Disease treatment/parasite control

[Midman]

Hi reefers......have any1 use myxazin from waterlife before to cure the whitespot / ich. My PB tang just kena, infested with the whitespot . Tried this product once which is quite successful...somewhere early this year....and now the ich is back in full force. I did dipped all the food with garlic, Kent Marine Vit C and even tried the blackout for 48hrs but still no effect. Now I'm thinking of getting a UV sterilizer.......any feedback for me to consider

[weileong]

If you have no corals in your tank then you can consider using hyposalinity for 6-8 weeks. This will totally get rid of the ich provided you do not add any new fish or LS that might carry the parasite.

Your PBT might acquired partial immunity to the ich parasite that is why it appears that myxazin has cured it but in fact low level infection remains and some stress caused a major outbreak this time round.

[Midman]

Weileong...thks for the proposal but I do have corals and inverts in my tank ... don't think I can carry out hyposalinity in this situation....

Heard few reefers commenting on the UV light..... give some tip leh

Me so sad see the PBT turning into PWT...

[lightningstrike]

if u dun mind using medication, can try waterlife's octozin. it is stronger than myzaxin.

[weileong]

UV might help but not a complete cure. If you do get a UV then get the largest you can afford.

In the case that you decided not to treat or unable to treat then just leave them alone and feed garlic then pray for the best. It works sometimes and doesn't work sometimes.

[Midman]

Well.......way to go guys

After surfing in the net me discovered the difference between Octozin and Myxazin... below are the clipped taken from one of the site I have visited.

Waterlife Octozin

OCTOZIN is a treatment for internal parasites such as those which cause Sleeping Sickness, Hole - In - The - Head, Seawater Angelfish and Clownfish Disease, Malawi Bloat Disease and also early stages of Dropsy. OCTOZIN may also be used to treat Whitespot in seawater aquaria where CUPRAZIN cannot be used. OCTOZIN is harmless to invertebrates and algae when used as directed. You will require three separate days of treatment to complete the course.

OCTOZIN is active for up to 3 days after the last day of use. Although internal parasites are destroyed instantly, external signs of improvement to the fish may take up to 7 days.

Waterlife Myxazin

MYXAZIN lowers the count of harmful bacteria in aquarium water, treating Fin Rot, Body Rot, Ulcers, Sores and other bacterial infections. MYXAZIN will also help to control Pop - Eye Disease, Cloudy Eyes and Mouth Fungus. MYXAZIN should be used daily until symptoms disappear (typically this would be between 3 and 5 applications). MYXAZIN can also be used to sterilise nets and live foods such as Daphnia and Tubifex, for treating Whitespot in seawater aquaria containing invertebrates. MYXAZIN is mild on fish, highly biodegradable and effective against a wide range of fish health problems.

Suitable for seawater, tropical freshwater and coldwater aquaria.

Obviously...I'm keen on getting this Octozin and put it to test immediately...

UV will wait till I'm done with this Octozin stuff

[lightningstrike]

good on u Midman, u took the effort to dig up the info. but be forewarned that the treatment might not stop at juz 1 bottle (depending on ur tank conditions and the vol). so it might cost up to a fair bit to last the entire duration of treatment.

[AlfaRomeo]

Out of curiosity, does octozin kill the free floating stages of the parasite fpund on in the water column or attached to the substrate or other areas of the tank? or does it only help cure the fishes itself?

[weileong]

The ich tomites (free swimming infectious stage) are considered the same level as corals and inverts so any medication that is effective against the tomites will certainly have the same effect on your corals and inverts.

[Midman]

IMO...this OCTOZIN treatment is more for the fish

parasite found on/in the water column or attached to the substrate or other areas of the tank....can be eliminated thru UV steriliser I guess.....just my 1 cent opinion

[ashidiq]

yes, the uv light with appropriate power will be able to cause DNA disruption to the protozoa. it will then disrupt the metabolic reaction and hinder its ability to replicate. the uv light causes the pyrimidine dimer on the DNA to form error base pair.it also generate formation of free radicals which is harmfull to cells .. so i believe that if the contact time and power of the uv is strong it will help remove the FREE FLOATING ich.. hope it will help...

[weileong]

That is provided the tomites gets into the UV chamber in the first place.

With the required low flow rate of around 1000 l/h for a 36W 12x coralife turbo twist. The turn over for a 400L tank would be abt 2.5x/hr which is a little too low to eliminate the parasite completely. Somemore some pple recommend only 6x turbo twist which is 18W and the flow rate required is even lower at 500 l/h so the turnover is even lower. Or worst they use those normal UV where the contact time is even shorter so killing power is even lower

The fish would be reinfected before the UV had a chance to directly kill them.

