Ich or No

[c_bell]

A few of my fish have small grains of what looks like salt on them. I took my domino damsel out of the tank and did a fresh water dip on him and then put him back in the tank. I have not seen anymore white spots on him since, and this was done about a week and half ago. I took the trigger out and put hime in the hospital tank. he looks better but. I am not sure if the is ich or not it appears to come and go on some fish. Please any info on this will help.

 

[beth]

Ick will appear to "come and go" because of the nature of the parasite's life cycle [there are 3 distinct stages to the growth and development of ick, only one of which can be seen by the ----- eye]. The stage where you see the ick on the fish, lasts several days, then the parasite will drop off the fish and cycle through the first 2 stages [that you don't see]. You will think that the problem is solved, and now your fish are "cured" however, shortly thereafter, the salt-like spots reappears on the fish. The ick will be relentless. Each event when your fish are re-infected the fishes' health is further compromised. Sooner or later the infestation will kill the fish.

 

[c_bell]

Ok so i have ich. Now what??? I have noticed the trigger has been rubbing on the rocks and sand. Should I reduce the salinity should i feed garlic? what usally helps in this case? I have a fish only set up, but i dont want to use copper based med. because I have lots of live rock and want to inverts in the future.

 

[carrie1429]

Usually hyposalinity is an effective treatment for ich. Move all your fish to the hospital tank and do hypo, but wait 4-6 weeks before putting fish back into main tank for the ich to die off. It wouldn't hurt to use garlic but it won't cure ich, garlic is used to prevent ich. Also doing the FW dips are effective sometimes but the ich is still present in your tank so you need to kill the ich parasite or else it will just contaminate the fish again.

 

[seaguru]

Quarantine and patience are the two best routes to keeping beautiful healthy fish for a long time. Suggest you search this forum for Quarantine (and Hyposalinity by H2oski if you plan to use) and read and learn all you can. If you do not put a new arrival in Q first, you chance getting into the situation you are in now... in my opinion I would set up a Q system (purchase rubbermaid type storage containers), pull all the fish out and do Hyposalinity, but ONLY IF YOU HAVE OR PURCHASE A REFRACTOMETER to accurately measure the salinity/SG. Best buy on the net is here $70:
<a href="http://www.***************.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code=REFRACT-PA&Category_Code=Hydrometer" target="_blank">http://www.***************.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code=REFRACT-PA&Category_Code=Hydrometer</a>
... Now if you don't have the time/patience/$$$/inclination to do hypo (which is the least stressful to the fish) then in the Q system use copper with Maricyn2 (I have before with success).
Now, about the bio-filter (which by the way is a MUST if you don't want to loose fish to ammonia/nitrite spikes/levels)... if you want to use some of your already cycled media (bio-balls) from your display set up... just take any bucket and PVC fittings, drill the bucket put fittings in bottom, put the bucket above your container level so you can pipe the water back to the container (gravity feed) and use a pump to get the water from the Q container up to your home-made drip filter. If you want take a plastic drip pan made for plant pots and drill holes in it to make a drip tray in the bucket. I have done this with a 5 gallon Coralife salt bucket (lots of bio-balls!) and have kept many fish simultaneously in Q for months with no problems. It sounds like a lot to do but it is the RIGHT WAY to keep and stock saltwater fish. There is a great product that eases the fears during Q. If you in any way think you may not have a cycled bio-filter to use during Q, I highly recommend using some "bacteria in a bottle". I have used the Tropical Science brand many times with seeming success. You can get it here:
<a href="http://www.**************.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=6&pCatId=4003" target="_blank">http://www.**************.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=6&pCatId=4003</a>
for what I consider a reasonable price considering the cost of your fish (investment).
Just my .02, and best of luck, Joe.