Treating Ich

[tofubox]

Hi guys,

My Display tank recently got an outbreak of ich. And its quite bad. Have decided to remove all fishes and place them in a DT tank for treatment.

Couple of questions:

1. If i remove all fishes from the DT for 1 month, will the DT be free from ICH? I understand the parasite needs a fish host. I have many corals, so cant risk doing Hypo or copper treatment on DT. How can i kill all the parasites in my main display tank after removing all fishes. Just leave it free of fishes for a month?

2. Any recommanded commercial products for treatment in a Quranteen tank? Copper based?

Thanks!

[cool guy]

hmmm... another poor reefer. itch is a reefer most wanted enemy. its difficult to fight wit itch. even if u cure ur fish, the itch will stil be ther. from my knowledge is tat itch do stick to liverock n coral too.(maybe im wrong)e best way to fight itch is to make sure ur fish is healthy. its immune system must be strong. healthy fish will fight itch easily. im keeping a 4ft fowlr. whenever i add new fish, the fish will hav itch. however, e existing fish do not hav it. so it shown a healthy fish will not hav itch easily.

so for ur case is to make ur fish fat fat n healthy. change water for e next few days. since ur keeping coral, i dont tink u can run uv light.

e moral of the story, we cannot cure itch but we can prevent itch from spreading more...

hope other bro can giv more advise.

[straydum]

my advise is give your display 2 months fishless to be safe. you don't need to do anything, just 2 months of normal keeping but of course without adding in any contaminated water from other sources, like new purchases etc

at the same time you can do hypo for your fishes in your qt if you have second thoughts on copper.

[tofubox]

Great. Thanks for the advises!

I understand that ich will always be there. But was hoping that if i kept it fishless, it would allow me to "restart" the tank with a "ich free environment". Afterall, these parasites do need a host to reproduce.

Anyway, i guess i will try out the fishless method first, and see how it goes after 2 months. At the mean time, will treat my fishes and make them fat n healthy. Hopefully all goes well, ich will be free from my DT.

[tofubox]

Anyone has any comments on using Natural Sea water? Does it contain alot of these **** parasites? No point i keep a fishless system, but keep doing NSW water change and reintroduce these Parasites.

[yikai]

NSW may contain free living parasites but unlikely since NSW is kept in a fishless environment.

to have a ich-free tank is possible.

1) let u tank run fishless for minimum 2 months. kill off all the ich and let them die without a host.

2) quarantine and treat all ur existing fish in a QT tank so they are ich-free.

now u have an ich free tank and ich free fish. put them into ur tank.

3) quarantine all new arrivals in ur qt tank.

u will never have ich.

or u can do the dump and hope approach. dun qt and throw into display tank. but make sure ur fish is fat and healthy and stock slowly. the key is SLOWLY! let the fish gain immunity over a few weeks. overstocking and stocking quickly will raise ich levels faster than ur fish can fight it off.

btw only singapore condone the "dump and hope" approach... if u post this in american, japan or other country forums u will get flamed. so just bear this in mind if you are posting this in other country forums especially in the U.S. they believe in nothing but absolute quarantine.

[tofubox]

Thanks alot lemonlemon for the advise.

Looks like i have a clear idea of the whole process. It may take time, but i guess it is absolutely necessary.

Im skeptible still over NSW, as u mentioned the free living parasites it contains.

Anyone here using NSW over a long time, and havent faced much problems? I really hope to stick to NSW if possible, but i dont want to run into more problems in the long run, Prevention better den cure as they say.

[straydum]

i have been using nsw for water changes for awhile now and hasnt gave me any parasitic problems for fishes so far.

after your 2 months you will have an ich free display but whether or not it stays that way depends on your practices. qt of new purchases is very important if you don't want to repeat these 2 months in the future.

good luck!

[finbir]

Hi guys,

My Display tank recently got an outbreak of ich. And its quite bad. Have decided to remove all fishes and place them in a DT tank for treatment.

Couple of questions:

1. If i remove all fishes from the DT for 1 month, will the DT be free from ICH? I understand the parasite needs a fish host. I have many corals, so cant risk doing Hypo or copper treatment on DT. How can i kill all the parasites in my main display tank after removing all fishes. Just leave it free of fishes for a month?

2. Any recommanded commercial products for treatment in a Quranteen tank? Copper based?

Thanks!

Hi fren,

Check out problem under : Disease/treatment/parasite/pest control on reefers' opinion and especially detailed info by Harlequin Mania.

S 4 me I followed the 1mth lay off and tank is now ich free. Bought even tested with a couple of new fishes, namely, the rainbow wrasse and two

ruby-coloured anthias. Still alive and eating after 3 wks.

Cheers,

finbir.