Help with ick !!

new2salt3

Member
Our 125G reef tank has not had ick for over a year. We took out our skimmer for 1 of those vodka nitrate removal filters, and suddenly 2 days later all my fish have ick. I have 2 heaters. How high should I turn up the heaters and how long. I dont wanna cook my fish !!!!!!!!!!!! Should I do a big water change??? Please anybody help us newbies !!!
 

chevyblue96

Member
I'm new to salt water myself, but fighting ich also.
I don't believe turning your heaters up will help. You need either hypo or copper treatment... either way you will have to get them in a seperate tank or the treatment will kill your corals/inverts.
 

new2salt3

Member
We are in a 3rd floor apt. We dont have another tank to quarantine. I have been told to raise the temp B4, and I have heard others being told to raise the temp for a short while to get rid of it. I really need more solid input from the pro's !!!
 

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by new2salt3 http:///forum/thread/384983/help-with-ick#post_3374419
Our 125G reef tank has not had ick for over a year. We took out our skimmer for 1 of those vodka nitrate removal filters, and suddenly 2 days later all my fish have ick. I have 2 heaters. How high should I turn up the heaters and how long. I dont wanna cook my fish !!!!!!!!!!!! Should I do a big water change??? Please anybody help us newbies !!!
How do you know it was ich free? Were the fish treated in the past? Has everything in the tank been quarantined in the past? If either of these answers is "no", then you can't be positive that your tank was every ich free. Even corals, live rock and inverts can transport ich from a LFS tank to yours.
Raising the temperature slightly (to 80-84) and feeding well and maintaining good water parameters will help, but it will not cure. It may make the ich visibly disappear, but it will still be in your tank. Fish can fight off the visible signs of ich if they are healthy, but the parasite will still remain.
The only sure way to rid your tank of ich is to remove the fish and quarantine them in a separate tank for 6-8 weeks. During this time you can choose to run hypo salinity (usually the safer way) or treat with copper (stresses many fish and some absolutely can not handle copper treatment so research this before choosing this option). While you treat your fish, your reef tank needs to remain fishless, your corals and inverts can remain. If the reef tank remains fishless for 6-8 weeks, the ich parasite will die, as it will have no host (fish) to feed from. This is the only way to rid your tank of ich.
**While copper is a faster method to treat fish with ich, it is very stressful. Faster is no always better. Also, even if your fish are treated in a shorter period of time, the main tank MUST remain without fish for 6-8 weeks for the parasite to die.**
 

new2salt3

Member
Damn, not the answer we wanted to hear. Right now, another tank is not an option for us. Okay...so I raise the temp up...but for how long? How long do we leave it up there?
 

btldreef

Moderator
Sorry :(
Well, here's the reality. Many of us have ich in our tanks and just deal with it, I'm one of them.
I have a 155 reef with a 20G refugium and between the two, I have about 20 or so fish. I know ich is in the tank, but I'm not tearing down this whole reef to catch all these fish. I keep my temperature at 78-79, if they really start to show a lot of ich, I will raise to 81. I try not go go over 79, as my corals perish as a result. Keep your fish WELL fed. I dose vitamins with every meal and use garlic frequently. I'm not completely sold on garlic being great for fish, but it doesn't hurt them either, so why not? If you have tangs, feed more algae and mix up different varieties. I feed all colors (brown, red, purple, green), Ocean Nutrition and Julian Sprung's seem to be the two best brands, at least for my fish. If I switch to plain nori from the grocery store, they pop up with ich again. Well fed fish, with little stress and excellent water parameters usually = fish that can live with ich. Will you see it from time to time? Yes. Will it likely kill your fish if kept under control? No.
I do also have cleaner shrimp and a cleaner wrasse. They can help. There is a lot of controversy in the hobby over whether cleaner wrasses should be kept in the hobby. Many of them starve. I happen to have a specimen that is in a tank with enough "sick" fish and he also eats frozen, so he's fine. If you consider one, make sure you see it eat frozen in the store. Mine has definitely been a huge player in my battle with ich. I'm getting ready to move, and once I do, I will hypo my fish, etc. But right now, setting up a 125+G QT tank is just NOT an option, so this is what I've been doing. It's been my battle for over a year and I have not lost any fish to ich.
On a side note, if you get them healthy enough to battle the ich themselves and you're not seeing it for awhile and it all of a sudden pops up again, start looking around. If they start to show signs of ich, something is up in the tank, either the water isn't where they want it, they're not being fed enough, they're stressed, etc. My sailfin in like a little canary for me, if water parameters are even slightly off or I forgot to feed seaweed that day, spots will start to show up.
 

