A reef safe product that worked to kill ICH.

[Animal Chin]

Had to share.

I brought ich in my tank with a new hippo tang. Yes I know, shocking as my tang is the first to ever get ich but it happened...lol

I controlled the ich with low stress and lots of feeding. He's a big healthy tang so he never got to the huge infestation stage but still, he always had 4 or 5 spots and eventually my other fish started getting a spot or two. I knew this would continue forever if I didn't do something but its a big old reef PACKED full of coral so getting my fish out or treating in tank seemed impossible.

So I tried Polyp Labs Medic. Its a 20 day treatment you add to your sump that is supposed to be reef safe and a treatment for ich. I had my doubts but whatever, I threw caution to the wind and tried it out.

I did the max dosage for 20 days and I'm happy to report that I haven't seen a spec since. It broke the cycle like it said it would and I have no visible ich for the first time since the Hippo joined my group.

Very impressed and would recommend for tanks that aren't in full ich attach and just needing to break the cycle to clear up a minor outbreak.

 

[Empress]

I gotta wonder what Humblefish's opinion is on this product. Their website doesn't say what the active ingredient is.

 

[dragon99]

Active Ingredients: Metronidazole, Peroxide acids.

Apparently it's possible hydrogen peroxide can kill ich
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/1/mini

 

[Humblefish]

I've experimented with metronidazole (but not hydrogen peroxide) for treating both ich & velvet. Metro did nothing for ich, but seemed to slow down the progression of velvet. I feel it didn't work 100% because metro doesn't remain active in the water for very long. So, there were gaps in treatment coverage before I could safely administer the next dosage. Meaning, some of the free swimming dinospores got zapped, but some made it thru (and onto the fish) before I could dose again.

Adding peroxide to the mix is interesting. I wonder if @twilliard has ever mixed metro & peroxide together?

 

[twilliard]

I've experimented with metronidazole (but not hydrogen peroxide) for treating both ich & velvet. Metro did nothing for ich, but seemed to slow down the progression of velvet. I feel it didn't work 100% because metro doesn't remain active in the water for very long. So, there were gaps in treatment coverage before I could safely administer the next dosage. Meaning, some of the free swimming dinospores got zapped, but some made it thru (and onto the fish) before I could dose again.

Adding peroxide to the mix is interesting. I wonder if @twilliard has ever mixed metro & peroxide together?

I haven't directly mixed them during any one treatment but it would be interesting information

 

[gashunk]

Lol it's interesting how so many of us see somethings disease related and go hm what's humble fishes opinion on this

 

[4FordFamily]

What you observed was your fish building a resistance to ich, the medication likely did little or nothing, you now have an ich management tank essentially.

I did it for years but it can catch up to you quickly-- any stress event can cause it to boil over. You are also limited on your fish selections going forward as well, but most fish do fine in ich management tanks.

Not my favorite option but it's an option.

 

[cmcoker]

Wonder if OP would add a freshwater molly to test the waters, so to speak. If it hasnt cleared the tank, the molly will break with it...

 

[Kershaw]

Just wondering if it brakes the cycle wouldn't you have to run it for 76 days?

 

[melypr1985]

I'm wondering what yall mean by "break the cycle". Do you mean break the life cycle of the parasite? If you did that, wouldn't you be eradicating it from the tank? If that's the question, then No I dont think these medications will do that. If you meant that it would lessen the over all amount the parasite, then maybe depending on the medication and it's active ingredients. OR if you meant that it would help build up the immune system of the fish and effectively give them a better chance of fighting off the parasites themselves, then probably yes.

 

[Humblefish]

There is a bit of a flaw with the "molly test" when it comes to ich. Because it can take up to 72 days for all the theronts to be released from their tomonts, you might have to wait awhile for ich to show up on a black molly. Most studies show the bulk of theront release occurs about 2 weeks after initial tomont formation, but then slows to a trickle near the back end of the life cycle.

However, the molly test works great with velvet due to its accelerated life cycle.

 

[Neptune 555]

hmm following! More data please.

 

[twreefer]

add molly in saltwater??

 

[Neptune1707]

Yeah, I've seen Molly's in saltwater tanks...at old LFS when I lived in Bloomington, IL. Wasn't sure why...perhaps the LFS was using at a barometer of sorts. I read an article later that Molly's can be acclimated to saltwater...not sure their lifespan in saltwater. Kinda bizarre if you ask me

Humble Fish gave me good advice early this year when my tank broke with ick after a rookie mistake of not QT some coral I got. All fish out and into QT, DT sat fallow for 77 days. It worked. Ick is gone...but it was also easy to get the fish out because it was fairly new setup. I often wonder what I will do several years down the road if I have an outbreak again. I hope the product mentioned above is a good solve...as I don't want to tear apart a well grown reef tank to get big, medium and small fish out. PAIN IN THE butt!!!!! oh and by the way since then everything has been getting QT and 2 min freshwater dip before anything goes into my DT these days

 

[UncleSalty]

Subscribing.

 

[wrestle1952]

When I first started Reef tanking (1986 remember caulerpa and trays in the wet dry?) I lost a lot of tangs to ich. I started feeding tangs Spectrum pellets and never had the problems again. They seem to dine on the pellets and go into a feeding frenzy. Their claims rang true in my case. I am planning on setting up another reef soon (been out of it for a number of years due to relocation) and will have tangs for algae control and immediately feed them the Spectrum pellets.

 

[Dreadnaught]

Molly's generally come from a Brine environment. They are generally acclimated to fresh water for the hobby but can be acclimated to salt. Do it slow.

 

[jason2459]

Interesting since Metro is broken down by Hydrogen Peroxide and other oxidizing agents like UV and Ozone.

 

[Larry L]

Seems like there are a quite a few people dosing hydrogen peroxide over relatively long periods of time, for things like dino outbreaks. Would be interesting to see if anybody doing that has noticed any new Ich during or after the hydrogen peroxide dosing, or noticed any reduction in existing Ich symptoms. Not sure how long you'd have to dose for it to work, assuming it works...

 

[RoyalGrammaJohn]

Ground ginger!!! Sprinkle ground ginger in your reef tank next time you have ich. Ginger is used in some countries when people have a parasite in there intestinal tract which it cures. I've heard about this awhile ago so I decided to give it it shot and the ich cleared off the fish the next morning completely and I haven't seen it since.