"ICH" on a fish...IN A CORAL TANK !!

[weatherman]

I have a beautiful 150 gallon reef tank with 1 fish having ich. It's a Power Blue Tang around 7" long and will NOT let me catch him to attempt to cure.
The question is is rather or not I should just leave him alone and see what happens? ALL the other fish are fine. He IS eating and IS active, but the white spots are definately noticeable.
My tank is nearly perfect and I hate to see something like this. I am using Garlic on the food, but am afraid during transport (he may have gotten a 'little' chilled) that he picked this up. Anyway, everything else is great, but just wondering if there is anything I can do?
I know...I know...DO NOT ADD COPPER !!!!!!!!!!!! I've been around long enough to know this.
Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[chadman]

good luck my friend...i am going through the exact same thing...just yesturday we picked up about a six inch powder blue tang...and i feel as though also he may have gotten chilly due to a long time getting home but not sure...but he has ich and i just started using kick ich but i hear that it will not cure hte fish...i am soaking my seaweed in garlic as reccomended by the board....good luck...i will follow your post and post anything that i notice going good or bad...ps kick ich if it does work is reef safe so we will see

 

[jason888]

there is a product called kick ick it has no copper in it i would suggest that it is reef safe to

 

[jmick]

That's tough, they are not a hardy fish and have very high mortality rates in captivity, good luck.

 

[05xrunner]

Kick Ich doesnt really work that well..i tried it before.
Just make sure it eats alot and keep water good..

 

[acrylic51]

Originally Posted by 05xrunner
Kick Ich doesnt really work that well..i tried it before.
Just make sure it eats alot and keep water good..

Agree.

 

[chadman]

so it is possible for a fish to fight ich on its own? even without medicine?

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by chadman
so it is possible for a fish to fight ich on its own? even without medicine?
Yes, but until you remove all of the fish from the tank and allow it to lie "fishless" for 4-6 weeks you will have ich in the tank and it could flare up anytime.
Fish don't get ich from transporting them, chill, etc. Ich is a parasite.

 

[ricks280]

weatherman, if u cant get the fish out than just keep the food going and the water quality up ive had tha same thing with my tank at the early stages i lost fish to ich but i won some battles against it my tangs where covered with it but they kept on feeding and survived the problem is when they stop feeding. hope it works 4 u

(rick)

 

[farnorth]

Same thing happened to me a few months ago with a powder blue and I tried kick ich, garlic, everything. The ich came back stronger and stronger and he finally died. If he is still eating i would get on of the fish traps with the swinging door on it that you can put something like shrimp, nori, garlic etc in and catch every one of your fish, hypo all of them and leave your tank fishless for 6 weeks. It is a pain, but then you won't have to worry about ich anymore as long as you qt everything in the future.
Checkout the disease forum for more info.

 

[tomtoro]

Originally Posted by chadman
so it is possible for a fish to fight ich on its own? even without medicine?
My Hippo has had it 4 times at least in his 6 year life. I've never treated it with chemicals. Lasts about a week or two if it's a bad case.
I think the powder blue and the hippo are ich magnets. I have a reef tank too and while it really never goes away completely, it goes into remission from what I've been told by lfs'. It happens almost everytime I introduce a new fish even if I qt him first. Mine reacts to stress with ich.
There's no way I can catch him with all the LR in the way so I just leave him and pay attention.
Garlic extract soaked food, very good water conditions and low stress have helped mine through his bouts. Also my cleaner shrimp helps him by cutting the zits off and eating 'em. Nice aye?
Good luck,
Tom

 

[nemo's mom]

Try catching your fish at feeding time. Have the net ready before you add the food. It's ususally easy to catch them while they are distracted. Do you have a QT tank?

 

[tankedagain]

quarantine your new fish for at least 1 month or better yet do hypo salinity treatment on them . if you dont you are playing russian roullete and with tangs you will always lose. some fish stores use copper in their tanks and have a 3 week hold on them but most dont . if your tank does have a fish with ich its only a matter of time before you lose all fish . i learned my lesson a long time ago as a newbie and this site has taught me well . nothing but copper and hypo salinity will get rid of ich. the rest is just snake oil , good luck.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by Nemo's Mom
Try catching your fish at feeding time. Have the net ready before you add the food. It's ususally easy to catch them while they are distracted. Do you have a QT tank?
I've caught problematic fish buy putting the food in the net and letting them come for it. Eventually greed overcomes fear of the net.

