trying to beat ich once and for all.

[trigger40]

my tank has had ich in it sence i can first remember having one. but i have stayed on top of it and never let it get out of hand. but know i want to add some more delicate fish besides triggers and clowns. i have a tang in my 15g qt and i dont want to put it in my tank so it can "survive." i want whats best for my fish so i am gona let my tank fallow for a little over two months. the reason why i havent done this befor is because 1) i did not have a refractometer, but now i do. 2) my qt is not big enough for all my fish. but i got a second qt tank so i now have enough room to let my tank sit empty for two months. so in one tank i have my tang and clown. i am doing hypo in this tank. both of these fish are doing much better. but how ever in my 10g qt where i keep my humu trigger and purple dottyback, i am doing a copper treatment because they are not as sensitive to copper as a tang. but they have been in copper for three days and their condition has gone from maybe a few spots to covered in ich and constantly scratching. i dont get it i thought copper was the more efective treatment. if someone can explane whats going on that would be great. i fallowed the directions exactly as it said but no good results. do yall think i should do hypo in this tank too? any way all my dt has in it is my coral, hermits, and cleaner shrimp. i was gona let the dt sit empty for two months and an extra week to be shure but if you guys think i should do it longer plese let me know. thanks.

 

[flower]

Hi,

I feel your pain...My QT was too small for all of my fish too. 6 to 8 weeks is all the tank needs to be clear of the parasite. I think what is going on in the 10g is that it's too small, and the fish are stressed. Stressed fish are easy targets for the parasite and keep it going. I have never done copper treatment, nor hypo, so I have no advice in that department.

I got ich in my display, the fish that were already in the tank and survived were fine, but as soon as I added a new fish...outbreak! My solution...I quit buying new fish. I figured when the fish I had died off, I would let it sit empty. I gave them (fresh) garlic soaked food, not the store bought garlic stuff, but real garlic, to boost their immune systems. If I did so much as a water change, my little hippo tang would suffer an outbreak, that's when I started using the garlic and got the cleaner shrimp...oh and I upped the temp to 84, the hippo tang was the one getting it all the time, and the warmer water was what made it happy, and a happy fish isn't a stressed fish...it quit getting outbreaks.

I purchased skunk cleaner shrimps who like to feed on the parasites while in the salt spot stage, just to ease their itching and discomfort. To my surprise I didn't loose a single fish for two years. Then I had to move. Moving is stress on all levels, and I expected and braced myself for the outbreak. It never happened, I made the move, and no fish got a spot on them. After a few months I purchased a new fish, and after it was added to the display, it never showed any signs of ich. The parasite was just gone, and I never had it again.

All I can figure is that if the fish are healthy and not stressed, the parasite had nothing to cling to and died off, just like leaving the tank empty. It was all just happy circumstance, I didn't plan for what happened to happen. It's still a mystery, since everyone insists that could not be what happened, some think I never even had it. However they had white salt looking spots, and rubbed on the rock itching themselves, the cleaner shrimp used to take a ride on the sand sifting goby and I watched it dig into the fishes gills to "clean" them, they would spread their gills wide to let him at it...LOL

A stressed fish is just an ich magnet, ease the stress factor and the fish should get well.

 

[mauler]

I'm just curious how did you get the juice out of the garlic? I'm guessing you just bought cloves of it.

 

[beth]

Actually, copper is not more effective then hyposalinity; they are equally effective but hypo is healthier for fish. Copper will take its toll on all fish. Neither treatment is effective while parasites are still attached to the fish. Your fish will bloat up with cysts but once the parasites drop, the copper treatment will take effect. What copper are you using?

 

[jay0705]

my tank has had ich in it sence i can first remember having one. but i have stayed on top of it and never let it get out of hand. but know i want to add some more delicate fish besides triggers and clowns. i have a tang in my 15g qt and i dont want to put it in my tank so it can "survive." i want whats best for my fish so i am gona let my tank fallow for a little over two months. the reason why i havent done this befor is because 1) i did not have a refractometer, but now i do. 2) my qt is not big enough for all my fish. but i got a second qt tank so i now have enough room to let my tank sit empty for two months. so in one tank i have my tang and clown. i am doing hypo in this tank. both of these fish are doing much better. but how ever in my 10g qt where i keep my humu trigger and purple dottyback, i am doing a copper treatment because they are not as sensitive to copper as a tang. but they have been in copper for three days and their condition has gone from maybe a few spots to covered in ich and constantly scratching. i dont get it i thought copper was the more efective treatment. if someone can explane whats going on that would be great. i fallowed the directions exactly as it said but no good results. do yall think i should do hypo in this tank too? any way all my dt has in it is my coral, hermits, and cleaner shrimp. i was gona let the dt sit empty for two months and an extra week to be shure but if you guys think i should do it longer plese let me know. thanks.

