Uh oh... I think I got the "ICH"! HELP!

shoresidejake

shoresidejake

Member
My sand is brown and my two clowns are covered in white spots. So what do I do today? I went out and bought a 5 Gallon QT. It's setup and ready to go -- BUT, my problem is -- that my clowns aren't letting me scoop them up. They are simply entirely too fast and are now hiding from me behind my LR. So here's my current plan... let me know what you think (please -- minimal bashing).
I heard that fish can build an immunity to the disease and fight it off. So I'm going out to my LFS tomorrow to pick up a cleaner shrimp, and some garlic to soak their Mysis in before feedings. They eat well and are very active -- not showing any signs of feeling weak or sick... but it's obvious that some kind of stress made them vulnerable to the parasite.
So without taking the fish out and QTing them, what's my next best option? Kick Ich (Reef Safe)? Garlic, Cleaner Shrimp? All of the above? Thank you guys so much... I'm just trying to let nature take it's path and fix my Ich the natural way.
 
woody189

woody189

Member
Originally Posted by shoresidejake
http:///forum/post/3069774
My sand is brown and my two clowns are covered in white spots. So what do I do today? I went out and bought a 5 Gallon QT. It's setup and ready to go -- BUT, my problem is -- that my clowns aren't letting me scoop them up. They are simply entirely too fast and are now hiding from me behind my LR. So here's my current plan... let me know what you think (please -- minimal bashing).
I heard that fish can build an immunity to the disease and fight it off. So I'm going out to my LFS tomorrow to pick up a cleaner shrimp, and some garlic to soak their Mysis in before feedings. They eat well and are very active -- not showing any signs of feeling weak or sick... but it's obvious that some kind of stress made them vulnerable to the parasite.
So without taking the fish out and QTing them, what's my next best option? Kick Ich (Reef Safe)? Garlic, Cleaner Shrimp? All of the above? Thank you guys so much... I'm just trying to let nature take it's path and fix my Ich the natural way.

I luckily have no experience w/ ich (knock on wood). But i'm pretty sure cleaners are useless in helping w/ ich. i think its a myth or something.
Garlic if used properly will boost their immune system which does help them fight off parasites, but you're better off catching them. i think clowns are one of the easiest fish to catch (at least mine are). Just try using 2 nets or build one of those contraptions.
you need to do hypo in a separate tank. Make sure your QT is cycled, and if not, you need to do constant water chagnes so levels don't go crazy.
How do you know it's ich, just because of the spots?? I've seen spots on my fish before and it turned out it was just sand. How long have you seen the spots? I dont' know anything about ich, so you may want to verify it's ich w/ someones else.
and what does the brown sand have to do w/ anythign?
IDK about kick ick, but they say not to use chemicals in your DT. That's what QT's are for.
Any other fish in your DT?
 
gio28

gio28

Active Member
im new to this hobby (so idk if this is accurate) but ill tell you what i would do/have done myself..if what you have is ich.
catching my clowns when they had ich was also hard...it took persistence. remember to stop chasing them after a while because that will stress them out even more. just try your best...idk what else to say...you might be able to put food at the top of your tank and scoop them out when they are at the top (thats how i caught mine once before)...if you use a net is a stressful experience for fish.
i didnt have a quarantine tank so i did freshwater dips for no more than a min or so...with the addition of formalin 3...but since you have a quarantine tank id just dose it with the formalin.
cleaner shrimp like woody said are kinda a myth...they clean dead tissue of fish i think...but def not ich...and garlic will boost their immune system, just soak their food with it.
my chromis also had ich and i didnt do a thing and then the ich just disappeared one day.
dont put any ich treatment into the main tank if u have a reef...the best thing to do even though you cant catch your fish would be to quarantine them.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
Cleaners actually do pick ich off of fish, not just the dead skin. This is the function of these guys in the wild... to help remove fish of parasites. But they cannot get rid of ich or do a whole lot of good with a full blown outbreak. They are more for keeping small numbers in check. Also, ich can bury themselves far enough into the skin to be "unreachable" for cleaners.
 
