Ich in my tank and I don't know what to do?

[confusedfishy]

Okay-I bought a show tank from a store. Everything has been running beautifully until last week. Then, ich happened. I only have a few fish presenting problems. It is a reef tank. My local fish store told me that if I turned the temperature up to 82 that it would make it go away without using medication. Is this true, high enough, what temperature kills coral and fish? I know not to use the copper based medication. I have been trying to research on this site what to do. There is alot of short cut words and I just don't know what they all mean...? Hypo seems to be recommended but I don't know what that is or what at all to do...I really want to help my fish and am willing to do whatever I need to do. I do not want my entire tank to crash or be unusable. Please---any help would be great!!!!
Thank you!!!!!

 

[al mc]

You will not be able to safely increase the temperaturte to a point it would kill marine Ich without crashing your tank. Temperature elevation is used in fresh water applications.
there is an excellent thread in the files at the top of the 'Disease' forum written by Beth that gives you all the basics of treatment. Take some time to read it and post any questions. there are many people that can help you through this.

 

[sepulatian]

Raising the temperature would not kill the parasites anyway, it just speeds up the life cycle. How many fish are in the reef and what are they? Do you have a quarantine tank?

 

[confusedfishy]

My tank is 92g, new to us but very established. We have a black clown, engineer goby, flame hawkfish, colt tang, and a powder brown tang. The powder brown tang presented with spots first (Tuesday). We are going to set up a QT tank tonight and tomorrow that is 29g. We have had a 5g until now for emergencies for another smaller tank we have (65g), but obviously that just won't do for this. We are going to use water from the other established tank we have that seems to be okay. The only problem is that we have no store with the special hydrometer that we need (referenced in Beth's disease thread) to do the hypo technique.
I know that the 29g is small for those fish but not sure what to do otherwise, because we have alot of live rock and sand in the tank that is very much set up, you know the kind of set up that takes many pain staking hours and even arguments on how to get there. I will say this though, we will always QT our fish from this point on.

 

[al mc]

You will need a refractometer if you want to do hyposalinity correctly. they can be found at numerous online sites, including swf.com. One other thought though......How many corals and other inverts do you have? Reason: If few present you could remove them to a rubbermade tub with powerhead, heater and light and do hyposalinity on the DT. This will result in a die off of some
of the smaller inverts (pods, etc.) that may result in a (hopefully) slight ammonia spike. Just a thought as you feel the QT may be on the small side for all those fish.

 

[sepulatian]

No, I would not hypo in the display. This is an established reef. There is a lot to lose, even if the corals and rock are moved. How big are the fish?

 

[confusedfishy]

We have set the QT tank up, stand and water. We are using the established water from our other tank that is okay. We found some "plastic rocks" so the fish will feel more at ease. The two tangs are about 3 inches a piece, hawkfish is about 2 inches, clown is about 3 inches, and the engineer goby (only seen once ever!) is about 2 inches, the smallest I've seen in the stores. Getting the right tools to do the hypo is the hardest problem to overcome in a timely fashion. I feel like every moment we are in worse shape. Right now the fish seem okay.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by confusedfishy
http:///forum/post/2532556
We have set the QT tank up, stand and water. We are using the established water from our other tank that is okay. We found some "plastic rocks" so the fish will feel more at ease. The two tangs are about 3 inches a piece, hawkfish is about 2 inches, clown is about 3 inches, and the engineer goby (only seen once ever!) is about 2 inches, the smallest I've seen in the stores. Getting the right tools to do the hypo is the hardest problem to overcome in a timely fashion. I feel like every moment we are in worse shape. Right now the fish seem okay.
Add fresh garlic to their foods. Use the filter pads out of one of the tanks. It will add more biological filtration. Do you have a refractometer? If you have to wait a few days for one then add some live rock to the qt. It will have to be removed before you put the fish in, but some of the biological bacteria will move to the other surfaces in the tank.

 

[mikegray]

i dont think the temperature thing is true. my tank runs like 85 with MH and stuff on... my hippo still has ich lol im gonna try to soak the seaweed sheet in garlic cloves and start soaking formula one and brine in garlic. i have this med but it doesnt seem to be doing anything so ima just finish the bottle and stop using it.. its called no ich or something but im just hoping for the best lol

 

[confusedfishy]

I feed some of the fish frozen mysis shrimp and the tangs nori (although I have just started that) - how do I add the garlic to those? I have a hydrometer by Instant Ocean that goes all the way down to 1.000, would that work okay since it will take a few days for me to receive the other by mail? I don't mind ordering one SWF.com but I am concerned about the fish waiting...what do you think?

 

[al mc]

Crush fresh garlic cloves and put the juice in a container with the frozen mysis. It will absorb some while/when it melts. Sheets can be briefly soaked in the juice as well.
It makes most sense to me to wait till you get the refractometer in hand before starting the hypo. Hydrometers in the swf hobby trade are not accurate enough IMO to be safe to use for hypo.

 

[confusedfishy]

okay-so we are going crazy trying to find a refractometer. We couldn't find it on SWF.com or any other stores in the USA. We can only find in stores on ---- in other countries. Do you know of any good places to buy from?

 

[al mc]

If swf.com does not have one you may want to try the 'two doctors' site or google the words 'depot' and 'marine'. Maybe not in that exact order.

Sorry swf.com...not trying to cause problems..just trying to help this person!

cost should be 35-45 range, depending on if they are on sale.

 

[al mc]

I just googled 'refractometer for salt water' and several well known sites came up.

 

[confusedfishy]

We found one! It is supposed to be delivered on Wednesday. I will be praying for the fish until then. They are all swimming and eating just like always but the powder brown seems nervous and jumpy.-Swimming quickly around the tank all evening.

 

[al mc]

I am happy for you. You may want to edit your note and remove the name of a competitor for our host, swf.com, before one of the mods does it for you.

I believe it is safer to wait for the refractometer than to blindly start the hypo
process. During this time make up lots of RODI water, if you have the equipment to do so. If not, prepare water of similar pH and temp to have ready to begin the hypo process. You would like to get from 1.026 to 1.009
over a period of 48 hours.

 

[confusedfishy]

Yes, we can make the water here, thank goodness. Our water salinity is currently at 1.022 should I be raising it to 1.026 to begin or just start where we are?
I am going to get the garlic and begin that process this afternoon too.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by confusedfishy
http:///forum/post/2534355
Yes, we can make the water here, thank goodness. Our water salinity is currently at 1.022 should I be raising it to 1.026 to begin or just start where we are?
I am going to get the garlic and begin that process this afternoon too.
You can start from where you are. As Al mentioned, during the hypo process the ph is likely to drop. Salt water mixes have a buffer already in them. There will be less salt in the water so you may have to compensate with a buffer. Test the PH of your RO water and buffer it ahead of time if needed.

 

[confusedfishy]

okay-just to be sure about the ph-it is supposed to remain the same throughout despite the salinity changes-correct?

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by confusedfishy
http:///forum/post/2534997
okay-just to be sure about the ph-it is supposed to remain the same throughout despite the salinity changes-correct?
Correct. It can drop slightly without much trouble, just not lower than 7.8. As long as it is not all at once, the fish will be fine. A lower PH is better if there is any ammonia in the tank.