Copper is very effective, but has to be used exactly. Empty qt, so u know the excact amount of water. Anything in the tank will displace water.then, add the copper.I used only some fake decore, no sand, rock or anything like that

 

[2014FishKiller]

Copper system did not work for me and I have try all options. And my blue tang still have ACH for three months, my two Maroon Clownfish save him, both of them sit on top the blue tang and ate the Ach from his body in MT, than I feed him the garlic extreme from Kent, now he eating and moving well (get a fake plant will help).

I am doing all three at once, garlic extreme (once a week), copper (three weeks ago - never change water) , and the hypo. All of ach seems to be gone exact one spot.

 

[2014FishKiller]

Copper is very effective, but has to be used exactly. Empty qt, so u know the excact amount of water. Anything in the tank will displace water.then, add the copper.I used only some fake decore, no sand, rock or anything like that

Maybe my mistake, I have sand in the tank when I did the copper.

 

[jay0705]

The sand absorbs it. Yea u need a bare bottom tank for copper

 

[jay0705]

Beth is correct tho hypo or copper do wrk

 

[2014FishKiller]

If you are doing the copper, is it need three weeks after Ach are gone?

 

[jay0705]

Both need about 3 wks after there visible gone.

 

[trigger40]

Actually, copper is not more effective then hyposalinity; they are equally effective but hypo is healthier for fish. Copper will take its toll on all fish. Neither treatment is effective while parasites are still attached to the fish. Your fish will bloat up with cysts but once the parasites drop, the copper treatment will take effect. What copper are you using?

i am using hw-odin-ex.

 

[trigger40]

Hi,

I feel your pain...My QT was too small for all of my fish too. 6 to 8 weeks is all the tank needs to be clear of the parasite. I think what is going on in the 10g is that it's too small, and the fish are stressed. Stressed fish are easy targets for the parasite and keep it going. I have never done copper treatment, nor hypo, so I have no advice in that department.

I got ich in my display, the fish that were already in the tank and survived were fine, but as soon as I added a new fish...outbreak! My solution...I quit buying new fish. I figured when the fish I had died off, I would let it sit empty. I gave them (fresh) garlic soaked food, not the store bought garlic stuff, but real garlic, to boost their immune systems. If I did so much as a water change, my little hippo tang would suffer an outbreak, that's when I started using the garlic and got the cleaner shrimp...oh and I upped the temp to 84, the hippo tang was the one getting it all the time, and the warmer water was what made it happy, and a happy fish isn't a stressed fish...it quit getting outbreaks.

I purchased skunk cleaner shrimps who like to feed on the parasites while in the salt spot stage, just to ease their itching and discomfort. To my surprise I didn't loose a single fish for two years. Then I had to move. Moving is stress on all levels, and I expected and braced myself for the outbreak. It never happened, I made the move, and no fish got a spot on them. After a few months I purchased a new fish, and after it was added to the display, it never showed any signs of ich. The parasite was just gone, and I never had it again.

All I can figure is that if the fish are healthy and not stressed, the parasite had nothing to cling to and died off, just like leaving the tank empty. It was all just happy circumstance, I didn't plan for what happened to happen. It's still a mystery, since everyone insists that could not be what happened, some think I never even had it. However they had white salt looking spots, and rubbed on the rock itching themselves, the cleaner shrimp used to take a ride on the sand sifting goby and I watched it dig into the fishes gills to "clean" them, they would spread their gills wide to let him at it...LOL

A stressed fish is just an ich magnet, ease the stress factor and the fish should get well.

hey flower,

i was planing to do what you did but my fish wont eat anything i soaked in garlic. lol my fish are just weird that way. so the condidtion just never improved. gess im not as lucky as you. but i love my shrimp, he cleans my hand!

 

[trigger40]

the water quality in the 15g qt went a little bad and you could tell from how fast the tang was breathing and it wasnt really moving as much as normal so i did a 50% water change and he got immediate relief. i gess i sould check my water more often. he hasent touched the veggie clip i put in there for him today. but any way some thing very strange just happend as i was typing this. my tang was swimming around and then spazed out all over the tank made a big noise and now it is laying on the ground breathing very fast and having a seizure or something!!! i think it got electrocuted!!!! but its starting to come back but i am very scared.

 

[trigger40]

there is a very notice able red mark on his back now. when it first happend he wasnt even breathig! be he just came back! did my tang just die and come back to life!?!? i am very scared for every fish in there right now.

 

[trigger40]

someone?

 

[mauler]

Is the tang the only one showing these signs?

 

[trigger40]

Is the tang the only one showing these signs?

yep. the clown is fine.

 

[mauler]

Did he run into anything possibly? I would test your water for everything ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, ph, temperature and salinity just to makesure it's all fine

 

[trigger40]

its should be fine i just did a 50% water change a few hours ago. the red mark has disapeared for some reason. when it started he was in the area of my heater and filter. lol i dont think i can trust any of my equipment anymore.