what works for ich??

[Rbarb1111]

I woke up this moring and my small sailfin tang had small white spots on his fins and body. It still is eating well and i have started adding garlic to the food. What else can i do i don't think i can catch him to qt. Do any of the ich meds that are coral safe work??

Thanks for any help

 

[Marlboro]

Are you sure its ich?? It might be sand stuck on him... Last week one of my clowns had white spots on him, I freaked out and thought it was ich... ten minutes later he rubs against the glass and the white spots fall off.

 

[3mrhythm]

i use garlic and tea tree oil

 

[Ray]

I use garlic from the grocery store, I add 1 teaspoon and let the food soak in it. I was doing this everyday for a while now I do it 1 or 2 times a week. I know some people say it doesnt work but when I had ich I strted feeding with it and have not seen it since.

 

[Chris A.]

I use garlic from the grocery store, I add 1 teaspoon and let the food soak in it. I was doing this everyday for a while now I do it 1 or 2 times a week. I know some people say it doesnt work but when I had ich I strted feeding with it and have not seen it since.

I agree with the use of garlic.I had ich and strarted using Seachem Garlic Guard and saved my fish.

 

[Clam Man]

cleaner shrimp. how big is you tank?and how long has it been up for you can also try kick ick its reef safe but does it work some say yes most say no i would go with the shrip and garlic.

 

[wrassefan]

I use a tandem of 2-3 cleaner shrimp and 2-3 neon gobies. Tang are prone to have ich over things like minor stress and cold chills from cold spots in a tank with a quick drop in temp overnight.

 

[NateHanson]

Kick Ich is a great product! A bit pricey, but in my experience, and from the recommendations I got from other BRS members, it's very effective and totally reef safe. I had a tang with really pervasive Ich infection, and one cycle of treatment completely cleared him up. I had no subsequent outbreaks, and no ill side-effects or invert deaths.

(For what it's worth, I think mine got the infection due to a heat spike, and possibly stress from a too-small tank. I'd check all your parameters, including temp range, and think about whether this fish has enough room.)

 

[Reef55]

I have used Kick Ich both with success and without success. It all depends on the particular strain of ich if it will work or not. Worth the money ($15 will treat a large tank) to try and see.

The only proven 100% guaranteed ways to kill ich are copper or hyposalinity. Both require a seperate hospital tank however. I am currently treating all 5 of my small fish from my 40 gallon tank in a seperate hospital tank with copper. I find copper is easier to keep at the proper dose than hyposalinity.

 

[NateHanson]

From what I've heard (no direct experience) copper can be pretty tricky for the novice (and even some experienced hands) to administer safely, and there are some questions about permanent brain damage (not sure if to the fish or the reefer ).

I'm sure there are folks like Mark who have a good deal of experience and can make copper work well, but I also thought I'd share the warnings others have given me about some of the negatives of copper usage.

 

[dz6t]

I use a tandem of 2-3 cleaner shrimp and 2-3 neon gobies.

What can the neon gobies do? What kind are you using (green, yellow, black or whatever?)

Thanks

 

[NateHanson]

They're cleaner species, like some wrasses, or cleaner shrimp.

 

[reefer125g]

Rid-ich works well and is reef safe. I have used it in the past with no problems.
Takes 2 -3 days.

 

[Reef55]

Rid-ich works well and is reef safe. I have used it in the past with no problems.
Takes 2 -3 days.

It is not possible to kill ich in 2-3 days. The only times that that ich is able to be killed is when it ex-cysts, and is "swimming" in the water column trying to find a fish. The life-cycle takes 14 days to complete, so unless the water has the treatment in it for a minimum of 14 days straight to kill the ich every time it ex-cysts, you won't kill it all.

 

[Reef55]

From what I've heard (no direct experience) copper can be pretty tricky for the novice (and even some experienced hands) to administer safely, and there are some questions about permanent brain damage (not sure if to the fish or the reefer ).

I'm sure there are folks like Mark who have a good deal of experience and can make copper work well, but I also thought I'd share the warnings others have given me about some of the negatives of copper usage.

Copper is as easy to use as any other additive.... you just have to have a test kit for it Cupramine is easy to dose... 0.2ml per gallon of water = 0.5 concentration (the number I shoot for...). I always test after dosing to be sure, and repeat the test every day to be sure it neither rises nor falls (hasn't happened yet).

The speed at which Cupramine works is amazing... but like any other medicine, especially due to the life-cycle of ich and oodinium, you must continue treatment for the duration of the cycle (add a couple of days just to be sure).

Not only is it important to treat all the fish in the tank in a hospital tank, but it is just as important to keep any fish out of the main tank so that the ich / oodinium cannot live. When all the cysts have ex-cysted in the main tank, and have not found any hosts to continue their life cycle, all the ich / oodinium will die in the main tank as well.

 

[Rbarb1111]

How does the ich get in the tank to start. I have not put any thing new in my tank in over a month, new fish in over three months. I had a cleaner shrimp that a crab killed last week and now the ich shows up??? I purchased a new cleaner yesterday and boy did he go to work on the tang. I guess i will just have to wait and see if it comes back.

 

[Reef55]

How does the ich get in the tank to start. I have not put any thing new in my tank in over a month, new fish in over three months. I had a cleaner shrimp that a crab killed last week and now the ich shows up??? I purchased a new cleaner yesterday and boy did he go to work on the tang. I guess i will just have to wait and see if it comes back.

Ich is on every fish that comes from the wild. Even tank raised ones, once put into a tank with wild caught fish will have it. Also, any water from another tank, sand, corals, etc... anything from another tank most likely has ich in it. You didn't see it on your tang because your cleaner shrimp was picking it off of the tang.

 

[SherryQ]

I recommend a UV sterilizer. I've also used KickIch on my softy tank without a problem.

 

[johnbarr]

Ick

I recommend Rally Kick Ick! And I second the UV sterilizer!

 

[wrassefan]

What can the neon gobies do? What kind are you using (green, yellow, black or whatever?)

Thanks

The neon gobie cleans fish like a cleaner wrasse but can usually adapt to eating prepared foods. I've never had luck with a cleaner wrasse and they die after they can't get parasites off of the fish....but my brother has had one over a yr now and his eats flake and frozen.