 

[payton 350]

want to get rid of the ich for good....get yourself a big tub or plastic chest place all of your fish in there and treat them....set it up as a temp QT tank.....wait about 6 weeks and let your DT cycle through the ich stages and kill itself......then reintroduce the fish back into the DT......even if you catch this tang and treat it and cure it and then put him back the ich is still in the tank......even though your other fish are not showing signs does not mean that they don't already have it....eventually your fish are all gonna get it or be fighting it their entire lives .......once all the ich is gone you will never have to worry about it again, unless YOU introduce it by coral or fish again.....

 

[fallnhorse]

Originally Posted by 05xrunner
Kick Ich doesnt really work that well..i tried it before.
Just make sure it eats alot and keep water good..

It does work. You need to turn off your skimmer. It's a bacteria that thrives in a more anaerobic environment. I had to use little more than the recommended dose. Also i had to do a repeat treatment a second time. But it did work.

 

[weatherman]

Interesting.
I have a huge (7") blue hippo tang that HAD ich about 8 months ago. I have done NOTHING to the tank and now the ich is gone. Actually, after about 2 weeks after noticing that he HAD ich, it dissappeared and has never returned. The fish ate well and was very active, but for some 'mysterious' reason, it went away AND HAS NEVER RETURNED. As I said, this was about 7-8 months ago.
NOW, introducing a Power Blue Tang, the ich is back. Was it already in the tank ALL this time?....even though the other fish never caught it? Or was it ON the fish when I purchased it last week? It continues to eat well and is very active AND the other fish show NO signs of any disease.
THE MAIN POINT IN THIS 150 GALLON TANK IS THAT THE CORAL ARE DOING EXCELLENT! I'll send a photo soon.
By the way, the Powder Blue Tang is VERY intellegent. It seems to 'sense' when something is up when I approach the tank 'LOOKING FOR HIM'. Kind of errie when you think about it.
Thanks for everyones comments. I think I MAY ride this out and see what happens.
This 'kick ich' sounds interesting...but am a little nervous putting ANYTHING in a beautiful coral tank that is functioning perfectly. I DO change 10 gallons of water VERY week by the way. Not really sure if this is good, or should I do more? I guess stick to what's working I guess.....

 

[payton 350]

ich will not affect corals...plain and simple......when you see the ich on the fish it is already in it's later stages ....just because you don't see it does not mean it's not there.........Good Luck in whatever road you choose....

right now it doesn't matter whether it was in the tank or on the new fish .,...tank and other fish are all suspected of being infected now

 

[weatherman]

I guess in reality from what you're saying then is that you can have ich in your tank.......FOR YEARS PERHAPS.......and never know it's in there. Even though it's NOT on the fish, from what you're saying, you're NEVER 100% sure that it is NOT in the tank!
How do you know, then, when adding a new fish, that it is NOT on the fish, that maybe some of the ich is in the water that the fish is in that is in the bag? Perhaps it came from the source you got the fish! Yes, I know you shouldn't add THAT water, but obviously 'some' perhaps 'could' get into the tank.

 

[payton 350]

you can guarantee that your tank will never get it.......example...my tank is ich free.....if i add something to the tank say a coral.....Qt that coral for 6 weeks......no treatment just keep it isolated....ich needs a host(a fish) to continue the cycle...corals are not a host...the ich will die in the qt tank because it is not being fed....then add it to the display tank......a fish in QT can be treated before it goes into the dt.....many just leave it there for the 4- 6 wks and make sure it shows no signs of illness, then place into the DT.....so you can almost guarantee no ich ......so it is possible...ich does not just show up because of stress, etc.......it has to be introduced and present first.........
and no do not add water ever from lfs......main reason....copper treated water and other possible no no's....
fish can have it and show no signs until their immune can't handle it anymore...so yes it is possible to have it in the tank for years and never know but eventually your fish is gonna show signs......
hope this helps