Treating Early Detection of Ich.

[gobyinpeace]

Yesterday I detected a small amount of ich on some of my fish. Both my 10G. tidewater and my 20G. reef are infected (I knew this was inevitable from the begining). Both tanks water parameters are fine (ammonia=0, nitrates=2.0, PH=8.2, Calcium=450). I have been soaking their food in freshly crushed garlic from the beginning.
I added too many iverts and marine life to my QT (now the tidewater tank) to use copper, etc... I also purchased a 2" Skunk Cleaner shrimp for my 20G. reef.
I am also trying a product which came highly recomended by a reef keeper of 20+ years.
The product he recommended is Kent Marine's Rx.P. Its ingrediants are deionized water, natural plant extracts, pepper, stabilized vitamin C, and stabilizers.
My tanks are still very young (6 weeks and 3 weeks) so I am not risking too much in the loss of small inverts and corals (I only have a couple of sand polyps and sun polyps that came with my LR), larger inverts are not supposed to be effected by its use.
I am monitoring my small feather dusters closely for adverse signals. If I discover any adverse reactions I can remove the Rx.P with activated carbon.
My question is: Has anybody used this product (Kent Marine's Rx.P) before?
http://www.kentmarine.com/html/rxp.html
http://www.chem-marin.com/cohenapt2.htm

 

[beth]

The pepper in that product is the only thing that may have some degree of effect on ich. Your best solution is to treat all fish using hyposalinity in a QT, and leaving your infected tanks devoid of fish for a month, while the sick fish are being treated.
Of course, hyposalinity can only be done in invertless environment with no lr.

 

[gobyinpeace]

Kent claims to have a secret natural ingredient as well as the pepper. Like many others before me I was hoping to not have to go through the ordeal of setting up another QT. I will monitor things closely for a few days. If I do not see significant improvement I will take the required measures. I wont have the $$$ for a another QT setup till the end of the week.
Thanks for your input.

 

[gobyinpeace]

I had a 10G. QT to begin with. My problem was I got carried away with it and added too many inverts and such. It was too small anyways.
I will be setting up another QT (20G). tomorrow. I have heard a lot of good results with garlic though but just don't trust it enough as far as reinfection is concerned.
I am very angry with my LFS for pushing the RXP, citing his 20 + years of reef keeping. And how about Kent's claims with 8 tears of development? How can they get away with peddling this crap?
This website was even selling it at one time.
I should have checked here first before buying it.
At least I have some inverts and some developing LR with corals to look at in my display tanks as I go through the whole hypo thing.
Luckily I detected the ich very early as the fish are still quite active and feeding well. My two Gobies are uneffected but will QT them to be sure.

 

[gobyinpeace]

I traded in the Kent RXP potion for a 100W submersable heater and am converting a 25G FW tank to a SW QT tonight.
My LFS guru said the info I was getting on the internet was basically alot of bunk. He also said hypo will kill my fish and did not recommend it. He aslo stated that hypo will not kill the ich.
I did alot of research on my own and am going with the model given on this site and others.
Thanks all for your input and wish me luck.

 

[gobyinpeace]

I have searched the web over and found only one person who claims RXP worked to an extent and that person came from this website. The rest of the internet searchs only yielded bussinesses selling the product. I have read countless articles confirming the effectivness of hyposalinity.
I still have my concerns about hypo though. First of all I simply do not have the $$$ for a refractometer at this time. Second I don't know if I have enough experience with SW to pull it off. Holding things steady might be too much of a challenge for me at this point.
I set up my 25G. QT/HT tank tonight. Are there any other effective options available besides copper and hypo? I talked to someone using GreenX but I am uncertain about that too. I intend to leave my display tanks fallow for 6 weeks. I have plenty of inverts, developing LR, budding corals, coralline algae, feather dusters, and stuff to observe in the meantime. I will be feeding my inverts krill and live brine to keep ammonia levels up for my benificial bacteria. This will also give my tanks some more time to mature nicely.
My fish are holding up OK, still feeding and very active. The ich infections are still in the early stages but its what I can't see that concerns me. I did observe my Skunk Cleaner working over my native caught Goby. I thought this was pretty cool because this particular Goby is a tidepool species never seeing a reef. The Goby even let the shrimp clean around its gills.
I would like to transfer my fish within the next 24 hours. I am doing all the seeding to get the tank started and my new filter media is in my established tanks soaking up benificial bacteria I hope.
Thanks for all your help so far!

 

[gobyinpeace]

Can I take on the hypo without the refractometer? I could calibrate my hydrometer with a small carpenters level.
There sure is not allot of options for me is there?
Can copper be done successfully without permanent damage to my fish?
Thanks for addressing all my NewB questions.

 

[ryebread]

A refractometer is best. Next to that would be a good glass hydrometer........the plastic swingarm type are not very accurate. If you can't get ahold of a Refracto, get a good glass hydrometer.
BTW- I have seen refractometers around the web for about $35-$60 lately.......they have come down in price tremendously.

 

[irenicus]

Cough... auction site. hack! cough!

 

[gobyinpeace]

I am leaning more towards copper treatment. I know this might be a dissapointment to both Terry and Beth, but think it is the best method for me and my fish right now.
I would like to cycle my QT/HT tank first to make monitoring copper levels more accurate and easier.
Right now FW dips and garlic are keeping the ich infestations in check.
Here are my new 25G. QT/HT Specs:
AquaClear Mini w/two filter sponges.
Penn-Plax X1 air pump w/4" airstone.
2x25w incandescent aquarium light fixture.
Askoll Thermal Compact 100W submersible heater.
14 assorted PVC tubes 2-1/2" dia. on all glass bottom.
Deep blue vinyl background, black paint applied to glass bottom on the outside of the tank.
Glass thermometer.
Here is a pic of my new QT/HT so far:
http://www.millevolte.com/QTank.jpg
If I do decide on going with copper, which med is best?

 

[gobyinpeace]

Just an update on my situation. I placed my baby Burrfish in my QT/HT tank and treated with Copper Power. It is a one dose only product. The little guy is as healthy as ever.
I never had to remove any of my fish from my 20G reef. I have not had any sign of Ich for over a month now. I am still supplementing freshly mashed garlic with all feedings.
Put me on the list of those who have had great success with garlic. **knocks on wood**