Ich-ASAP-3reef Forums

hitman35 · 12-16-2006, 07:38 AM

alright I thought it was gone but it came back whats the best way to get rid of ICH without setteing up a seperate hopsital tank.I have been treating with the clear no ICH I turned on my skimmer yesterday for a cpl hours and now it looks like the disease is coming back.Dont knot if those two are related.

Also even if there is a hospital tank set up how do you rid your main tank of ICH

rayjay · 12-16-2006, 08:17 AM

To rid the main tank of ich, leave it fishless for six weeks and the parasite will die off as it is unable to complete the life cycle without a fish to host it.
Remove all fish to a treatment tank and treat with hyposalinity or copper.
Hypo is the preferred treatment but I've found that even six weeks of hypo at 1.0075 doesn't always rid the fish of the parasite, (my achiles) and I had to use copper as a last resort.

serotonin · 12-16-2006, 08:37 AM

It has been my experience that 4 weeks is enough to rid a tank of ICH, if it is kept fishless throughout that entire preiod. Hyposalinity works but 1.0075 is far too low. 1.015 to 1.010, shoot for the middle of the road there (in the quarentine, not the display tank!)

Regards

PS: I've had success with cupramine, also fromalin and malachite green

rayjay · 12-16-2006, 11:48 AM

Believe me, if you have a resistant strain, even 1.075 will not cut the mustard.
To run at 7.5 though you have to KNOW and MAINTAIN the s.g. to keep it from going lower.
Same goes for the time element. While most parasites may be killed of in 4 weeks, it only takes one or two survivors to start the whole thing over again and the extra 2 weeks is pretty good insurance most, but not all times.
While it may not happen again for a while, the numbers can go from 2 to whatever, and still not be a problem if the fish are healthy and unstressed, but just one little problem and the parasites can all of a sudden spring up again.
hitman35 thought his problem was gone, but all that happened was that the exposed parasite was killed off but some remained to reappear again later.
While some have had success with in tank treatments, there is enough evidence to support the fact that in tank treatments have a very poor track record.
Also, many fall victim to the "parasite gone" syndrome, where no parasite is visible for a period of time, but later, it crops up again because it had not totally been killed off and the fish were not sufficiently capable at that time of fending of the new assault.

3D-Reef · 12-16-2006, 03:41 PM

Heh all,have you read the article by J.C.Delbeek in AFM?He has a theroy about ick and how we might combat it.His idea is you put your fish in a QT,and leave the DT fishless.Every day take a cup of QT water and pour into the DT.The ick smell the fish,releace their troments,only there is no fish to go to.So they die for lack of a host.
This way your not using chem's or hypo which can effect other inverts.

rayjay · 12-16-2006, 04:03 PM

I think something must have gotten lost in transit between the article and your telling because it doesn't make any sense to me. Can you post a link to the article please?
I would think it would have to be more than a theory or why would he make the statement? It would have been more prudent to test the theory before publishing it.
If there is no fish in the DT then the ich will die out anyway, and the fish in the QT remains infected, as no treatment is done, and, taking water from a tank with an infected fish, and putting it into the DT, means probably addition of the ich to the DT, delaying the cure for the DT.
How is the fish to become ich free, by transfering water from the tank it is in, to the DT that is fishless?

serotonin · 12-16-2006, 04:33 PM

Rayjay brings up excellent points in both replys, can't argue there

3D-Reef · 12-16-2006, 05:10 PM

Aquarium Fish Magazine,Jan.2007,Reef Aquarist, "Parasites in a reef.."

He had a friend with a tank that had parasites that would live through the quarantine period.So they came up with a plan.

The fish get treated with copper,and or formaldehyde baths first(in the QT).Once the fish are free of parasites.Then start adding a cup to the DT everyday for three weeks.

The idea being,the tromont won't release all the tromites if there is no fish present.A cup of QT water with the chemical scents of a fish will fool them into releasing the rest of them.

hitman35 · 12-17-2006, 12:38 AM

thanks for the feed back guys I will try what I can w/ out getting a seperste tank but seeing how my money is crapy right now I hope I dont lose the fish I have before this happends