do my fish have ich?

[alyssia]

I have a stupid ich question. Does it look the same on saltwater fish as it does on freshwater? My clown has two white spots on one fin and one on the other. I have the clown, a wrasse, two anemones and some hermit crabs, oh yeah three shrimp,, so I'm guessing I can't use copper or hyposalinity. Would a fresh water bath help? :help: :help:

 

[oceanists]

the white could be that the anemone stung your clown if it isnt a hosting anemone

 

[oceanists]

also , use the fresh water dip as a last resortand make sure you medicate the water and bring it to tank temperature

 

[murph]

If your fish are active and eating don't presume illness.

 

[thejdshow]

A fresh water dip will not help you because the ich can live in the tank without a fish for 14 - 30 days or something. Best thing to avoid using meds is a hypo salinity in a QT. Of course you would have to remove all of the fish. do the hypo salin and after 30 days you can return them to your Display tank. However I would make darn sure its ich before you do this (a lot of work to do for nothing). I had to do a hypo salinity and it worked fantastic. There are many articles available on the best ways of doing this.
Good Luck
- JD

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by Thejdshow
A fresh water dip will not help you because the ich can live in the tank without a fish for 14 - 30 days or something. Best thing to avoid using meds is a hypo salinity in a QT. Of course you would have to remove all of the fish. do the hypo salin and after 30 days you can return them to your Display tank. However I would make darn sure its ich before you do this (a lot of work to do for nothing). I had to do a hypo salinity and it worked fantastic. There are many articles available on the best ways of doing this.
Good Luck
- JD
Another thing I would suggest is feeding high quality food! I feed mine Formula 2, it contains garlic. I never did hypo, did the copper, methlyne blue, etc etc. Hated the meds!!!!!!!!!!! It cause a lot more problem then anything else. The garlic stuffs work for me, it may not work for you, but it never hurt to try it. It's better then meds IMO. :happyfish

 

[thejdshow]

you could try, but in the end.. if it is ich, you will probably have to hyposalin. best of luck

 

[aquapro_1]

I always suggest scarlet cleaner shrimps. No meds needed. Give a few days & the shrimp will eat them all!! The fish will be happier!! I have not had an outbreak since I got my cleaning crew.

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by aquapro_1
I always suggest scarlet cleaner shrimps. No meds needed. Give a few days & the shrimp will eat them all!! The fish will be happier!! I have not had an outbreak since I got my cleaning crew.
Cleaner shrimp didn't work for me at all!!! The only way I got rid of ich was by using formula 2 since it contains garlic. I feed nothing else but formula two during the whole process. It took approx. 1-2 weeks to get rid of it completely. I haven't had a problem since. If it didn't work, I would of done hypo though. But it works for me everytime. Good Luck! :happyfish

 

[thejdshow]

I dont think that a cleaner shrimp will cure the problem. They can help slow the spread, but I would not consider shrimp a cure for ich at all.