OP
OP
skyedolphan
Non-member
HI dale tried to give you a call giv eme a call 4017662767 I will meet you there 
Ick need advice
- Thread starter skyedolphan
- Start date
ReeferMedic
Non-member
Shoeib said:
I dosed it according to the instructions. They give two different directions, depends on how bad you have it. I've dosed it both ways with no ill effects......
joefitz
Non-member
I do think that most tanks have ich in them. But ich is a parasite, it goes through a pretty well known lifecycle, and that lifecycle can be broken and tanks can be ich free.
The hyposalinity and copper treatments can make your tank ich free because they involve removing all your fish (which are required in order for ich to survive) for several weeks -- long enough that all the existing ich in your tank would have eventually transitioned to the stage where they require a fish host...and have perished because no fish were available.
So, from a purely technical standpoint, I don't think there is really much debate on the issue of whether a tank CAN be ich free. I just don't think most of us put the work in to keep our tanks ich free (myself included).
I've been struggling with ich the past month or so since my latest additions to the tank were introduced. I haven't lost anything yet. The only two fish that are noticeably "bad" are my powder blue tang and my hippo tang. Some days are worse than others -- previously, I've had similar outbreaks and my fish have been able to fight it off (my first bout with it led me to garlic and I've used it ever since although I have no idea if it helps at all).
There seems to be a lot of venom on the RC threads about ich and how to beat it. Lots of people claim all the products out there are snake-oil while others say they have worked for them. I think copper and hypo, if followed properly, are proven methods to rid your tank of ich. Most of the products I've seen on the market seem to attempt to work by either stimulating the fishes 'slime coat' production, rendering them less susceptible to the parasite or by otherwise killing it in its free floating stage. I have no experience with these products but I'm considering giving one a whirl because I'm not sure I have the ability, in my tiny, over-crowded apartment, to set up the one or more hospital tanks I would require to go hyposalinity or copper.
I just really don't want to kill everything else in my tank and I don't particularly trust these products just yet. Not to mention, most of these products will run me a few hundred bucks for the recommended dosing on my tank.
Anyway, I'm following this thread with interest. Dawn, if you end up giving any of the products a whirl I'd love to hear how it works out.
The hyposalinity and copper treatments can make your tank ich free because they involve removing all your fish (which are required in order for ich to survive) for several weeks -- long enough that all the existing ich in your tank would have eventually transitioned to the stage where they require a fish host...and have perished because no fish were available.
So, from a purely technical standpoint, I don't think there is really much debate on the issue of whether a tank CAN be ich free. I just don't think most of us put the work in to keep our tanks ich free (myself included).
I've been struggling with ich the past month or so since my latest additions to the tank were introduced. I haven't lost anything yet. The only two fish that are noticeably "bad" are my powder blue tang and my hippo tang. Some days are worse than others -- previously, I've had similar outbreaks and my fish have been able to fight it off (my first bout with it led me to garlic and I've used it ever since although I have no idea if it helps at all).
There seems to be a lot of venom on the RC threads about ich and how to beat it. Lots of people claim all the products out there are snake-oil while others say they have worked for them. I think copper and hypo, if followed properly, are proven methods to rid your tank of ich. Most of the products I've seen on the market seem to attempt to work by either stimulating the fishes 'slime coat' production, rendering them less susceptible to the parasite or by otherwise killing it in its free floating stage. I have no experience with these products but I'm considering giving one a whirl because I'm not sure I have the ability, in my tiny, over-crowded apartment, to set up the one or more hospital tanks I would require to go hyposalinity or copper.
I just really don't want to kill everything else in my tank and I don't particularly trust these products just yet. Not to mention, most of these products will run me a few hundred bucks for the recommended dosing on my tank.
Anyway, I'm following this thread with interest. Dawn, if you end up giving any of the products a whirl I'd love to hear how it works out.
OP
OP
skyedolphan
Non-member
HI Joe at this point i am not going with chemical or any other man made products ( vote still out on that one )
but a very nicer gentleman has offered me the use of a hang on UV so I going to pick that up today and see how it works for a week trial run
cant find my blk goby this morning
but a very nicer gentleman has offered me the use of a hang on UV so I going to pick that up today and see how it works for a week trial run
cant find my blk goby this morning
jackie
Non-member
Dawn, I"ve had excellent results with kick-ich, then ran a UV for a couple weeks to be sure. But whatever you decide to do, I think leaving them in the tank is a good idea, I can't help but think it would stress them out too much to move them, plus it would stress the other unaffected fish in the tank also. I tried that once and it didn't work, but it's possible they were too weak to be moved in the first place. Good luck!