UV will generate a small amount of ozone and this small amount of ozone will improve the water condition leading to lesser stress for the fish and hence the fish has a better chance to fight the disease.

That is why UV works for some and doesn't work for others even when they are properly setup with the correct flow rates because for the latter there still other stress factors that are not eliminated.

[Midman]

Guess what ...my PBT is dead liao.........just came back from work...noticed my dear PBT stuck itself at the live rock... .........

This is my 4th time trying to keep tang family and have not been successful...already did hyposalinity before, even FW dip ....after several month I'm trying now and still can't keep the tang to last for 2 months...grrrrrr

Any gurus can help .........

[ashidiq]

for me i have used a uv ..

[dmitri]

Pls dont go for OCTOZIN treatment, it wont works. Tried many bottles b4, still my PBT hv lots of white spots. Now, all the white spots on PBT are gone liao, thanks to weileong suggestion. Sofar so good (hyposalinity - day 10th), observed that my fish are less stressed, previously saw them rubbed against rocks and sand, made me very sian.

[lightningstrike]

Pls dont go for OCTOZIN treatment, it wont works. Tried many bottles b4, still my PBT hv lots of white spots. Now, all the white spots on PBT are gone liao, thanks to weileong suggestion. Sofar so good (hyposalinity - day 10th), observed that my fish are less stressed, previously saw them rubbed against rocks and sand, made me very sian.

it worked for me though.......

but i do agree hyposalinity is the best way to rid LS of ich.

[TerryB]

I thought that you might find this link to a five part series on Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans) helpful. The only consistently reliable treatments for ich are copper, hyposalinity, or the transfer method. Everything else is hit or miss at best.

Here is the link to part one:

http://www.marineaquariumadvice.com/aquarium_fish_1.html

HTH,

Terry B

[Midman]

Well guys...I did carry out hyposalinity for almost a month....thinking everything was fine I tried another PBT to fit in but.... I lost it. I'm still into OCTOZIN .... and treat the tank for 10 days . After which I'll do water changes and get another PBT to see if it works....wish me luck guys...

[weileong]

one month is certainly too short for hyposalinity treatment. I think 6-8 weeks would be better as they parasites would have gone thru 2 life cycles by then.

You lost your 2nd PBT to ich? In this case the PBT could already be carrying the ich parasite but not showing it.

I supposed you did not quarantine the PBT and introduced it directly into the tank? The stress in shipping would have cause a ich outbreak.

IMO having ich free does not meant 100% success rate too. How the fish is caught etc would also determine the success rate.

[Midman]

Agreed....maybe the hypo period is a little bit shorter. Might consider weileong ideas to extend the period between 6 to 8 weeks.

Yup I lost my 1st 2nd 3rd & 4th to this little b#?!! parasites

but I did acclimate all my PBT before releasing them into my tank. I even dip them into copper cure for 48 hrs.

What else can I do...... all the fishes I bought was from a so call reputable LFS.

Now I'm trying Octozin to remove the parasites and try my luck again. If the parasite still persist I'll get 12X coralife turbo twister to bust down this parasites.

If this method doesn't help then I'll admit surrender liao....hahaha

"All Tang families is out of bound"

[weileong]

wow you tried 4 PBT?

Why don't you get your LS from another LFS or farm like Coral Farm? Cost a bit more but maybe the chances of success is higher. Best ot get the tangs that is already feeding on pellets and that will make your life easier later on.

Don't dip tangs in copper as the copper might kill the bacterials in the intestine of the tangs and this leads to complications later on.

Actually by leaving your tank fishless for 6 weeks will remove the parasites. No need those medication.

[iori_del]

Hi weileong, i have done the hypo for my tank as u are suggesting it to me tat day when i got my 12X.

But this is the 4th day and i still can see itch, is it normal? my floating glass show 1.008, i really dun know if it is accurate

SHould i drop the SG until i cannot see any itch??

how abt the temp of the water? keep it at 27 or 31?

[weileong]

Suggest you to keep your sg at the current 1.008. Unless your floating glass hydrometer is very inaccurate.

Wait a few days, the ich should be gone if not then maybe you need to double confirm your sg again. Don't drop the sg too low as it'll affect the health of the fish.

27degs or rather room temp would be good enuff.

[dmitri]

hv tried both meters, my floating glass hydrometer showed 1.010 but the reflactometer read 1.014. a different of 0.004. if your floating glass showed 1.008, your salinity level may be ard 1.012, hence the reason why ich are still active.

btw, calibration may differ from difference hydrometer makers