Ich in a reef tank advice

[bcournoyer5]

Hello all,

So, I added an engineer goby and 2 chromis to my 125g reef tank, and of course i have an ich breakout. Now I’ve had ich in the past, and fish would sometimes have a spot or two, and it would be gone in a few days. Now, I’ve lost my powder blue, and my sailfin Tang isn’t getting any better. However, my Hippo and purple tang have recovered. Is there any secret remedy that someone has in order to help these fish recover while keeping them in the tank? I do not have the money nor the resources to move all these fish into other tanks. Any food? Any light? Any anything? Hope everyone had a great week.

 

[LiveWire]

IMO if you are unable to move them to a QT then you are basically crossing your fingers and hoping for the best. In the past I used a product called No Ich made by Fish Vet that was reef safe and worked well. But recently I used it again and my corals did not survive so my way from here forward will also be to have a QT system. It does not have to be a crazy expensive QT just something that you can use when you need it and then take it down and store it when you don't.

 

[Rover]

Fat fish are healthy fish... If you are not going to remove fish to treat them properly and run the tank fallow, then make sure they eat and do your best to reduce stress.

There are many conversations about 'ich management' versus ich prevention, and the general thrust of it is try to keep the fish happy and healthy because a stressed fish has a weakened immune system.

Any fish you ever introduce going forwards is going to likely fall victim to a severe ich outbreak on introduction, which may snowball to a resurgence in your other fish.

 

[ngoodermuth]

No reef-safe medications to treat it.

You can attempt management, with the understanding that after the current fish have fought off the initial outbreak...each new addition after them could potentially trigger a flare-up or possible loss of the new fish and old.

UV filtration is s commonly-recommended management tool. You have to add a ball gate to control the flow going in... you need it as slow as possible.

Also, nutrition. Feeding high-quality frozen, veggies (nori/algae), live worms and baby brine, frozen fresh clam, etc. Using vita-chem, zoecon, etc with frozen mixtures. Anything to bolster the fish’s immune system from the inside out.

The possibility of filter-feeders contributing to success has been brought up, so keeping photosynthetic gorgonians, etc could be useful.

If a fish is particularly covered, a 5-minute freshwater dip might provide temporary relief.

Keeping turbulent flow in the tank, vacuuming substrate daily, increased tank aeration, and using filter socks/changed out daily, can also be helpful.

Otherwise, if you would prefer to be rid of it, you’d have to remove the fish for treatment and allow the main tank fallow for 76 days.

 

[Jen Thompson]

If you have a ich outbreak in your dt how can you get rid of it without hurting the corals that are already growing after removing the fishes to the qt

 

[Mariette]

Medic by Polyplab is advertised as a reef safe cure for ick. It is not. There are mixed reviews about it actually being reef safe. Some report bleached corals. I used It in FOWLR tank and it suppressed the ick but came back when I stopped dosing. It also bleached some of my live rock. Can buy time at best. Give the Max dose. When I wrote to Polyplab, they advised me to double the max dose. By then, I pulled fish and went the copper route. IT DOES NOT CURE ICK but it can buy you time. Maybe with proper nutrition you can strengthen the fish’ Immune system so they can fight it off? If you can’t pull the fish and treat w copper, it’s at least something.

Adding a UV sterilizer can also HELP keep parasites in check. Again, not a cure but something.

 

[Snitch]

There are no reef safe cures for ich. There are no miracle cures, no super foods, no equipment that will help you right now. If you can't catch and treat the fish, then like it was said above, your best bet is to cross your fingers and hope for the best. Even the fish that appear to have fought it off haven't, they've probably dropped off to multiply to start all over. Unless you remove every single fish and go fallow, you will always have it present in your system.

Sorry to sound heartless and be blunt about it, but it's the truth.

 

[Paul Sands]

If you have a ich outbreak in your dt how can you get rid of it without hurting the corals that are already growing after removing the fishes to the qt

Massive edit I misunderstood your question : 76 day fallow period without any fish in the DT

 

[Mariette]

Massive edit I misunderstood your question : 76 day fallow period without any fish in the DT

+ 1
Also, have a look at this terrifying article

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/why-a-fallow-period-will-sometimes-fail.536167/#post-5546152

 

[LAReefer4Life]

Fallow is the only way to eradicate parasite but if you're choosing ich management this is a good thread to read.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ich-eradication-vs-ich-management.188775/

 

[Therainbowreefer]

There is a natural product I used for 3 weeks. No fish loss and corals handled it fine. It stinks to high heaven — i had to shut down my skimmer. Kordon Ich Attack was the product. I’ve not had any issues since and it’s been about 2 months.