ick?

[powdertoastman]

ok, now getting a little on the pissed side, we were fixing one of our power heads and noticed little white spots on two of our fish, could it be ick? if so i will be very pissed off, just got everything set up and lookin nice and now this. how do you treat the fish in your tank? is hypo ok for a reef tank? if so how long do i do it for? and will my corols live through it? with how much rock we have in there, it will be VERY hard to get any fish out of there without emptying the tank of all the water too. anyone got any tips or can tell me what to do? TIA

 

[the claw]

Prevention is the best policy. Best bet now would be to QT them and nuke'em, or hope that you can correct what is stressing them in the first place, and hope their immunity snaps it, and the ich dissipates. It will forever be in your tank now, unless you tank extreme steps.

 

[powdertoastman]

i know, but i dont have a QT tank, and if what you say is true, am is my tank going to crash? if so i will be VERY pissed if anything dies now, after i just spent so much money i didnt have to spend in the first place.

 

[j-cal]

ok if ich is anything like it is in freshwater tanks it is ALWAYS found in almost ALL water. Ich manifests itself when a fish's immune system is down typically due to stress, poor water quality etc etc. My guess is that your water parameters are less than perfect to cause this. i've also noticed that you have added multiple corals and at least one fish in a short amount of time. this likely caused some porblem in this water quality. The best cure is hypo. It is NOT safe to do with your whole tank as most of your inverts (corals included) will die. I would concern yourself more with why your tank is stressing your fish. Check params, do a water change and remember to go slow.

 

[the claw]

Do you have any ideas what is stressing your fish? Are they new fish or have they been there? The rest of your system probably won't crash. You may lose your fish, in which case get them out so there is no ammonia spike. Your fish may just as well recover if you fix what is stressing them.

 

[powdertoastman]

well about the only thing that i can tell would stress the fish would be our strawberry psudo., he could be the problem for stress. also, we have a cleaner shrimp and 2 peppermints in there, wont they clean the ick off or at least some of it? and yes, there are alot of spots on 2 of the fish, but so far only 2. we will try a large water change, going to get some water now, hope it helps.

 

[powdertoastman]

i forgot, the other day we tryed to get the strawberry psudo. out of the tank, to do so we had to take almost all the rocks out, and never could catch him, that may have stressed them all out too, because he has spots as well. if they arnt stressed will that help them get over it? also doing a 18 gallon water change tomorrow and another 20g in like 5 days, hope it helps.

 

[col]

Don't bother doing water changes to cure ick, it won't help.
Some ick remedies are reef safe, but many claim they are not very good.

 

[dreeves]

Go to the disease forum and read about the ich...
And prior to getting anymore frustrated (aka "pissed")...think to the precautions you took to prevent the introduction of the parasite to begin with...
I realize this doesn't help you any with your current situation...it is simply a re-inforcer of what one should do in the future...
for what it is worth...I had ich once...never got rid of it...kept killing my fish...when I was first into the hobby...got so frustrated, drained the saltwater...filled with pure from the tap water...rinsed everything in the tank in it, substrate and all...drained again...refilled with tap water again and turned everything on...pumps and everything...let it run like that for about 3 weeks...and started allllll over....
Good luck and learn from your experiences...

 

[ags]

Hyposalinity does not work in a reef tank. Your corals will not survive the lower salinity levels. As for what might be stressing your fish out think water quality as well. A drop in water quality can cause an outbreak of ich.
Doing a water change is helpful if the stressor is in fact poor water quality. I suggest smaller water changes more frequently (ie 10-15% daily or every other day). Large water changes (ie 40, 50%) can cause your tank to cycle. I know you did not mention what your idea of a "large water change" constitutes but I thought I would throw that out there.
I suggest soaking your food in garlic prior to feeding the tank. Garlic is an excellent immune booster and there are even reports it helps fish produce a slime coating, of sorts, which also protects the fish from parasites. Go to the grocery store and buy a fresh garlic clove. Crush it up in some RO/DI water and let it soak. Then when it comes time to feed your tank pour some of the water over the fish food and let it soak for as long as possible. Drain the excess water and feed. You can also buy pure garlic extract from nutrional or fish stores. They can be pretty expensive whereas a fresh garlic clove is like 50 cents. Do not buy anything but pure garlic. Powders or jarred minced varieties contain preservatives that will cause additional problems in your tank.

 

[powdertoastman]

ok, went to the LFS today to get another cleaner shrimp, and was talking to the people there, and one guy said try either a neon goby or a cleaner wrasse, now i know the wrasse would die without enough bad stuff to eat, but he said when the ick is gone, he would take the fish back, although i wouldnt get my money back, the fish would live. so would that take care of or at least help control the ick? also have 2 cleaner shrimp and 2 peppermint shrimp to help, could this get rid of it?

 

[dreeves]

The things you are wanting to do will only control the ich on the fish...you are not treating the condition of the tank...creatures removing the encapsulated parasites from fish are only killing one stage of the parasites life cycle...

 

[col]

The cleaner shrimp and fish will only work if the infected fish will allow them to do their work.
Out of 5 fish I have, only one will allow the cleaners near them. They are not infected with ich so this may be why.
Instead of buying any more stock see if you can get a cheap 2nd hand tank for a Quarantine/hospital tank.

 

[powdertoastman]

i would get a new tank, but i spend every last $$$, i mean EVERY last one, dont even have money for the cleaner fish, just seeing if it would help, about the only think i can do is wait 2 weeks till we have money again and get a tank then, think they can last that long? i hope so

 

[ags]

Powdertoastman,
My suggestion costs maybe $1 or $2 max. It does not require buying another piece of livestock which may or may not increase the bio-load on your tank and thus diminish water quality until the bacteria catches up and does not require going out and buying a QT tank and waiting weeks for it to be cycled. Have a little faith and try the garlic idea out. Shoot if you are skeptical do a search on this board for garlic. You will see that most hobbiest use it with great success. It works better as a preventitive measure no doubt but if the outbreak is in the beginning stages you might be able to subdue it.

 

[powdertoastman]

ok, we have garlic and made some food the other night with it and zoe in it, been feeding it to them, just gotta wait and hope now, thanks for advice