The real deal with ICH

l8nitebly

l8nitebly

New Member
Ive already lost a few fish........The ones that have it now are my:
Flame Angel
Dogface Puffer
Tang(s)
Clown(s)
I really want to save them. I just started this tank (and hobby) and am not sure what to do.....I have heard a variety of stories, but what REALLY works? Please help. :help:
 
mavgi

mavgi

Member
if you have ich what realy work it's hypo treatment.
and the main things to check always the water parameter.
 
clown123

clown123

Active Member
well if u dont have lr or live sand or inverts get copper that works good then u get the pad to take the copper out if u wana ad inverts try to put ur temp up a degree or two.
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Hyposalinity is the best treatment. Please take a min and read the post on Ich in the FAQ Thread at the top of this forum. The procedure is also detailed in that thread.
 
peter1215

peter1215

Member
if one cannot use the hyposalinty method , is copper the next best thing for a fowlr? obviously i would take out the lr and treat the tank with fish only. years ago i use to use something called cupramine and worked well.
 
scubadoo

scubadoo

Active Member
Originally Posted by peter1215
if one cannot use the hyposalinty method , is copper the next best thing for a fowlr? obviously i would take out the lr and treat the tank with fish only. years ago i use to use something called cupramine and worked well.
No, many marine fish do not react favorably once exposed to copper. it can cause damage to internal organs and some fish simply will die from exposure...either short or long-term.
It is also harmful to yourbiological filter and you may be unable to introduce inverts to the system in the future.
A closed maine system is a delicate balance between many variables. Additiives such as copper will only cause problems with this delicate balance.
 
scubadoo

scubadoo

Active Member
All your live rock and substrate will adsorb the copper and slowly realese it back into the system. It takes MONTHS of water changes and constantly running copper removal media and you still may be unable to introduce inverts.
 
l8nitebly

l8nitebly

New Member
Originally Posted by L8NITEBLY
Ive already lost a few fish........The ones that have it now are my:
Flame Angel
Dogface Puffer
Tang(s)
Clown(s)
I really want to save them. I just started this tank (and hobby) and am not sure what to do.....I have heard a variety of stories, but what REALLY works? Please help. :help:
OK - Here is the WHOLE story. Maybe with all the variables understood someone can tell me exactly what to do.
I have called a few different shops and asked a few differt "experts" and gotten nothing but conflicting stories.
I adopted this tank (150 glns) about 3 months ago. It was originally a reef tank but the owner gave up and handed it down to me. I went the Fish only route and kept the live rock. Now, to me (the beginner) the rock was nothing more than decoration. I have come to find out it is an important balance in the tank?
I am told if I use copper, it is effective but will kill the live rock and "crash" my tank and I will innevitabley loose my fish anyways. Is this true?
Can I use the copper, "kill" the live rock, save my fish and then move on to a fish only tank with the rock nothing but decoration and not throw off the cycle of the tank?
The ich is getting very bad and a couple of my favorite fish seem to be suffering quite a bit.
I am inbetween maintanence people and water changes, ect are difficult at this time.
 
unleashed

unleashed

Active Member
for my aggressive tank I prefer to use coppersafe I kep live rock in that tank and it doesnt seam to have any major effect appearance wise on the LR at all.if you have no inverts in this tank such as snails, stars,ect.I found it to be quite effective in ridding my fish and tank of ich.the main difference with coppersafe than other copper treatment is its a one time dose last for 30 days in your tank.the effectivenes is not effected by the use of carbons there for you keep your media going.its inexpencive cost me 8 bucks to treat 125 gal tank.my spiney boxfish puffer and my large vol lion stopped eating due to ich after 3 days in the coppersafe the eyes are clear spots dissapearing and both fish are eating like normal now I had to dose this tank about 9 months ago after adding a large grouper to my tank.the tank was safe for my inverts after 4 months.this medication is not only labled as a cure for ich but also as a preventative for non invert aquariums. each time i have used this product i had no deaths other than a couple missed snails and a starfish
 
l8nitebly

l8nitebly

New Member
Originally Posted by unleashed
for my aggressive tank I prefer to use coppersafe I kep live rock in that tank and it doesnt seam to have any major effect appearance wise on the LR at all.if you have no inverts in this tank such as snails, stars,ect.I found it to be quite effective in ridding my fish and tank of ich.the main difference with coppersafe than other copper treatment is its a one time dose last for 30 days in your tank.the effectivenes is not effected by the use of carbons there for you keep your media going.its inexpencive cost me 8 bucks to treat 125 gal tank.my spiney boxfish puffer and my large vol lion stopped eating due to ich after 3 days in the coppersafe the eyes are clear spots dissapearing and both fish are eating like normal now I had to dose this tank about 9 months ago after adding a large grouper to my tank.the tank was safe for my inverts after 4 months.this medication is not only labled as a cure for ich but also as a preventative for non invert aquariums. each time i have used this product i had no deaths other than a couple missed snails and a starfish
Im going to try COPPERSAFE today. My tank is at its worst and the worst that can happen will happen sooner than later if I dont try something. Thank you for all your posts. I will up date with the results later.
 
