Honest answers please......

[ryebread]

I am wondering about how many folks around here have had great success with keeping ICH out of your tanks.
Who out there that has had a tank set up for over 6 months has been able to keep ICH (where you actually see parasites, fish scratching, etc..) from rearing it's ugly head?
I personally have had two small bouts with ICH and I have been able to control it but, it would have been nice to never come in contact with it. I know that ICH is always present with our fish but, I am more interested in knowing how many people have never had trouble with it flaring up.

 

[dustybottoms]

no trouble here, of course my tank doesnt have a drop of water in it, nor anything living yet What exactly is ICH? Reading the Disease forum, I have to admit I am concerned about it, it is seemingly unavoidable.

 

[bonermeister]

I have been active in the hobby for almost three years, and honestly do not think I have ever lost a fish to ich. I have seen it at local fish stores and avoided those fish, but I don't think I have ever brought it home. I have been very fortunate because I know some that seem to lose fish or entire tanks to the pestilence once or twice a year. Good luck keeping it away from your tanks Rye!

 

[nm reef]

Interesting question...because I've been able to avoid any major ich problems simply by insuring that selected livestock looks healthy and by maintaining stable water chemistry...plus I attempt to limit stress and other factors that could contribute to parasite problems.
My reef has been established for around 30 months and the only sign of ich I've ever seen was shortly after adding my coral beauty about 2 years ago...then again a very small ich outbreak soon after I introduced my hippo tang. Both times the infestation was very small...confined to a single fish...both times increased garlic treatments for a couple of weeks seemed to help. Normally I'll suppliment garlic to my foods once a week. When fish show signs of ich I'll add garlic to a bit of food every other day for a few weeks then cut back to my normal once a week system.
Something must be working about my system...because so far I've not had to deal with a major parasite problem...and I certainly don't want to!
NMREEF website
"Whiskey for my men...beer for my horses."
nmreef@cox.net

 

[phoenixrising]

I've only had one outbreak since setting up and it was last summer after I had added 3 golden butterfly's to my FOWLR. Although all my tanks are plumbed together, only the fish in the FOWLR got it. Tried Kick-Ich and Rally to no avail and would NEVER use it again. Ended up losing one golden butterfly and farmed out the other two. Gold flake got it and recovered in QT using hyposalinity. Queen angel got it and recovered with use of garlic w/o leaving the FOWLR. Purple tang had it something terrible and after 3 seperate dips in Hydro Plex and hyposalinity QT, he finally fully recovered. Coral Beauty never got it and he was in the same tank. All of these fish were quite small at the time.
Lost a huge spaghetti leather in the reef when I added Rally and Kick Ich (this was only after several extensive conversations with the creators of these products who convinced me that it was completely reef safe and would absolutely clear up the problem in no time) to the FOWLR. It is supposed to be reef safe, but my corals sorta closed up and slumped a bit and the spaghetti died. All else fully recovered.

 

[michaeltx]

this time round I havent but when I setup my first tank a couple of years ago I lost everything to it. but since I setup this new tank the 100gallon I havent had any problems with but I also QT my new arrivals which I think is what has helped me out alot.
Mike

 

[nick17]

NM,
What's this adding garlic to your supplements of food?
Is is chopped garlic or liquid?
Maybe I should start doing that when I add fish into my tank. And I was thinking of maybe adding a few drops of Kick-Ich when I introduce a new arrival to the tank to try and prevent it from happening in the first place. Water chemisty is very steady and waiting for some nice lighting to arrive before I add anyhthing.
Thanks,
-Nick

 

[michaeltx]

the garlic is a liquid that is added to foods to saok for a little while before feeding.
also dont add a chemical to a tank without needing it after awhile it can cause problems. the best thing is a Quarenteen tank to make sure the fsh are healthy before adding to a main tank.
I dont know what kick-ich is made out of but most ich medicines are copper based which would kill any chance of inverts in the tank. so be careful when adding chemicals.
Mike

 

[phoenixrising]

Kick-Ich contains NO copper. It would have NEVER been introduced into my tank if it did! Active ingredient is: 5-nitroimidazoles which is supposedely reef safe. My great big spaghetti leather didn't think so though!