NateHanson
Non-member
I don't remember a recommendation for water changes. And I think the skimmer was to be off for about a day after each addition. So 3 days on, 1 day off.
I'll have to dig up the bottle to see for sure what the directions say. It's been over a year since I used it.
Nate
I'll have to dig up the bottle to see for sure what the directions say. It's been over a year since I used it.
Nate
jackie
Non-member
The 15-day treatment directions recommend not using carbon or any media that would remove the effectiveness of the treatment, except for phosphate absorbants. And no protein skimming or water changes. I cut back on feeding to help keep the nutrients down and didn't notice any adverse affects. As Nate mentioned, it's not an every day dose, but with heavier infections you can increase the repeat days.
Casino
Tang Police Fugitive
Well there is only one sure way to get rid of ick...and that is leaving your tank fishless for 6 weeks. This is also the method that some of us cant really do since we dont have space to set up a q-tank or a h-tank, cant catch all the fish to place them in the tanks or its just better to let them fight it of on there own.
Its possible to rid ick with the use of a UV, but this can take time since the parasite needs to be in their free swimming stage and has to go throu the UV (at a very slow speed to be killed) before finding a host. It can take time for this to happen since once the first stage of ick falls of the fish (this is where we all think that we have cured the fish) to reproduce, then it will go out and seek a host and most of the time they will do this at night when the fish are sleeping, close to the bottom of the sand, thus a large percentage of the parasite finds a host before elevating to a point where the UV can suck them in and kill them. This cycle can continue for many cycles until the fish die, the UV has been able to kill all the parasites or the fishes just simply get ammune to the parasite. If its the later, sometimes you will have another ick outbreak when you introduce a new fish, thus affecting him the worse. UV's cant cure a fish with ick but will kill all parasites that enter the UV.
Kick ick has been used by many and has debates on weather it actually acomplishes what it claims. We dont know if the Kick Ick worked, helped the fish fight of the parasite, or if the fish just fought it of on its own which many fishes can do, depending on how long they have been in the tank and if you have fed them the specific diet they requier to be healthy. A healthy fish will defeat this deadly parasite.
Garlic has been know to have some kind of ability to give fishes super powers in a way. It can boost their imune system through the roof, and in many cases will help them fight off the parasite, Some say the garlic will cloak the fish so the ick cant find them when they are in search of a host. No scientific data exist to prove this, but it cant hurt. I dont think garlic is a cure, more like a shield, it will help the fishes fight the parasite but you still need to keep good husbundry practices.
There been reports of people using ginger to make the fish slime coat thicker so the parasite cant attach to them. Why anyone would dose ginger in a tank is beyong me but the same goes for the garlic. Theres always 1 person whos willing to try and experiment with something new.
Copper is a sure way to kill and cure fishes from ick, but it can also killl the fish, kill all inverts and the tank you dose it in will never be reef rerady as the copper will always be in there. Copper is dosed in a seperate tank that we use for the purpose only. Again not the easiest thing to do since you have to catch the fish and set up the tank and what not. All this is just more stressfull for the fish. If the ick is discovered very early then its a good way to treat since they are still composed enough and will handle the move better.
Hypo is a safer way to treat ick. But it takes time. You just cant take a fish and dump it in a tank with a SG of 1.008. Must be done slowly. It is effective and has been proven many times to work. Again early detection is the key to success.
In all I just like to let them ride the wind. I trust that I have done a good job of feeding them and to accomidate their habitat to be as stressless as possible. Feed the garlic and try to keep them eating. If you see that they arent eating and they are just plain looking bad, its time to do the hypo or copper and wish for the best. In this stage they will be easy to catch as they wont have the energy to put up a fight.
Its possible to rid ick with the use of a UV, but this can take time since the parasite needs to be in their free swimming stage and has to go throu the UV (at a very slow speed to be killed) before finding a host. It can take time for this to happen since once the first stage of ick falls of the fish (this is where we all think that we have cured the fish) to reproduce, then it will go out and seek a host and most of the time they will do this at night when the fish are sleeping, close to the bottom of the sand, thus a large percentage of the parasite finds a host before elevating to a point where the UV can suck them in and kill them. This cycle can continue for many cycles until the fish die, the UV has been able to kill all the parasites or the fishes just simply get ammune to the parasite. If its the later, sometimes you will have another ick outbreak when you introduce a new fish, thus affecting him the worse. UV's cant cure a fish with ick but will kill all parasites that enter the UV.
Kick ick has been used by many and has debates on weather it actually acomplishes what it claims. We dont know if the Kick Ick worked, helped the fish fight of the parasite, or if the fish just fought it of on its own which many fishes can do, depending on how long they have been in the tank and if you have fed them the specific diet they requier to be healthy. A healthy fish will defeat this deadly parasite.