unleashed

unleashed

Active Member
Originally Posted by peter1215
UNLEASHED
Who makes coppersafe?
its made by mardel.... this is sold for fw and sw tanks so its easy to find
 
scubadoo

scubadoo

Active Member
Originally Posted by L8NITEBLY
OK - Here is the WHOLE story. Maybe with all the variables understood someone can tell me exactly what to do.
I have called a few different shops and asked a few differt "experts" and gotten nothing but conflicting stories.
I adopted this tank (150 glns) about 3 months ago. It was originally a reef tank but the owner gave up and handed it down to me. I went the Fish only route and kept the live rock. Now, to me (the beginner) the rock was nothing more than decoration. I have come to find out it is an important balance in the tank?
I am told if I use copper, it is effective but will kill the live rock and "crash" my tank and I will innevitabley loose my fish anyways. Is this true?
Can I use the copper, "kill" the live rock, save my fish and then move on to a fish only tank with the rock nothing but decoration and not throw off the cycle of the tank?
The ich is getting very bad and a couple of my favorite fish seem to be suffering quite a bit.
I am inbetween maintanence people and water changes, ect are difficult at this time.
If you use copper in the display you will harm your biological filtration. You may or may not see a dramtic decrese in water qulaity and another cycle. it is possible for your system to crash if you add copper.
You can treat the display using hyposlinity which is just as effective. it will kill any inverts living in the system...as will copper. With hypo, you do not have the potential side effects that you get with copper.
Copper is like chemotherapy on marine fish. Some will die after a year or so of being exposed while other will die sooner. This will not happen ao all marine animals but copper dioes have negative side effects.
Odds are your fish or system will suffer either long or short term from being exposed to copper.
If you decide to use copper best done outside the display.
Adding snake oils and witches brew to a closed marine system is never a good idea due to the delicate balance the system must maintain.
Best of luck
 
unleashed

unleashed

Active Member
the difference between most copper treatments and coppersafe active ingredient to coppersafe is: chelated copper sulfate its is harmful to inverts without ecto skeleton.and it is a 30 day treatment in one dose.this product is not new on the market its been around for many yrs.if you have the abitly to quorentine your fish and treat then that is best advised but in some case that cant be done for one reason or another this is what I used with good results .if it kills the things in my LR so be it. but at least my expencive fish are still alive and healthy
 
unleashed

unleashed

Active Member
Originally Posted by L8NITEBLY
Im going to try COPPERSAFE today. My tank is at its worst and the worst that can happen will happen sooner than later if I dont try something. Thank you for all your posts. I will up date with the results later.
please make sure your water quality is in good levels before treatment.this is a must as for any treatment you do not have to remove carbon media with coppersafe .this will not change its effectiveness.
 
jacknjill

jacknjill

Active Member
dont use copper. use it in a QT tank if you can. it is impossible to get out of the seams in your tank. it is absorbed and you cant get it out. dont know if this has been said already, but i dont want to read the whole thread.
 
scubadoo

scubadoo

Active Member
Originally Posted by L8NITEBLY
Im going to try COPPERSAFE today. My tank is at its worst and the worst that can happen will happen sooner than later if I dont try something. Thank you for all your posts. I will up date with the results later.
Best of luck...
 
blue oasis

blue oasis

Member
Good morning,
We have done our research as well, and when it comes to the disease ICH, we would recommend what Beth has to say on this topic as she is the expert.
We went out and purchased a 20gal long QT when we first saw signs of ich, we treated the water with copper and raised the temp to 81-82 and after 3 weeks we transfered the residents from one tank to our main tank using the slow drip method.
We have to be honest we had to breakdown our tank and remove all the LR (135lbs) in order to get to all the fish, but feel it was worth saving the fish.
Now when we purchase new fish, we QT them for 3 weeks to make sure that if they came to us with a disease we would treat before it goes into our main tank.
We also have a UV sterlizer 18w Turbo Twist and hope that might add to the battle of treating ICH.
Now for the bad news, we were looking at our tank this morning (as we do every morning) and saw that our Flame Angel shows signs of white spots on his/her back fin, not sure what it is yet, but when I get home will look at it more closley and pray that it is not ich, which means it has returned. If so it looks like we will be breaking down the tank again and starting from square one....please nooooooooo.
N & G
 
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