Ick need advice

[skyedolphan]

here is the long/short of it ( from another post elsewhere )
am having a MAJOR issue with this rite now havent seen ick in my tank in almost 3 years then took in a big long nose butterfly, caught him picking at my clam mantle ( I freaked )placed him in the fuge while trying to get him into a new home on day 2 in the fuge he came down with a good case of ick so outta the fuge he goes and into the main tank ( ya I know dumb move on my part ) the reasoning behind into the display is that I have 2 fire shrimp 2 cleaner shrimp and a cleaner wrasse everyday I feed garlic soaked nori ( which he eats ) and my nite food is goo enriched with selcon and garlic things went well for about a week the ick seemed to pretty much clear up just a few spots then my tangs got it and the clowns and the gobies the butterfly got it back and finally passed on .now 10 days later I am still fighting this ick and getting desperate any suggestions ? this is a coral stocked tank so copper , hyposalinity is not an option .. I am thinking of setting up a 75 or something and adding all the fish in there and starting a hyposalinity reg.. (which will cause a war within my home )
If anyone has any other suggestions I am listening and open to all Thank you

 

[Aquadiva]

I did a lot of reading when my first fish came down with ICH. Long and short, it runs in a cycle....white spots on fish drop off into sand, incubate and hatch...then there is a free swimming/floating phase, which then reattaches to the fish. Lots of debate on whether it is always in the tank or not. I think you know all this, however.

Since you are already doing the garlic thing, you can either try Ruby Reef Kick-Ich, or get them out and put them in a tank to hypo or copper. The kick-ich has its supporters and detractors, as well. It sounds like the nasty cycle has already begun.

Lots of good info here

Good luck. Wish I had better/ other advice.

 

[~Flighty~]

How sick are the fish that have it?

In my opinion (and that's all it is, I know others disagree) catching, moving and treating the fish is usually worse than just leaving them where they are and letting their own systems fight it in the most calm comfortable environment for them.

 

[Reef55]

Ich exists in the wild. Fish live just fine. Ick has probably been in your tank the entire time, just that your fish were all healthy so even though they had it, it didn't show. The butterfly got stressed, immune system went down, BAM it got ick. Now instead of a a few ich parasites bugging your normally healthy fish, a swarm is hitting them. You are feeding them well, so I would expect them to fight off this bought of ich just like a person fights off a cold.

 

[skyedolphan]

thanks guy ,
Cindy I do believe like you, I have never pulled a fish to treat for ick it in my opinion just reduces its natural imunnity and further ads to the problem
I am stressing due to the fact the my dotty and clown gobies look the worse the cleaner wrasse is always on my tangs so I am not too worried about them but the clowns hang in my SPS as does the dotty they would basically be an easy pull at nite
what I find weird is that my chromiss , red lip blenny, and yellow sleeper and wrasses are all well seem to be ick free

 

[wrassefan]

healthy fish can fight off ick and show no signs while doing it Dawn...

 

[NateHanson]

Also, some fish are not susceptible to ich because of differences in the structure of their skin, or slime coats, etc. For instance I have heard that Mandarinfishes don't get it. Blennies are related, so that might be why your blennies aren't showing it?

FWIW I used Kick Ich a while ago when I had one fish with a real bad infection, and I think it worked well for me. No collateral losses, and the fish recovered quickly.

Nate

 

[Ray]

I had a PBT come down with it pretty bad and I dropped in a couple of neon cleaner gobies and they cleaned him up and I have not seen it in my tank since, no other fish came down with it.

 

[ReeferMedic]

I've also used Kick-Ich with good results. I know most people would disagree with it's effectiveness.........

 

[DSOUZA]

I have used the kich ich and worked with no problems.

 

[SMS76]

I've also used Kick-Ich with good results. I know most people would disagree with it's effectiveness.........

Was it FO tank or reef tank? No loss of inverts or corals?? How long did it take to get rid of ICK?

 

[ReeferMedic]

Was it FO tank or reef tank? No loss of inverts or corals?? How long did it take to get rid of ICK?

I had some softies and lps in w/fish when I did use it. No losses of any inverts. I don't think you ever "get rid" of ich, you just get it under control to let your fish's immune system catch back up.

 

[SMS76]

I had some softies and lps in w/fish when I did use it. No losses of any inverts. I don't think you ever "get rid" of ich, you just get it under control to let your fish's immune system catch back up.

Did you dose it according to the instructions or you put less then what's recommended?

 

[NateHanson]

Was it FO tank or reef tank? No loss of inverts or corals?? How long did it take to get rid of ICK?

Shoeib, I used it in a stocked reef tank with inverts, softies, and SPS. I dosed according to the directions. No losses. It took about a week before the ich was no longer visible, but improvement was obvious after about a day. I shut off my skimmer during each treatment for about a day, as per the directions on the bottle.

 

[SMS76]

Sorry last question, (appologize skye for hijacking your thread) From where did you get it? I had ICH in my tank few weeks ago and it killed couple fish. I still have female clown and two green chromis with no visible ICH for two weeks now. I am sure that i still have ich in my tank, these fish are tough and right now fighting for it but i am sure that if i add a new fish it will bouce back.
Question i have is: Should i use kick-ick if i add any new fish to the tank?

 

[NateHanson]

You can get it at AquaAddicts.

Personally, I'd probably add the new fish, and wait to see if a problem develops. Then treat immediately if you see an outbreak. Just my opinion.

 

[SMS76]

You can get it at AquaAddicts.

Personally, I'd probably add the new fish, and wait to see if a problem develops. Then treat immediately if you see an outbreak. Just my opinion.

OK thanks Nate

 

[~Flighty~]

My 2?- I wouldn't add any new fish for a few months after any issue that killed some of the fish.

You just don't know what caused the deaths even if you think it was ick.

Seeing the white spots on a fish is like hearing a cough in a human. Could be a cold, or pnumonia, or lung cancer.

Since you can't relly diagnose your fish by looking, I think the best thing to do is wait a good amount of time before adding more fish. More fish bring stress, more bioload, new parisites, and new infectious stuff.

 

[skyedolphan]

Shoeib not a problem I am learning from your ?s also
I am very afraid to put any chemicals into my tank at all ,,the more people who chime in here the better

 

[Clam Man]

I use garlic soaked susi . kent zoe vitamins (added to fish mush) I put a hang on uv for about a week.(in my opionion only)I think skunk shrimp do a better job they will come out to get the fish blood ones seem to let the fish come to them.one more thing when you add garlic keep an eye on your sump for film that will add to bad water quality and keep the ick around if you see film add a small power head to mix it up and get it in the skimmer.big water changes always helps everything in your tank.I have also tried kick ich no results for me i think putting the money towards a uv is well worth it.(in my opion)for the people who have had good results im not saying in any way that it does'nt work im just saying it did'nt work for me