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

[weatherman]

Can CONSTANT water changes....garlic....healthy food...active fish....warm water...etc. 'EVENTUALLY' get rid of all the ich? OR, will it forever be in your tank as long as the tank never gets treated?
I don't know, but would bet that over 75% of all saltwater fish tanks...maybe even coral tanks...have some sort of ich in it. Maybe I'm wrong. IF you're a perfectionist at this, your RIGHT, your tank MAY be perfect.
Thanks for the comments.

 

[jms10256]

If you read most on line fish stores they all discuss the fact that Blue Tangs often have a problem with ich I have tried several times and have given up on them. The only thing I can suggest is to purchase them and put them in a serate tank until you feel comfortable moving them over to the reef tank! I hope this helps.

 

[payton 350]

no no i'm nowhere near a perfectionist......but this is just a simple precaution to take to prevent this....
(Can CONSTANT water changes....garlic....healthy food...active fish....warm water...etc. 'EVENTUALLY' get rid of all the ich? OR, will it forever be in your tank as long as the tank never gets treated?)
no it will help keep your fish healthy but will not prevent it.....the only way it will die in this instance is if it does not host a fish and all the larvae die ....but not likely......
(I don't know, but would bet that over 75% of all saltwater fish tanks...maybe even coral tanks...have some sort of ich in it.)
that may or may not be true...have never seen any numbers on it.....but if its a strictly coral tank there will be no ich in it...and if it does get introduced it will die within 6 weeks....as long as no fish are present

 

[weatherman]

Huge Blue Hippo Tang has done excellent in my tank. He will almost rip in half any type of 'leaf algae' you put on a clip in there! Very aggresive and appears to be happy. He'll actually come right up to your hand thinking that it's feeding time.
Is it a coinsidence, OR is there some validity to the fact the 'bigger' fish are, perhaps, EASIER to care for (disease resistant?) than 'smaller' fish are?
Just wondering.... :notsure:

 

[payton 350]

oh i have no idea about the bigger fish or smaller fish being more easy to care for.....i guess it depends on the makeup of the fish......never really thought about it before....all fish are different ...even ones from the same family
it's amazing how these fish recognize faces .......for anyone that says they only have a 3 sec memory ...ha ....my fish recognize me and they definitely recognize when i have food in my hand.......

 

[bojik]

The baby blues that come in at the LFS I help a bit have ,at least of late, never come in with Ich. A fw dip can help detach the external parasites. BUT it is not recommended for delicate or unhealthy specimens. Works the other way for FW fish too. I have heard a UV unit can help control it a bit, not tried it personally. Good luck with your fish!

 

[weatherman]

I've heard stories about using a UV Sterilizer IN A CORAL TANK. I think I'll stay away from that. Does it actually kill 'beneficial' bacteria? I've heard stores on both sides of the spectrum on this.
Thanks for the comments.

 

[payton 350]

don't know much about the UV but i do know it will kill the ich that is only present in the water, not on the fish or rocks, etc....so it's basically pointless from that perspective.....and then you have to make sure on proper flow to do it, and etc....to me it seems like a big headache and won't solve the original problem anyway.....
just my 2cents

 

[weatherman]

Is it possible to have ich IN THE WATER and NOT ON THE FISH? I know they swim around freely and 'attach' themselves to fish, eventually, but was wondering IF they could be in the tank AND NOT ON THE FISH?
If not, then I guess you're right. A UV Sterilzer WOULD be worthless to get rid of this stuff COMPLETELY.

 

[farnorth]

Weatherman... all of your answers are on the disease forum. (maybe not all but alot of them)
Look at beth's post at the top of the forum about the stages of ich, then do a search for ich and you can read for about two days about it. The only way to kill ich for good is with copper or with hypo. Unfortunately I read and read and read, because I did not want to do hypo, but eventually that is what I had to do.
Good luck!