srfisher17

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by new2salt3 http:///forum/thread/384983/help-with-ick#post_3374428
We are in a 3rd floor apt. We dont have another tank to quarantine. I have been told to raise the temp B4, and I have heard others being told to raise the temp for a short while to get rid of it. I really need more solid input from the pro's !!!
Then do some research. Check Bob Fenner, Goemans, etc. This is a complex issue that is vital for all hobbyists. RAISING TEMP, GARLIC, EASY REEFSAFE CURES, MAGIC BEANS, ETC WILL NOT KILL ICH. ONLY COPPER, QUININE SULFATE, OR HYPO WILL. You cannot get the info you need in a one-on-one forum conversation. This is far too complicated and the easy answer you're looking for doesn't exist. BTW, like BTLDreef was referring ( I assume, I don't tell others what they said), if you didn't see for over a year, you had to bring it in on something. Again, knowing how this parasite spreads is basic, vital info for every SW hobbyist.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=bob+fenner%2C+ich
 

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Srfisher this is not directed at you.
I feel so much better now.
Raising the temp of your tank does NOTHING TO KILL ICK. What it does is speed up its life cycle. This allows it to be exposed to what method you are using to kill it in a faster time frame.
Can you post a pic of the infected fish? How many fish are infected?
Something does not sound right to me
 

srfisher17

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by florida joe http:///forum/thread/384983/help-with-ick#post_3374503
Srfisher this is not directed at you.
I feel so much better now.
Raising the temp of your tank does NOTHING TO KILL ICK. What it does is speed up its life cycle. This allows it to be exposed to what method you are using to kill it in a faster time frame.
Can you post a pic of the infected fish? How many fish are infected?
Something does not sound right to me
Me either. Joe, your post reminds my of the old line about liking to bang your head against the wall because it feels so good when you stop. But it never seems to end.
 

btldreef

Moderator
Just want to clarify: In no way am I saying that the raising of the temperature will cure the ich, but if QT is not an option at the moment, it can help at least shorten the life cycle. IME, raising the temperature can help your fish defend themselves from ich. Will they still have it? Yes, but it's a little help for them combating it. The only true way to cure is copper and hypo, but they can live with ich if it's kept under control, etc. My fish have been doing it for a year waiting for my house to be ready. Once I move, they're getting hypo'd and all the rock/corals/inverts will go in a fishless tank for 8 weeks.
Ich sucks, but many times it's manageable. And you should research it and find out how your tank got infected, so you learn how to not infect your tank again in the future once you can PROPERLY treat them. DO NOT add any more fish to this tank, the stress that the new fish will be under or cause your existing fish to be under will only make things worse.
How many fish are in this tank? What size are they?
 

new2salt3

Member
Sorry it took me a while. I sell cars so I have been kind busy. I have 5 Tangs, 1 Hawkfish, 1 damn damsel. My Wife's damsel. The Tangs are from 3-4 inches and 1 Hippo Tank is 5". He is my treasure fish! I just dont have anymore room for a hospital tank right now in a 3rd floor apt. Sorry...still a newbie...will large water changes help at all?
 

btldreef

Moderator
Larger water changes won't really do anything other than help water quality, but too large can also stress the fish and lead to more issues. Since you're limited, healthy foods soaked in vitamins and a little raise in temperature is all you're really going to be able to do. You might want to invest in a cleaner shrimp or two (or 4), it's really all you can do, watch and wait. :-/
 

srfisher17

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTLDreef http:///forum/thread/384983/help-with-ick#post_3375172
Larger water changes won't really do anything other than help water quality, but too large can also stress the fish and lead to more issues. Since you're limited, healthy foods soaked in vitamins and a little raise in temperature is all you're really going to be able to do. You might want to invest in a cleaner shrimp or two (or 4), it's really all you can do, watch and wait. :-/
IMO, cleaners do nothing for ich. They might get a parasite now and then, but the number of parasites is just to great. Most adult ich parasites are buried under the skin and the shrimp can't get them anyhow. The "white spot" isn't the parasite itself. The hawkfish could easily lunch on the shrimp as well.
 

btldreef

Moderator
I forgot about the hawkfish. I don't think that cleaners do much, but they can be helpful. Nothing that I'm really offering does much, but he needs the help until he can quarantine, at least that's where I'm coming from.
 

srfisher17

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTLDreef http:///forum/thread/384983/help-with-ick#post_3375296
I forgot about the hawkfish. I don't think that cleaners do much, but they can be helpful. Nothing that I'm really offering does much, but he needs the help until he can quarantine, at least that's where I'm coming from.
Yeah, you're right. The right water & food will improve the odds.
 
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