ICH?!Why you shouldn't panic if you get Ich

I recently added a Clown Tang to my 125G Reef, and upon arrival his new tank mates didn't think too kindly of him, and he was chased, beat up, and really stressed out..and BOOM he got Ich but taking all of the know how I have received over the past year or so on 3reef I decided to just be patient, and like in the wild, the strong will survive. I didn't tear my Live Rock out of the tank to catch him and QT him, I didnt chase him with a net, I let him be, he was swimming fine and grazing when he got the chance (if he wasnt being bullied)...I started dosing heavier Garlic than usual, and that means I boiled garlic unti it was REALLY soft and then flattened it, and fed it directly to the tank, everyone really enjoyed it, I also added vitamin C into the diet, and now that things have calmed down I am proud to say that my Clown Tang is showing no signs of Ich at this time...does that mean it won't re-appear in the next few weeks or so..not really, but I want to give hope to all the people that do experience marine ich...Remember if you only buy fish that appear to be fully healthy to start, if they happen to let the ich get to em' , with a little bit of nutritional help from you, they can and will fight off that nasty pest. And remember just because you run a UV Steralizer, and all your other fish are healthy, you will never completely rid your tank of ich...but you CAN keep your fish healthy enough to not let it effect them. Please be patient and only take action when absolutely needed, trying to catch the fish WITH ich can stress out the tank mates and they could fall victim as well. I Hope I give everyone that battles the nasty pest some hope

 

Definitely! My clown had ich he first day or so in the tank. I fed him well, kept the water quality up and it was gone in a day or so. I havent had a breakout since!

 

Wow....you have a very passive clown tang. Normally, they are the aggressors. With that said, I don't worry about ich. Most people who've been keeping reef tanks for some time understand the role of nutrition in fighting minor things like this. Some of us even supplement our foods with HUFA's and Vitamin C several times a week, even if no fish is sick.

 

I was first told from a knowledgeable source that ick is like the common cold for fish. It always seems to be around, but the fish can usually get over it with some ease if they are provided proper nutrition and good water. So that helped me stay calm when I had my first outbreak. No issues since

 

Yeh, but my Sailfin is a big monster, and I have a very large sgt. major damsel, that are the muscles of the tank, the Clown Tang is only about 2 1/2" while my sailfin is about 5.5" and the Sgt. Major is about 4.5"....and they dont take crap from anyone..lol

 

I call BS. You CAN get ich out of your tank if you're willing to take the proper measures. Fishless display for 8 weeks, and a full 8 week QT for everything that goes into the tank, is just about guaranteed to get rid of ich, permanently.

 

Call BS all you want, it will ALWAYS be in your tank...u just may never see it

 

That's not true. Some fish have an innate immunity to ich (mandarins, eels, etc) and some fish have no innate immunity at all (tangs, butterflys, etc). Additionally, if a fish gets ich and then becomes healthy again, it starts picking up aquired immunity making it harder and harder for it to get ich again.

If one uses QT properly, you can have an ich free tank. In fact in 1994, Burgess and Matthews were studying ich and they could not keep it alive more than 34 of it's reproduction cycles (10~11 months). They learned that they HAD TO add a new fish and allow it to get ich to continue their studies as the current fish had aquired immunity.

I've experienced this with a friends tank. Due to heater issues, over the course of a couple of days the temperature varied from 65 to 88. Now THAT'S a temperature swing. They were very stressed....but no ich developed.

Here's some good abstracts you can get.

Burgess P.J. and Matthews R.A. 1995. Cryptocaryon irritans (Ciliophora): acquired protective immunity in the thick-lipped mullet, Chelon labrosus. Fish & Shellfish Immunology 5(6):459-468.

Colorni, Angelo. 1987. "Biology of Cryptocaryon irritans and strategies for its control" Aquaculture 67:236-237

Burgess, P. J. & R. A. Matthews. 1995. "Fish host range of seven isolates of Cryptocaryon irritans (Ciliophora)" Journal of Fish Biology 46:727-729, 1995

Cheung P.J., Nigrelli R.F. and Ruggieri G.D. 1979. Studies on cryptocaryoniasis in marine fish: effect of temperature and salinity on reproductive cycle of Cryptocaryon irritans Brown, 1951. J. Fish Dis. 2:93-97.

Burgess P.J. and Matthews R.A. 1994. A standardized method for the in vivo maintenance of Cryptocaryon irritans (Ciliophora) using the grey mullet Chelon labrosus as an experimental host. J Parasitol 80:288-292

 

Yes, its true they can become Immune to it...but its still always there in your tank no matter what precautions you may take short of a copper or completely bare tank

 

"Matthews were studying ich and they could not keep it alive more than 34 of it's reproduction cycles (10~11 months). They learned that they HAD TO add a new fish and allow it to get ich to continue their studies as the current fish had aquired immunity."

What there saying there is that it can die off on its own, even with fish in the tank. So it will not always be in your tank.