 

[badoleross]

I am of the belief that ich is always present in your tank and under the right conditions fish will get ich. I understand tangs are a favorite due to there small scales. Regarding kick ick, I have used it in the past with success but it wasn't because I followed the directions. I doses at 110% of the recommended dosage and dosed every other days untill the ich was gone. The was in a 90G with just a few SPS corals. Thinking about it, I am not sure if I have ever had ich on a fish other than a tang.

 

[weatherman]

'Nough said....
I'll stick with what's working for me and go with that.
Reading....reading....and reading will educate you more than you already know about ich, but will not take care of the problem. Thanks for the 'easy' solutions, but with fish in a huge coral reef tank, catching 'all' these guys is a near impossibility without having an avalanche of tumbling rock and corals.....
Thanks for everyones comments....

 

[1journeyman]

This is why many, many hobbyists preach proper QT tanks.
Ich is a parasite with a known, studied life cycle.
You can keep it out of your tank. Hobbyists who practice proper QT techniques run ich-less tanks.
Any medication that targets ich (an invert parasite) may also injure healthy inverts in the tank.
Once ich is in a tank you may not see it. It still is reproducing in the tank. When a new, stressed fish is introduced it's natural immunities are sometimes lowered resulting in noticeable infection.
It's not the new fish's fault, but the hobbyist. There are many things we cannot prevent in this hobby that kill our pets. Ich, however, is not one of them.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by 1journeyman
This is why many, many hobbyists preach proper QT tanks.
Ich is a parasite with a known, studied life cycle.
You can keep it out of your tank. Hobbyists who practice proper QT techniques run ich-less tanks.
Any medication that targets ich (an invert parasite) may also injure healthy inverts in the tank.
Once ich is in a tank you may not see it. It still is reproducing in the tank. When a new, stressed fish is introduced it's natural immunities are sometimes lowered resulting in noticeable infection.
It's not the new fish's fault, but the hobbyist. There are many things we cannot prevent in this hobby that kill our pets. Ich, however, is not one of them.
I 100% agree. If you don't take care of the situation now you are going to be fighting it for the life of your tank.

 

[payton 350]

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally Posted by 1journeyman
This is why many, many hobbyists preach proper QT tanks.
Ich is a parasite with a known, studied life cycle.
You can keep it out of your tank. Hobbyists who practice proper QT techniques run ich-less tanks.
Any medication that targets ich (an invert parasite) may also injure healthy inverts in the tank.
Once ich is in a tank you may not see it. It still is reproducing in the tank. When a new, stressed fish is introduced it's natural immunities are sometimes lowered resulting in noticeable infection.
It's not the new fish's fault, but the hobbyist. There are many things we cannot prevent in this hobby that kill our pets. Ich, however, is not one of them.
You said this perfectly. I totally agree.

 

[hatessushi]

Hyposalinity is the only way to be fairly sure and let your DT sit fishless for 6 weeks.

 

[weatherman]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
I 100% agree. If you don't take care of the situation now you are going to be fighting it for the life of your tank.
I agree. HOWEVER, I'm not 100% convinced you're going to fight it for "the life of your tank." I got it ONLY 1 other time, 8 months ago, and have just NOW seen it reappear with a NEW fish added to the tank. To me, 8 months WITHOUT seeing it is NOT fighting it for the life of the tank.
But, I DO agree that it's in there and will stay there for a long, long time.
Thanks for the help.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by weatherman
I agree. HOWEVER, I'm not 100% convinced you're going to fight it for "the life of your tank." I got it ONLY 1 other time, 8 months ago, and have just NOW seen it reappear with a NEW fish added to the tank. To me, 8 months WITHOUT seeing it is NOT fighting it for the life of the tank.
But, I DO agree that it's in there and will stay there for a long, long time.
Thanks for the help.
What Sep. meant was you're always going to run the risk of it flaring up. You'll fight it today, 8 months later, 6 months after that, etc.

 

[xoxox]

If you do not catch the PB it will kill him and infect the other fish whether you see it on them or not.
I'm fighting it too, but my PB is still alive and QTed.