I cannot cure Ich, why?

Hello again everyone,

Several years ago I started my first 40gal. freshwater system that due to my inexperience crashed in under 3 months due to Ich. No matter what I tried it eventually killed all of my fish except 1 very determined cichlid. Needless to say I was heartbroken and thought I was done with aquariums for good.

After much learning and researching I decided to try again so now, I have a fairly new 55g saltwater reef system setup just a few weeks over 2 months running. We recently upgraded our lighting and clearly see our 6 line wrasse is now showing alot of Ich. I have a product called nox-ich but don't see the point in using it as it is my understnding that the main tank is infected and he will just get it again.

Hyposalinity seems long and grueling, if (being so new) could even keep up with the water params as I have heard it's difficult to do. My next idea was to freshwater dip the wrasse for some immediate relief and then start dosing the tank with Ich-Attack, Melafix, or Herbtana. Use a garlic food dip and hope for the best?

Surely there has to be a way to save these fish and get my tank useable for future fish without killing everything and starting over? I've read alot of things and I'm just not sure what road to take can you all give me some sound advice to control Ich so I can maintain this hobby?

Thx for listening

 

IMO: Get the wrasse out of the tank, put in a QT, treat with copper, hyposalinity or formalin. Those are the only proven treatments for ich.

 

I couldn't agree more.

 

if you go this route, which has proven succesfull time after time, for many many people.
you also need to leave the main tank fish free for anything up to 12 weeks ( min 8, I believe)

the above will work for sure


alternatively - sometimes works but not as effective as above method
you can allow the fish to build up its own immunity system by keeping it healthy , well fed and stress free
foods supplemented with Garlic, Vitamins and HUFA (highly unsaturated fatty acids) can help the fish improve their general health condition and thus fight of the infection

if new additions later are healthy and kept that way, well fed, stress free etc , then they can also build up immunity quickly and never become infected

if you QT new introductions and treat with copper if they show any signs
then you can maintain a tank, add new fish, without always having a parasitic outbreak

but as stated above YMMV ( your mileage may vary) and I accept and respect that this method does not work everytime.

Steve

 

I added a uv steralizer and everything recovered. Its just a 5w JBJ steralizer.

 

We had ich & fungus when we first added a blue tang to our tank - we use Kordon Rid Fungus and it kicked both - swear by the stuff

 

Thank you, I am now looking into a steralizer however this one is discontinued. 5W JBJ Submariner UV Sterilizer/Clarifier


Lastly, all I have for a QT at the moment is a 1.3gal or a 28gal Nano that has'nt finished cycling. Which is also now infected with Ich because we used some of our 55gal. sand to help cycle it. So I don't think Hyposalinity will work or could be maintained by me anyway in a 1.3gal. Are you suggesting doing this to our main tank? If so, what is the "exact" regimen on doing hyposalinity correctly?

We just finished building the sump and refugium to the 55gal today and being installed tomorrow and I just do not have the money to go get a better QT on the fly. Everyone says treat with copper but at my LFS I saw no copper, only this Nox-Ich (malachite green) stuff. Is there another name for this copper product?

If all else fails I guess our remaining fish will end up dieing and I will leave it fishless for 8-12weeks but seriously, I dont want to see that happen. In the future should I dose every new fish with copper before going in the tank?

Also, what's the point of using copper on a QT fish? If by returning the fish to the tank it will just contract it again? Would'nt a freshwater dip do the same thing?

 

Yea someone also recommended this and also Kordon Ich-Attack but also learned it causes the tank to re-cycle? This was my plan of attack, using this with ich-attack but someone above said take the fish out immediately and into QT. I'm confused which road to take.

 

There's a whole bunch of copper products. Cupramine, and coppersafe come to mind.

You should, under ideal circumstances, put every new fish in QT for a period of 2 months, and observe to be sure they have no parasites. Treat with appropriate medication (copper/hypo/formalin for ich), and then release into the tank.

You can't dip in copper and have it work on ich; ich is only vulnerable to medications for the short period of time when it's free-swimming. Ich has other stages, that amount to about a month of time, and the free swimming stage, which is only hours long.

It will only be vulnerable to UV at this time as well, which means UV is not a really effective solution for killing ich.

You can't use copper in your DT if you plan on keeping any invertebrates; copper will leech into the silicone and rock, and kill them off as it leeches back out. You can do hyposalinity if you don't have ANY inverts (they'll die from low salinity); you'd bring the salinity down to <1.010 over the course of a week or more, and let it sit that low for around 2 months. The cyst-on-the-sand stage isn't vulnerable to hyposalinity, and it's the longest stage, so you gotta wait that one out.

A sixline would likely freak in a 1.3 gallon tank, and be severely stressed from the size. A 28 would work, but using copper will prevent it from being anything more than a fish tank.

 

I placed mine in my sump. I have a 10 gallon qt i bought when i had the break out of ick. i planned on dosing it with ick medicine. Copper should not be added to a reef. fish only tanks are ok but if you plan on reef in the future int not suggested. coper stays in the tank long after you have stopped dosing. I have yet to use my qt because the sterilizer fixed it all.