shoresidejake

shoresidejake

Member
Okay today I went out and spent some money to hopefully put this case of Ich behind me.
After watching this video series (7 videos) on Kick-Ich - http://www.youtube.com/view_play_lis...query=kick+ich I figured I'd give it a try. It's reef safe & invertebrate safe. My LFS had one bottle left at $29. I also picked up a $16 bottle of Kent's Garlic Extreme & a large cleaner shrimp (for good measures).
I already fed my fish a feeding of garlic soaked Mysis and they gobbled it right up. I also dosed 2.0 oz of Kick-Ich -- after disconnecting my skimmer and removing the charcoal from my canister filter. What's even better is I noticed my larger False Percula has even less spots on it than it did yesterday. I'll keep you guys updated and thanks.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
Originally Posted by shoresidejake
http:///forum/post/3070179
What's even better is I noticed my larger False Percula has even less spots on it than it did yesterday. I'll keep you guys updated and thanks.
The spots dropping off is part of the cycle, unfortunately.The spots will be back and they are bringing some new friends.
 
shoresidejake

shoresidejake

Member
Even if I keep the stress down in my fish? I thought the Ich was attracted to the fish from too much stress? They are eating well and I heard that the garlic in their diet will help them become immune to such parasites?
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by shoresidejake
http:///forum/post/3070299
Even if I keep the stress down in my fish? I thought the Ich was attracted to the fish from too much stress? They are eating well and I heard that the garlic in their diet will help them become immune to such parasites?
please read Beths thread on ick
 
P

pelagic

Guest
Originally Posted by shoresidejake
http:///forum/post/3070179
Okay today I went out and spent some money to hopefully put this case of Ich behind me.
After watching this video series (7 videos) on Kick-Ich - http://www.youtube.com/view_play_lis...query=kick+ich I figured I'd give it a try. It's reef safe & invertebrate safe. My LFS had one bottle left at $29. I also picked up a $16 bottle of Kent's Garlic Extreme & a large cleaner shrimp (for good measures).
I already fed my fish a feeding of garlic soaked Mysis and they gobbled it right up. I also dosed 2.0 oz of Kick-Ich -- after disconnecting my skimmer and removing the charcoal from my canister filter. What's even better is I noticed my larger False Percula has even less spots on it than it did yesterday. I'll keep you guys updated and thanks.
i bought kick ich, that is garbage, i shouldn't add any unwanted chemicals to my DT. Put them in a QT and use CopperSafe from Mardel, i put them in half dosis of this med and it worked super fast.
 
shoresidejake

shoresidejake

Member
I got a chance to read the post thanks. But my problem is definitely getting a hold of the fish since they love to run and hide.
But GOOD NEWS! I've been dosing 3 drops of Garlic directly to my water daily, been feeding garlic soaked frozen food and dosing Kick-Ich every three days... just two doses in and THE ICH IS GONE! No cloudy eyes, no spots, great appetite and all my livestock looks so happy! I'm excited that this ICH fiasco is behind me now! :) I'm going to continue with the garlic and kick-ich dosage at least for another week or so for safety measures. Also, my shrimp LOVES to clean the clowns, lol.
Thanks for everyone's help!
 
jordan3548

jordan3548

Member
Man mine come right up to me when I stick my hand in lol. The few times I've moved them for various reasons I catch them by hand Its not hard you can do it. Just put your hand on the tank on the bottom in one corner get them over there and slowly lift your hand up and youll get them
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
I highly doubt you have this behind you... ich can live in a tank for 6-8 weeks without a host fish... it might be in a cycle where it isn't visible.
I'm just curious as you said... "i have brown sand and my two clowns are covered in ich"
What are your water parameters? Ich is a parasite and were introduced somehow -- but still makes me wonder what your water parameters are like (although perfect parameters doesn't keep ich away either).
I wish you the best but I don't think you've seen the last of it unless the fish themselves have the immune system to keep it at bay.
Kick-ich IMO as well is garbage but thats my .02
 
king kole

king kole

Member
i used to go to bio reef as well until they insisted during one visit that kick ich was a cure for ich and garlic would also cure it. they also said they run copper in most of their tanks to avoid selling fish with ich
that said they have a very impressive selection of livestock!
 
mantisman51

mantisman51

Active Member
I've used the garlic/ceyenne products and they do seem to help the stamina of the fish, but they are a waste of money to treat the ******(marine ich). Use copper. Hypo is ok, but... Anyway, copper works everytime and I think it is great that an LFS copper treats all fish. It is like a jump start on QT and can help get rid of ich, before the customers buy them. Is your QT cycled? If not, that is a disaster in the making.
 
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