Ich/fluke outbreak! NEED HELP!!!

[BDeVaney]

Hello, I have a reef tank about 5 months old. I have been very diligent about doing everything correctly and not cutting corners. All water levels are good and I test regularly. Regular water changes as well. The longest I have gone b/w water changes was 3 weeks but I usually do ~%20 every 2 weeks. I have some coral in the tank along with inverts and a handful of fish. About a month ago I purchased a coral beauty. A few days later I noticed a few white spots so I took it out and brought it to the LFS to check it out. He said it was a very small ich infection and that as long as all of my other fish are well established they will not contract the disease and that it was ok to put the coral beauty back in the tank. His assumption was that it was stressed from the moving from fish store to home tank but that it would go away. It did go away for a few days. Then it came back with a great vengeance. All of my fish have ich; 3 clowns, a tailspot blenny, coral beauty, and the mandarin. I have a Chromis that is showing no signs of sickness because hes a trooper beyond doubt. So every fish is sick besides the Chromis. I tried Prazipro but maybe I used it wrong because they are still sick. Most of these fish are too hard to catch and qt and I dont have an established qt anyways. All of the fish have been eating well which i guess is a good sign but the ich is not going away. I am looking for an effective method to get rid of this ich without having to remove the fish. Unless of course they die. Also, a large concern I have is if worse came to worse and the fish die how can I get rid of the ich in the tank so it doesnt happen in the future? I understand that ich is "always" present in a tank but it must be in a lesser quantity than the amount I have.

 

[M&M]

Do some more research on this topic, Ich is NOT always present in tank, it is a parasite that can be eliminated. Unfortunately to get rid of ich completely is to remove ALL fish from display tank and treat them with copper or hypo, and let tank be fish free for 6-8 weeks. BTW your LFS gave you very wrong advice, I would take my business else. Sorry about your problems.

 

[reefwatcher]

You need to qt them and treat them I have used ich-x when my fish got sick. I used in my mix reef no copper additives so you should be safe.

 

[evolved]

Do some more research on this topic, Ich is NOT always present in tank, it is a parasite that can be eliminated. Unfortunately to get rid of ich completely is to remove ALL fish from display tank and treat them with copper or hypo, and let tank be fish free for 6-8 weeks. BTW your LFS gave you very wrong advice, I would take my business else. Sorry about your problems.

Agree.

Prazi will do nothing for you because it is ineffective against ich. Yes, it works great for flukes and/or internal parasites, but that's not what you're dealing with here. What you describe are classic signs of ich.

 

[evolved]

You need to qt them and treat them I have used ich-x when my fish got sick. I used in my mix reef no copper additives so you should be safe.

Note that ich-x is a formalin-based product. Despite what the label says, it's not something I'd use in a reef.

 

[knights061]

I would recommend feeding with garlic extreme. As long as the fish are eating well and aren't lethargic I wouldn't add any sort of chemical to the tank to get rid of the ich. Quarantine is always the best practice, but I am a very strong believer of NEVER adding any sort of chemical to your DT

 

[evolved]

I would recommend feeding with garlic extreme. As long as the fish are eating well and aren't lethargic I wouldn't add any sort of chemical to the tank to get rid of the ich. Quarantine is always the best practice, but I am a very strong believer of NEVER adding any sort of chemical to your DT

Garlic is only an appetite stimulant. Unfortunately it does nothing more for the health of your fish. Rather, evidence suggests it could cause long-term damage is used regularly.

 

[reefwatcher]

Listen to evolved it looks like he can help you.

 

[Nevil]

Is formalin an effective treatment in a QT? I always thought hyposalinty or cupermine were the only effective treatments for ich.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Hypo or copper treatment are the best killers of Ich. I myself would go with Hypo fist, as it doesnt involve chemicals.

 

[evolved]

Is formalin an effective treatment in a QT? I always thought hyposalinty or cupermine were the only effective treatments for ich.

Yes it is; there are other options as well. Hypo and copper are popular due to ease. Some other treatments require a bit more care/effort.
Note that formalin is best done as a short-term dip (with some additional precautions). It's not a treatment suited for everyone.

 

[Nevil]

Thanks for answering my question evolved

 

[BDeVaney]

Ok so I went to a LFS and the guy there said to try 2 products from Seachem. 1 is "focus" and the other is "metronidazole". He said soak it with food and garlic extract and feed it. It's reef safe and he said it was what he uses in a more serious outbreak. Has anyone ever heard of this stuff? I bought some and used it last night. The directions say I should use it whenever feeding for 3-5 days

 

[evolved]

Again, the only surefire way to treat ich is to remove all the fish and treat them in a hospital tank. The DT then needs to stay fallow for at least 60, but preferably 90, days.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Never heard of either one.

 

[120REEF]

A UV sterilizer would also help you control the ich as well as many other benefits

 

[Freya33]

Ok so I went to a LFS and the guy there said to try 2 products from Seachem. 1 is "focus" and the other is "metronidazole". He said soak it with food and garlic extract and feed it. It's reef safe and he said it was what he uses in a more serious outbreak. Has anyone ever heard of this stuff? I bought some and used it last night. The directions say I should use it whenever feeding for 3-5 days

I bought both of these too and I will tell you they are worthless in my personal opinion! They didn't work for me.

 

[Badspstank]

Hypo treatment is the safest way to go if not use cupramine follow direction. To much garlic will cause problems long term. As long as they are eating they will fight it off all fish have dormant ich

 

[Badspstank]

Run sterilizer after you have done your treatment running it before will not solve your problems as it goes through cycles and it has to run its course.

 

[Deinonych]

Ok so I went to a LFS and the guy there said to try 2 products from Seachem. 1 is "focus" and the other is "metronidazole". He said soak it with food and garlic extract and feed it. It's reef safe and he said it was what he uses in a more serious outbreak. Has anyone ever heard of this stuff? I bought some and used it last night. The directions say I should use it whenever feeding for 3-5 days

Metronidazole is for internal parasites like hexamita. It will not effectively treat ectoparasites like cryptocaryon (ich). Focus is an anti-biotic; it is also ineffective against crypto since crypto is a ciliated protozoan. As others have recommended, a copper-based medication (like Seachem Cupramine), administered in a dedicated hospital tank is your best bet. Just be sure to ramp the dosage slowly over several days (not two days like the label recommends). IME the recommended dosage of 0.5mg/l is too high, and the recommended treatment length of 2 weeks is too short. I prefer to treat at 0.35-0.40mg/l for 4 weeks.