How do you treat ich in a reef tank?

[nicodakat]

What should I do if I have a reef tank full of live rock, corals, and inverts, and now two fish with ick? I got a fish trap and neither will go in it. I got a cleaner wrasse and it did a good job at the beginning but now the ick has spread onto the cleaner wrasse. I am feeding them garlic soaked food to still no avail. If I can't get the fish out into a quarantine tank to do the hyposalinity treatment, what are my options at this point??

 

[floorguy]

some will say this is not right but 4 skunk shrimp did the trick for me not only once but twice. when I first started out and when my wife suprised me and got a clown fish and dumped it right in there, i had 2 (SHRIMP)but they couldnt keep up with it then i got 2 more and they saved my blue hippo who was in bad shape now he is super healthy and happy as are the rest of my fishies. good luck.

 

[thomas712]

Try and get the fish out while they are sleeping.
In my opinion there is no way to treat a reef tank for ick, you need to treat the fish and that means you have to catch them. Some might say use kick ick but it is not really an effective treatment over a tried and true method like hypo.
Thomas

 

[scubadoo]

Originally Posted by Thomas712
Try and get the fish out while they are sleeping.
In my opinion there is no way to treat a reef tank for ick, you need to treat the fish and that means you have to catch them. Some might say use kick ick but it is not really an effective treatment over a tried and true method like hypo.
Thomas
Agreed...and if you think about it...how can Kick Ich or any other snake oil kill ich but leave other inverts alone? It is a BIG SCAM like all the other miracle cures. PLEASE SAVE YOUR MONEY!!!!! The only additive PROVEN to kill parasites is copper...with known cons if used.

 

[triggerfis]

remove the fish treat with copper or hypo,,leave tank fallow for 8 weeks.
you can catch fish easily by draining most of the water into plastic trash containers then fill it back up when done.