 

[searcher]

I don't want to jinx myself, but my tank has been up for 8 months with no ick. I also only have three fish.

 

[michaeltx]

yeah I wasnt sure if it did or not I use copper in a QT tank if I ever need it. I have all the stuff. but to be honest I dont like to add any chemicals to my tank unless its calcium or ph buffer if I can help it.
Mike

 

[nm reef]

Garlic has been reported to stimulate appitite and it also seems to boost immune systems. I use fresh garlic...smash a single section of a clove and soak it in a shot glass of water for a few hours. Then I pour the liquid over the food to be fed to the reef or fish only system. Lots of ways to use it and there are many positive comments around about it being effective for mild cases of ich. It has seemed to work for me...
This is a good article from somebody thats up to date on the technical side of this issue....Garlic use in a Marine System
I also agree that the best preventative action is to use a Quarentine system for all new additions...plus avoid adding water from new additions to your system. Without a doubt hypo-salinity is the best course of action for any severe case of ich...and no copper should ever be used in a reef display. Matter of fact I prefer to avoid any chemical disease treatments...I just fear adding stuff to my system...so I try to avoid the issue thru good husbandry and careful selection/addition.Combined with maintaining a stable/mature/balanced system I've been able to avoid serious disease/parasite p[roblems.
NMREEF website
“Whiskey for my men...beer for my horses.”
nmreef@cox.net

 

[jauringer]

I have had great success, once i slowed down and began learning about compatability between fish. My tank is nine months old and when I first started it i was way too impatient. i lost a yellow tang too ick because i added him too early. i also lost a perc because I had a very large damnsel that just freaked him out all of the time. They were consecutive deaths so just had too step back concentrate on what was really the cause of these outbreaks. since, i have been very careful about what is compatible and keeping my water perameters good. this isn't that case all of the time, but I know that in my case it definatly could have been avoided. i don't think it is completely out of our control.
side note: not that this is a good thing but half the tangs that come in to the LFS have ICH and all they do is feed the crap out them. it's surprising that moslty all of them will recover with access amounts of food.

 

[michaeltx]

I have always used allnatural garlic gelcaps that I split open on the food. didnt know about the cloves I stop splitting those little caps open LOL
<Mike

 

[kittykitty]

I had success with using coppersafe. Got rid of the ich in just a few days.

 

[newreefers]

I am afraid to jinx myself, but I have never had ich. I have had my tanks now for almost 7 years.

 

[ryebread]

Originally posted by jwtrojan44
Rye, you stated that ich is always present in our fish and this actually is not true.
I understand where you are coming from JW. I was thinking more along the lines of cases where you have fish in a tank that don't have ICH and then get too stressed a little ways down the road to then develope ICH. Are the pathogens "created" when the fish is stressed out?
Good discussion so far everyone........my 120g has been set up for around 5 months now and I haven't had any ICH problems. I have finally forced myself to become a faithful QT user and it has prevented everything. Only problem that I have had so far is that I harmed my Flame Angel when I netted him to get him out of the QT.......I won't use nets anymore.

 

[nicky1.8t]

i havent had ich yet and my tank has been going for 6 months

 

[phoenixrising]

I have finally forced myself to become a faithful QT user and it has prevented everything.
Indeed! If I had done this all along, I wouldn't have had the problems last summer. I have done it religiously ever since and have never had another problem. Live and learn...the hard way.

Only problem that I have had so far is that I harmed my Flame Angel when I netted him to get him out of the QT.......I won't use nets anymore.
I gave up nets quite a while ago. I now use the wide blue plastic spatula (to gently herd) and white bucket (to capture) method. Works every time without injury to the fish. The spatula is easier to maneuver in the tank and doesn't get all hung up on live rock like nets will.

 

[firedad720]

QUESTION:
if you don't use a net, how do you transfer a new fish from bag to tank without getting lfs water into your tank. as this, i've been warned, can put problems into your system.
not trying to be a smart a

just want to do whats best for the tank