Garlic has been know to have some kind of ability to give fishes super powers in a way. It can boost their imune system through the roof, and in many cases will help them fight off the parasite, Some say the garlic will cloak the fish so the ick cant find them when they are in search of a host. No scientific data exist to prove this, but it cant hurt. I dont think garlic is a cure, more like a shield, it will help the fishes fight the parasite but you still need to keep good husbundry practices.
There been reports of people using ginger to make the fish slime coat thicker so the parasite cant attach to them. Why anyone would dose ginger in a tank is beyong me but the same goes for the garlic. Theres always 1 person whos willing to try and experiment with something new.
Copper is a sure way to kill and cure fishes from ick, but it can also killl the fish, kill all inverts and the tank you dose it in will never be reef rerady as the copper will always be in there. Copper is dosed in a seperate tank that we use for the purpose only. Again not the easiest thing to do since you have to catch the fish and set up the tank and what not. All this is just more stressfull for the fish. If the ick is discovered very early then its a good way to treat since they are still composed enough and will handle the move better.
Hypo is a safer way to treat ick. But it takes time. You just cant take a fish and dump it in a tank with a SG of 1.008. Must be done slowly. It is effective and has been proven many times to work. Again early detection is the key to success.
In all I just like to let them ride the wind. I trust that I have done a good job of feeding them and to accomidate their habitat to be as stressless as possible. Feed the garlic and try to keep them eating. If you see that they arent eating and they are just plain looking bad, its time to do the hypo or copper and wish for the best. In this stage they will be easy to catch as they wont have the energy to put up a fight.
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SMS76
Non-member
Just UPDATE on this product Kick-ICH: It did work for me. I had few fish with ICH and i treat the tank with this product and it has been over a month and haven't seen ICK anywhere.
All my fish are healthy and eating like pigs. i do have two cleaner shrimps in the tank and i think they have also helped with ICH.
All my fish are healthy and eating like pigs. i do have two cleaner shrimps in the tank and i think they have also helped with ICH.
joefitz
Non-member
I bought Kick-ICH (I think that's the one I bought) but never used it. My fish have shown fewer and fewer signs of Ich over the past month or so. This is the same experience I've had before with Ich...when I introduce something to the tank, the PBT would get ich for a few weeks and then over the next 6-8 week it would get progressively better until eventually not being noticeable at all.
So, I've apparently had luck with just making sure my fish are very well-fed (and yes, I do add garlic from time to time). I think temperature control helps significantly although I have to say right now is a tough time for my tank re: temperature because I don't have a chiller and I hate to put the A/C on when it is 70 degrees outside...
Since I don't intend on adding any more fish to my system, unless the Ich comes back in force I probably won't try the Kick-Ich. I also purchased a large UV system but still haven't connected it to the system yet. I plan on doing that regardless of the Ich situation to see if it helps with water clarity as many people suggest.
My PBT still has a few ich spots here and there, on any given day I can usually count between 2-8 spots. At its peak, he probably would have 50-100 spots. He looked just awful although he always ate. The Hippo I added a while back seemed to trigger the last outbreak and he was pretty bad too...but now he's not showing any visible Ich at all.
I know it is still in my tank, but trying to do the QT just isn't practical and it doesn't appear to be causing any major problems at this point. I'm hoping to move soon and my plan is to go the hypo-salinity route and QT the fish for two months so maybe, someday in the not-too-distant future, I could actually have an Ich-free tank!
So, I've apparently had luck with just making sure my fish are very well-fed (and yes, I do add garlic from time to time). I think temperature control helps significantly although I have to say right now is a tough time for my tank re: temperature because I don't have a chiller and I hate to put the A/C on when it is 70 degrees outside...
Since I don't intend on adding any more fish to my system, unless the Ich comes back in force I probably won't try the Kick-Ich. I also purchased a large UV system but still haven't connected it to the system yet. I plan on doing that regardless of the Ich situation to see if it helps with water clarity as many people suggest.
My PBT still has a few ich spots here and there, on any given day I can usually count between 2-8 spots. At its peak, he probably would have 50-100 spots. He looked just awful although he always ate. The Hippo I added a while back seemed to trigger the last outbreak and he was pretty bad too...but now he's not showing any visible Ich at all.
I know it is still in my tank, but trying to do the QT just isn't practical and it doesn't appear to be causing any major problems at this point. I'm hoping to move soon and my plan is to go the hypo-salinity route and QT the fish for two months so maybe, someday in the not-too-distant future, I could actually have an Ich-free tank!
