ick

[goughj]

My fish have ick, i have several corals and inverts, what should i do. any advice would be appreciated.
thanks
jacob

 

[almarktool]

put them in a hospital/quarintee tank and do hypo, if u are not familar with this just got to the search page on this BB and type in hypo

 

[ags]

Hospital tank or QT tank is the best method but if you don't have one you could try treating your food with garlic. This does not rid your tank of ich per se but is effective in building your stocks' immune system which in turn helps your fish fight disease and parasites. Some will disagree with the idea it does not rid your tank of ich, me being one of them. I have had two battles with ich and to date have lost only two fish. Go to the grocery store buy a clove of garlic, crush it up as much as possible and let it soak in RO water over night in your frig. Then when you feed your tank let the food soak in some of the garlic juice for 30 min to an hour, drain the juice and feed normally. I keep a container in the fridge and do this everytime I feed my tank while others do it less frequently. Some say doing it once a week is enough but I figure if once a week is good 7 days a week must be better. Very effective for helping treat minor out breaks of ich. Hyposalinity is the only way to completely rid your fish of ich and since you have corals the only way to do this is with a QT tank. Good Luck.

 

[dvk]

What proportion do you use for garlic/water?

 

[ags]

I'm sorry I don't quite understand "what proportion"? I usually get a small container (about the size of a dipping sauce cup) that has a lid and crush as much garlic as I can. Off the top of my head I think the container I use is filled appx. 25% with fresh crush garlic. Concoction gets pretty potent after awhile. Since the container is small I regularly add water to it. When I feed I put enough of the garlic water to cover the food into a dish and place the food in the dish. I use frozen variety pack food (cubes, don't remember the name brand) and sometimes let the food defrost in the juice other times I don't (depends which frig I go to first, garlic is in one food the other). If I have a lot of time I let the food soak as long as possible. Other times the food sits for as little as 15-30 min. I have been toying with the idea of puree'ing my own fish food and using the garlic juice directly in the puree and then freezing but have not gotten around to it. As for concentration of the garlic juice the way I see it the more concentrated the better. Some people swear by garlic supplements because it not only builds their immune system's but will also get the most finicky of fish to eat. If that does not answer your question let me know what you were getting at.

 

[dvk]

Thanks,
I'm trying to say that I did exactly the same thing: get a garlic juice and add water, than put a frozen food in it (30-40 min)...but my fish would not eat it (almost). What I am doing wrong?
110G FO
Amiracle 300
Emperor 280
Hot Magnum 250
UV-18 watt
Berlin Skimmer 250
Yellow Tang
Sebai Clown
Coral Beauty
Koran Angel
Neon Blenny
Blue Fin Blenny

 

[ags]

Don't know but maybe the cube you are feeding is not something that particular fish eat (ie Tangs love vegetable matter, etc). I bought one of those variety packs and grab a different cube everytime I feed although in the beginning I did feed a small piece of all the cubes at once to see which fish ate what. As for the garlic juice sounds like you are doing exactly what I do. How long have your fish gone without eating? Are they new additions? Did they all of a sudden stop or did you bring them home from LFS and they never ate? I have had fish ignore food for over a week but I guess eventually they got hungry enough and eat.

 

[dvk]

Fish eat just fine but once I add garlic they don't touch this stuff. Well, to be exact they eat but not too much. I guess, I have to try different variation of food.
110G FO
Amiracle 300
Emperor 280
Hot Magnum 250
UV-18 watt
Berlin Skimmer 250
Yellow Tang
Sebai Clown
Coral Beauty
Koran Angel
Neon Blenny
Blue Fin Blenny

 

[ags]

sorry to hear it does not work for your fish. This is my first go with a reef and early on I battled ich twice and without a QT tank I was helpless. Lost a royal gramma and queen angel. That is when I joined this message board and learned of garlic. Haven't seen the white spots since. Good Luck.

 

[bigbonedee]

Then are we to believe that if garlic works that it keeps the ich parasite at bay until they die for lack of not an unavailable host but because of an unaproachable one?