Last Resort...

[kamaqazi21]

I think im going to use copper for the ick i have on my fish. I am not willing to do hypo or Qt, i am going to use copper to treat the ick. I am also going to be running carbon. I have lost one fish already to ick; my favorite angel. So im doing this so i dont loose anymore, i know that its not that healthy for fish but right now i need the ick out.

What copper product should i use, please help

 

[robpsca]

Hey Kamaqaz
we used organi cure. it worked along with hypo and temp at 82

 

[aw2]

Why are you unwilling to do hypo?
Why add chemicals to your tank, when you dont need to?

 

[kamaqazi21]

i have lots of live rock, and cannot catch all of my fish mainly the ones with ick. I dont have a Qt tank, so thats why im using copper. Please let me know a good product

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by kamaqazi21
i have lots of live rock, and cannot catch all of my fish mainly the ones with ick. I dont have a Qt tank, so thats why im using copper. Please let me know a good product
Well, Copper WILL kill the good stuffs and the bad stuffs, especially your LR!!! Even with hypo, you can't do it in the main tank either. You have to do it in a QT tank with any meds or hypo. Best not to use copper in your display tank! Another alternative thing you can try is to feed some garlic food, stuffs like formula 2(it has added garlic). This is my experience with it, I kept the temp around 76-77 during treatment so the ich don't progress too fast. I feed the sick fish with formula 2, 3-4 times a day. Depending on my work schedule. Within just a few days, the fish started eating well again and within 2 weeks the ich is completely gone. Since I did so much feeding, I change around 15-20% of my water a week. I have tried it with higher temp before and it doesn't work very well since the ich's process goes faster in higher temp. My fish is still alive and well, he's one fat happy fish!!! I fed nothing but formula 2 during this whole process, he did have some color loss due to insufficient nutrient, I did not feed algae sheet during this whole process, it was for a Naso Tang, I've done it with butterfly too and it works just the same. If you have other food that you feed, get some kent's garlic extract and mix it with the food you have and feed. Good Luck! :happyfish

 

[lion_crazz]

I like the natural method with the garlic but it sounds like you need to act fast.
If you are going to use a medicine, use Stop Parasite by Chem Marin. I have used this before and it have worked the times that I have needed to use it. It is safe for live rock, so it will not kill the bacteria on your rock, unlike copper, which will render your live rock useless. Just make sure to keep an eye on the pH and kH with this medication, as it will drop your pH if you do not have a proper kH. My best suggestion is to pick up a kH test kit, a small thing of Super dKH buffer (just in case it is low) and a bottle of Stop Parasite!

 

[birdy]

Actually you "can" do hypo on a display tank, but you will have to remove all inverts from the tank, and you will more than likely kill most of the small beneficial creatures in your LR and sand. But it would still be preferable to using copper in a tank with LR and inverts. I have done it before and it worked fine, It does not kill all the bacteria off the LR but will reduce it and you may upset the biological filtration for a little while. But like I said I would still do hypo in a display tank before I did copper.

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally Posted by Birdy
Actually you "can" do hypo on a display tank, but you will have to remove all inverts from the tank, and you will more than likely kill most of the small beneficial creatures in your LR and sand. But it would still be preferable to using copper in a tank with LR and inverts. I have done it before and it worked fine, It does not kill all the bacteria off the LR but will reduce it and you may upset the biological filtration for a little while. But like I said I would still do hypo in a display tank before I did copper.
I definitely agree.

 

[angelsrock]

Originally Posted by kamaqazi21
I think im going to use copper for the ick i have on my fish. I am not willing to do hypo or Qt, i am going to use copper to treat the ick. I am also going to be running carbon. I have lost one fish already to ick; my favorite angel. So im doing this so i dont loose anymore, i know that its not that healthy for fish but right now i need the ick out.

What copper product should i use, please help
find kick ich. at least that's reef safe and will get rid of ich if you follow the directions.

 

[lion_crazz]

Yes, but Kick Ich is for free-floating ich, whereas the product I recommended, Stop Parasite! works even if the ich is already attached to the fish's body.
Both products are safe for live rock.

 

[kamaqazi21]

thanks you guys, i was just gettin frustrated with my fish, and i do not want to lose anymore of them, thanks. I am using garlic extreme and all the fish are eating, but the ick looks really bad, so i was concerned. I will also try the stop parasite and stay away from copper. thanks

 

[aw2]

Medications are not a permanent solution to the problem. They may kill the free floating parasites and maybe some on the fish but they wont kill it all.
Once the medication cycle is overwith, the ich will come back.
The easiest thing to do is to take the inverts out of the tank and run hypo on your main display (if it's not a reef tank).
The hypo treatment will kill off some bacteria on the rocks, but not enough to make a difference.

