Ich

[Brad Coughlan]

20gal tank
Royal gramma had ich for past month (no qt), gramma basically almost dead, now pretty certain 2 clowns have ich. Parent's won't let me get a QT to treat. I do have some reef safe treatment but that is pretty much useless (at least from what I heard). If I am going to treat with copper, at best I have a spare heater, air stone and a decent sized plastic container to treat in (EDIT: Pretty sure my dad has an old freshwater tank, only about 6 or 7 gallons though). Fish currently are Royal gramma (covered in ich), 2 clowns (starting to show symptoms) and red fire fish (no symptoms)

Is this the only option? Really panicking right now, lesson learnt, always qt.

EDIT:
This is one of the clowns

This is the gramma (I expect it to be dead tomorrow) Hasn't ate in 2 days, is barely swimming. Sorry for the poor pic, he was in the rock.

 

[MnFish1]

I think you had another thread, correct? Anyway - I would use the small tank - buy an airstone, and treat with copper/prazipro per the protocol at the top of the page. I do not necessarily see brooklynella - which is associated with clowns.

 

[Brad Coughlan]

I think you had another thread, correct? Anyway - I would use the small tank - buy an airstone, and treat with copper/prazipro per the protocol at the top of the page. I do not necessarily see brooklynella - which is associated with clowns.

Yeah I have made a few threads in the past about the gramma, although I abandoned them because I had thought it was not ich, I have obviously been proved wrong it seems

Which copper would you recommend? I will check if copper power is available in the UK, if not what are other good options?

Also since the small tank which I am pretty certain my dad still has stored somewhere, since it is probably only about 6 or 7 gallons is it a sufficient size to treat 4 fish and keep ammonia and nitrite at 0?

 

[reeftankdude]

Try this Kent product that worked for me. It will at least entice the fish to eat if not kill the Ich. They gotta eat. Petco will give you 30 days to return the product.

 

[Brad Coughlan]

Try this Kent product that worked for me. It will at least entice the fish to eat if not kill the Ich. They gotta eat. Petco will give you 30 days to return the product.

I looked into this before, is this a method of ich management?

 

[reeftankdude]

I looked into this before, is this a method of ich management?

It worked for me. Petco will give you 30 days to return.

 

[Brad Coughlan]

It worked for me. Petco will give you 30 days to return.

Alr, I'll check it out, thanks

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Alr, I'll check it out, thanks

I can’t say for sure what the gramma has - the pic is too blue and just not clear enough. The clown does appear to have severe ich. Garlic won’t work in severe cases of ich.
If you can’t get copper, hyposalinity will also work, but the clock is ticking here. It takes a few days for any ich treatment to work and sometimes, the fish are just too far gone.
Here is a thread about hypo:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2024 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[Brad Coughlan]

I can’t say for sure what the gramma has - the pic is too blue and just not clear enough. The clown does appear to have severe ich. Garlic won’t work in severe cases of ich.
If you can’t get copper, hyposalinity will also work, but the clock is ticking here. It takes a few days for any ich treatment to work and sometimes, the fish are just too far gone.
Here is a thread about hypo:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2024 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Oh right, I best hurry then

Gramma just died, took a month to get to the point though

 

[Brad Coughlan]

I can’t say for sure what the gramma has - the pic is too blue and just not clear enough. The clown does appear to have severe ich. Garlic won’t work in severe cases of ich.
If you can’t get copper, hyposalinity will also work, but the clock is ticking here. It takes a few days for any ich treatment to work and sometimes, the fish are just too far gone.
Here is a thread about hypo:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2024 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Gonna set up a QT shortly and run hypo, thanks

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Gonna set up a QT shortly and run hypo, thanks

keep in mind the QT should be cycled or you will do more harm than good.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Gonna set up a QT shortly and run hypo, thanks

+1 - setting up a quarantine tank "on the fly" is difficult. You need to ensure it has an operating bio filter. Can you take bio media from your display? If not, you'll need to buy lots of "bacteria in a bottle" to jump start the process. High ammonia in the water will kill the fish just as fast as the ich will.

Jay

 

[Brad Coughlan]

+1 - setting up a quarantine tank "on the fly" is difficult. You need to ensure it has an operating bio filter. Can you take bio media from your display? If not, you'll need to buy lots of "bacteria in a bottle" to jump start the process. High ammonia in the water will kill the fish just as fast as the ich will.

Jay

Yeah gonna put some sponges from my tank in, is it recomended to test ammonia every day? Any need to test nitrite?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Yeah gonna put some sponges from my tank in, is it recomended to test ammonia every day? Any need to test nitrite?

Yes - test for ammonia every day, keep it under 0.25 ppm if you can, but for sure under 0.50 ppm. Nitrite is actually non-toxic to marine fish (but deadly to freshwater fish). No need to monitor that.

Jay

 

[Brad Coughlan]

Yes - test for ammonia every day, keep it under 0.25 ppm if you can, but for sure under 0.50 ppm. Nitrite is actually non-toxic to marine fish (but deadly to freshwater fish). No need to monitor that.

Jay

Alright
Cheers

 

[Spare time]

I looked into this before, is this a method of ich management?

It does absolutely nothing for ich

 

[Brad Coughlan]

It does absolutely nothing for ich

Alr thanks

Gonna do hyposalinity

 

[Brad Coughlan]

Yes - test for ammonia every day, keep it under 0.25 ppm if you can, but for sure under 0.50 ppm. Nitrite is actually non-toxic to marine fish (but deadly to freshwater fish). No need to monitor that.

Jay

Can I put some rock from my DT in the QT when doing hyposalinity?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Can I put some rock from my DT in the QT when doing hyposalinity?

Yes - that will have a good crop of benefical bacteria and that is important in terms of ammonia control.

Jay

 

[Brad Coughlan]

Yes - that will have a good crop of benefical bacteria and that is important in terms of ammonia control.

Jay

Awesome, purchasing and setting up tank tomorrow, I also have some fritz 35ppt refractometer calibration solution arriving the day after, which is the day the treatment will start.

Thanks