Ich

[Rothgar]

I'm going to ask this here since there seems to be more experienced people in this group.

I'm just now learning my lesson about not QTing my fish. I just lost my Kole tang to ICH. I have been told that they only way to rid my tank of ICH is to pull every fish out and run with no fish for over 3 months. My question to you is that true or will I be able to keep the fish that are happy and healthy in the tank? I'm trying not to put anymore stress on my fish that is not needed.

Thanks.

-Sean

 

[Mike J.]

All I can say is, read this: Curing Fish of Marine Ich

 

[meintn]

Also look up the transfer method of ridding your fish of ich and quinine sulfate is a copper alternative that I prefer. Your display tank will have to remain fishless for a minimum of 43 days I believe to be 100% sure it's clean.

 

[Rothgar]

Have not seen that one yet! thanks

 

[TrishW]

All I can say is, read this: Curing Fish of Marine Ich

Very informative. At the of the thread someone asked about how he would restore the bacterial filter in the HT/QT tank after the copper had destroyed it. I sure wish someone had answered his question instead of telling him to start a new thread.

 

[shred5]

Once ich is in your tank there really is no way unless you remove your fish, but ich can come in even with a coral or live rock..
The good thing is healthy fish in a mature tank fight of marine ich and eventually become immune to it unless really stressed out or weakend.
The best way to fight ich is give your fish the best conditions possible and some really nutritious food and if they are not eating try garlic in the food because it stimulates appetite.

 

[Rothgar]

Any idea if Coral dips kill ICH?

 

[Senior El Roboto]

Any idea if Coral dips kill ICH?

im not 100%(just 99.9%) on this but i would not use coral dip on my fish

 

[Rothgar]

im not 100%(just 99.9%) on this but i would not use coral dip on my fish

Lol I was not going to coral dip my fish. I'm talking about ICH on corals

 

[Tahoe61]

Any idea if Coral dips kill ICH?

Nope.

Read the link, it will be the best investment in time you can make. If you want to effectively treat the parasite you have to do the research.

 

[mrsaltwatertank]

Very informative. At the of the thread someone asked about how he would restore the bacterial filter in the HT/QT tank after the copper had destroyed it. I sure wish someone had answered his question instead of telling him to start a new thread.

Copper won't destroy the bacterial filter. It will likely slow down the reproduction of bacteria, but it certainly won't destroy it.

 

[Senior El Roboto]

Lol I was not going to coral dip my fish. I'm talking about ICH on corals

k just making sure. you never know sometimes people do crazy stuff.

 

[Dowtish]

You can research this for weeks and weeks. It will eventually make you think, " why the heck am I trying to keep these fish?!"

The ich parasite is vicious once it really sets in on a bunch of stressed out fish. Its one of the worst things to witness.

I really have a hard time believing there is a true way to never introduce it to your tank or really alleviate it either by going "fallow".

I went by the book after having an outbreak and ran my tank almost 12 weeks without fish and QT'd all my new fish for 4 weeks and once they were re introduced back into my DT, a few got ich anyways. I read where some fish can resist a particular strain but still carry it, and that some strains can go dormant for up to 36 weeks. This was beyond frustrating, but all I did instead when it happened again was feed heavily with vitamins and garlic and they all pulled through, One of my tangs had spots off and on for over a year, but no other fish got it. The tang eventually cleared up and havent had an issue since.

 

[mrsaltwatertank]

You can research this for weeks and weeks. It will eventually make you think, " why the heck am I trying to keep these fish?!"

The ich parasite is vicious once it really sets in on a bunch of stressed out fish. Its one of the worst things to witness.

I really have a hard time believing there is a true way to never introduce it to your tank or really alleviate it either by going "fallow".

I went by the book after having an outbreak and ran my tank almost 12 weeks without fish and QT'd all my new fish for 4 weeks and once they were re introduced back into my DT, a few got ich anyways. I read where some fish can resist a particular strain but still carry it, and that some strains can go dormant for up to 36 weeks. This was beyond frustrating, but all I did instead when it happened again was feed heavily with vitamins and garlic and they all pulled through, One of my tangs had spots off and on for over a year, but no other fish got it. The tang eventually cleared up and havent had an issue since.

The studies show that fish can develop resistance to the disease (ich) yet still carry it and NEVER show any signs of infection. It isn't a "strain" thing, its the disease itself.

In your case, sounds like the ich is in the tank and the fish have either developed immunity or they fight it off enough that you never see it. Keep in mind ich can be on their gills and not their bodies so while you won't see it, it is still there.

As far as the "not introducing it part", Steven Pro and I talked about this in our quarantine and disease treatment book. If you start a tank with dry rock and dry sand, then properly prophylactically treat the fish with copper, there can be no ich in the tank. The only way it would get in is if a copper-resitant strain developed AND your fish had it. Both unlikely events.

 

[TrishW]

Copper won't destroy the bacterial filter. It will likely slow down the reproduction of bacteria, but it certainly won't destroy it.

I read on several threads that it would kill the bacteria along with the parasite, including one thread that lee (the person who posted the linked thread above) responded to so I thought that it indeed did kill the bacteria. I had the link to that thread but then accidentally closed the window and now I can't find it again. It sure would be nice if all the answers to the ich question were in one thread, lol. Better yet, a quick easy cure that really worked.

Following along for learning purposes. Oh, and hoping that someone answers the coral dip and coral QT question.

I

 

[mrsaltwatertank]

I've never seen any data on it and I doubt any exists. Given what I know of the disease and how coral dips work, I highly doubt coral dip will kill ich. Esp. if ich is in the trophont stage. It might stun the tomites, but I doubt it will kill them.

I've coppered a reef tank and the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels didn't budge. This was in an established tank. In a low biological filter QT tank, you would probably see a nutrient level rise because the tank doesn't have enough bacteria to process all the nutrients. Any disturbance in the amount of bacteria being produced will cause a nutrient rise.

 

[mrsaltwatertank]

Also, I don't believe that copper will lessen a fish's life span. Perhaps the old ionic forms of copper that get easily transported across the cell membranes, but not the newer formulations like SeaChem's Cupramine. I read the biochem paper on Cupramine that showed up the cellular uptake of that form of copper is low, if any at all.

 

[TrishW]

You coppered a reef tank? I thought once a tank ever had copper in it you could never use it as a reef tank, much less copper treat a reef. How did that turn out?

 

[mrsaltwatertank]

You coppered a reef tank? I thought once a tank ever had copper in it you could never use it as a reef tank, much less copper treat a reef. How did that turn out?

Yet another myth Steven and I talked about in our QT book. The tank has corals in it now and they're doing fine.