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally Posted by AW2
Medications are not a permanent solution to the problem. They may kill the free floating parasites and maybe some on the fish but they wont kill it all.
Once the medication cycle is overwith, the ich will come back.
The easiest thing to do is to take the inverts out of the tank and run hypo on your main display (if it's not a reef tank).
The hypo treatment will kill off some bacteria on the rocks, but not enough to make a difference.
AW2, you're right, they are not a permanent solution to the problem, but I disagree with what you said that they will just come back. They may come back if the tank's parameters get out of whack or if there is something stressing the fish, but you made it sound like as soon as the medication is over it is going to be back on the fish the next day.
And are you sure the hypo will not make a difference to the live rock? I was looking in my books and I couldn't find any definitive answer. I have never done hypo with live rock left in the tank, so I would not know from personal experience. I know that Beth always tells people to take the live rock out. Maybe she can offer her experience as well.

 

[aw2]

Ich will not come back the next day, no...but it will come back.
Ich has an egg stage that lives in the sand, on the rock, etc. Once the medication cycle is over, the eggs will continue to hatch and the cycle will continue.
Preforming hypo kills all parasites in the water column, on the fish and also those that are in an egg stage.
I have preformed hypo on numerous tanks, numerous times and have never had it severely damage live rock. It will kill corals and inverts and SOME bacteria...but not enough to make a difference, as I said before.
Why add chemicals to a tank, for a temp. sollution, when you can do just a little more work and get rid of it completely?
I run all of my tanks at a salinity of 1.019, just to keep ich away and have had no problems.

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by lion_crazz
I like the natural method with the garlic but it sounds like you need to act fast.
If you are going to use a medicine, use Stop Parasite by Chem Marin. I have used this before and it have worked the times that I have needed to use it. It is safe for live rock, so it will not kill the bacteria on your rock, unlike copper, which will render your live rock useless. Just make sure to keep an eye on the pH and kH with this medication, as it will drop your pH if you do not have a proper kH. My best suggestion is to pick up a kH test kit, a small thing of Super dKH buffer (just in case it is low) and a bottle of Stop Parasite!
Using the garlic method works just fine too even though you need to act fast. My Naso Tang was thin to this bones, impossible to treat him with copper or hypo or any meds. Cause IF I do, he probably would of died on me. He could hardly swim right cause he didn't eat anything, he was very weak! I did the formula 2 treatment and he improved within a few days and ich was completely gone within 2 weeks. He's back to health and got a taste for pods now.....He's very fat and happy!!! :happyfish

 

[exile415]

Originally Posted by lion_crazz
I like the natural method with the garlic but it sounds like you need to act fast.
If you are going to use a medicine, use Stop Parasite by Chem Marin. I have used this before and it have worked the times that I have needed to use it. It is safe for live rock, so it will not kill the bacteria on your rock, unlike copper, which will render your live rock useless. Just make sure to keep an eye on the pH and kH with this medication, as it will drop your pH if you do not have a proper kH. My best suggestion is to pick up a kH test kit, a small thing of Super dKH buffer (just in case it is low) and a bottle of Stop Parasite!
I also like the method of putting garlic in food

 

[1journeyman]

Ich and other diseases are a scourge to our hobby.
The best way to prevent it is to have a QT tank... That's the only sure-fire method of keeping your tank clean.
Medicating your display tank is very dangerous. If you kill your inverts/bacteria you could spike the tank/cause a new cycle... More stress=more dead fish.

 

[usinkit]

iam in the process of using garlic on my coral beauty who has ick. its not getting worse or better. i guess thats better then worse!!

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by usinkit
iam in the process of using garlic on my coral beauty who has ick. its not getting worse or better. i guess thats better then worse!!
It should improve within two weeks if you feed it 3x daily. But it's all individual process. It may not work the same for you as it did for me, but I've used this method numerous times on different types of fish and results with the same time frame. Just be sure to do your weekly water changes if you feed heavily... :happyfish

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally Posted by Mikeyjer
It should improve within two weeks if you feed it 3x daily. But it's all individual process. It may not work the same for you as it did for me, but I've used this method numerous times on different types of fish and results with the same time frame. Just be sure to do your weekly water changes if you feed heavily... :happyfish
I agree that I like the garlic method a lot, probably the best if there is no QT tank available. I was not disagreeing with you at all. I just have not had much success with it when the fish needed a quick boost. I have found that Stop Parasite gives them the boost that they need to start eating. I usually only dose it for 2 days, just enough to get the immune system up and the metabolism quickened. Then I use garlic and I have always had good sucess with garlic.