Ich! =(

[cornyfish]

Recently i realised my marine fishes had white spots on their fins and kept scratching against the substrate. They are also breathing very quickly and I believe they are suffering from ich.

How can i get rid of the ich? Anyone has similar experience? Or will the disease resolve itself via the fishes immunity, given time? Thanks!

[Lin]

hi bro.. u can do some search on the disease threat.. theres alot similiar case brought up there.. read on and u will find out..

Good Luck & happy reefing.

[diabolus]

The best way to have an ich free tank is not to have any fish in your tank.

[Lester]

The best way to have an ich free tank is not to have any fish in your tank.

Hmm that is veri true .... hehe Good one ..!!

[gerald28]

hi man , may i know how old is your tank ,cause my tank suffer new tank sydrome and also like your some time bk

[cjh]

The best way to have an ich free tank is not to have any fish in your tank.

lol....

[hotlemond]

Recently i realised my marine fishes had white spots on their fins and kept scratching against the substrate. They are also breathing very quickly and I believe they are suffering from ich.

How can i get rid of the ich? Anyone has similar experience? Or will the disease resolve itself via the fishes immunity, given time? Thanks!

some discussion here:

http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=31533

http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=31934

http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=32246

http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=32001

[Travy]

The least stressful thing u can do to yur fishes now is to wait it out.

Provide good food, Good clean environment and water parameters. Should go away after 1-2weeks.

If not can always try the fresh water dip.

Do a search in the forum, its been discussed tons.

[subxero]

Add a UV canniser will help?

[cornyfish]

Well my tank has been running since July last year, which makes it 10 months old now... and the problem started after i added a porcupinefish to my FOWLR tank a few days ago. Since the organism is already everywhere in the tank i don't suppose freshwater dips will be very useful right?

[seamonkee]

Hi bro,

If your fishes are scratching and you are definitely sure your water parameters are ok... then its highly likely to be ich...

Well, to the contrary that most people believe that ich will "go away" by itself... I must clarify that this is not the case.... Ich goes through cycles and stages and the visible stage is the tomont stage where it attach itself to a fish host.... but what is more worrying is when the tomont hatch and spring forth 200 daughter theront...

In another words, your tank may appear to have no ich but will reinfect again later in greater numbers.....

In this hobby, I always advocate prevention rather than cure... after a few hard lessons myself... some of the things to consider:

1) Buy fishes from reputable LFS....

2) Take your time to choose a healthy specimen (dun cheong LFS and go on a buying spree)

3) Set up a QT tank to observe new fish before putting into main tank to reduce risk of introduction any ich or other parasitic infections to the other fishes... In this case, this will also allow you to administer medication (which is otherwise not possible in your main tank with the live rocks and corals).

Cheers!

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

http://www.reef-aquarium.net/resources/disease/ich.html

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-j.../marineich.html

[Reeffer]

i think fw dips can help a bit cos it can kill off the ich on the fish.. usually i give fw bath to fish before they go into the tank

since yours is a fowlr tank, maybe u can do hyposalinity for some time, coupled with uvc? then try feeding garlic soaked food to your fishes.. if your fishes are still feeding then should have a good chance of recovery. HTH though i'm still quite new

[Reefbum]

From my own experience, fish will not succumb to itch if they are not stressed.Parasites is always in the tank waiting to attack a stressed fish.The intro of your porcupine probably caused this.

As for treatment, it is seldom successful.Gd luck

[mantis]

Yours is a FOWLR? That's makes dealing with the outbreak alot easier.

I had the same problem some time ago after I introduced a Powder Blue. Drop the SG to 1009 (make sure the reading is correct - they recommend a lab glass hydrometer or a refractometer) and hold it for about 4-6 weeks. That kills the ICK and also create a less stress environment for the fishes (lower SG is easier for fishes to osmolate [?]).

In the interim, continue to maintain good water quality with regular water changes (20% or 30%). (U do not hv inverts, but urs LR contain organisms like worms, craps will die from the reduced SG and 'dirty' your water.) Do this and your ICK will go away.

Oh yes, read that article on the life stages of the ICK. It will help you to understand why sometimes the ICK seems to go away and comes back again (with a vengence) after a week and help you to determine how to get rid of the pests. Good luck.

[cornyfish]

Thanks everyone!

Unfortunately the 2 fishes in the ich-affected tank have died after a period of self-imposed starvation, despite me lowering the S.G. to 1.016 and maintaining total blackout in the tank.. was trying to lower the salinity gradually via daily water changes but apparantly it wasn't enough or the ich strain was too virulent.

btw, i'm wondering if the fishes can really tahan having the S.G. lowered to 1.009 for 4-6 weeks?

And it is true that ich will not affect invertebrates right?

[bwilly]

best to quarantine your fishes before introducing.

now your tank has ich, its best not to have any livestock.

let the ich cycle (2-4weeks) pass.

try a total change of water also.

ich only affect fishes.