and the ich may not die off completely, also you need to watch your Ph level because with low salinity the Ph tends to fluctuate. While your fish is in the hospital tank it is good to feed them garlic soaked foods as it helps boost their immune system. You need to keep the salinity at 1.009 for at least three weeks in order for the ich to die off. Then after there is no more visible sign of ich then you slowly raise the salinity the same way you lowered it, gradually over a 48 hour period. Once the salinity is back to normal level keep the fish in the hospital tank for at least another two weeks to be sure the ich is gone and the ich in the main tank has died off because ich can live for over a month without a host before it finally dies off. After about two weeks you can return the fish back to the main tank. Do you have any other fish in the tank or just the tang?

 

[bcarp]

I put my tang in a 10 gallon hospital tank. Put copper in and he died this afternoon. This sucks! My other fish in my tank have no sign of ich? I am going to put a UV on tomorrow. This should help? Thanks for the info. Now I know how to do the hypo!! Will do that next time instead of the copper! Thanks again!

 

[cowfishrule]

Well, i lowered my salinity and added the greenex last nite.
this morning, everyone seemed to be fine. the tang still has spot "shadows" on his tail.
however, during the day, it seems my perc is climbing the stairway to heaven, even though he showed no signs of ich whatsoever.
one minute he's lying on the sand, gills flapping a mile a minute, the next he's swimming around. one good point is that everyone is eating, and eating well.
any other ideas? i really dont have the cash lying around to pick up a uv, but if my perc gets whacked, im going to have to get one.

 

[seaguru]

Sorry Ed, just a minor correction to your post...
Greenex does not contain formalin... from the bottle:
Ingredients: Malachite Green and Quinine Hydrochloride
Tho I only try to use hyposalinity anymore for parasite problems, my past experience/successs rate with Greenex has been 50/50. It does seem to be effective against parasites other than Ich, but is pretty much ineffective against a heavy/well progressed Ich infestation. So it is not the treatment of choice. I cannot offer info in regards to inverts other than crabs seem to tolerate it O.K.
Joe.

 

[cowfishrule]

Well,
i just got a phone call from a friend who has freshwater, and he just lost his entire tank to ich.
it has to be something here in jersey about the seasons changing. i was hoping that i wasnt retarted and did something wrong, so it makes me feel better.
the spots on my tang are lighter than on friday, so i believe that the green stuff and low salinity is actually working. uv unit is on its way, so everything should work out (knock on wood)

 

[seaguru]

Ed,
Have been trying to reach you... would really appreciate it if you could give me your opinion on the post about "Noise in our Tanks"
Thanks, Joe.