Ick help

[rkemp]

Hello,

I am hoping to get a little help with some Ick troubles. For some background, I have one fish showing the signs, my blue tang . I know that these fish are commonly considered Ick indicators as they seem to be the first fish to show the signs of a tank Ick problem. Unfortunately my options for treatment are limited as I have several things in play in the tank that won’t let me use some common treatments.

First, I have coral in the tank. This means no copper based medications for the ick problem as it could harm the coral.
Second, I have a number of invertebrates in the tank which also cannot handle a copper based medication.
Third, The blue tank needs a significant amount of swimming space thus a smaller quarantine tank might just make him more unhealthy not to mention the cost to get that tank up and running.

This leaves me with only a few remedies.

• The fresh water bath. When I first noticed the fish was showing signs of ick (white spots) I immediately gave it a fresh water bath. This bath did ease the irritation the fish was having and the ick seemed to go away.
• We do have a cleaner shrimp in the tank. However the tang doesn’t let the shrimp do its job and clean the parasite off if it as the tang seems to avoid the shrimp rather then go to it for cleaning.

After the first out break of Ick and the first fresh water bath everything was fine for about 2 weeks. However, as in most cases the Ick just showed up in the fish again but twice as bad. I went with another fresh water bath for the fish but realize that its not a cure. Does anyone have any advice, as I now consider the entire tank infested, which is discouraging as I am about 2 weeks away from moving the setup to a larger tank with a built in sump.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated


Thanks

Russell

[Patreezy]

ugh, sucky situation..

I have only dealt with ich once, and I bought a bottle of the stuff they sell in the grocery stores and it solves the problem within a few days. This was with a tiger oscar and in a freshwater tank. Not much help I know..

But to me, it sounds like the logical solution would be to get your tank upgrade plans moved forward a little. Get the new tank and built-in sump up and running, cycle it, transfer your corals, and then treat your fish in the tank they are in before transfering them into the new tank.

That gives your fish about a month to deal with the ich that is currently in the tank though... So I don't know if it'd be possible to keep the irritations at bay with fresh water baths, but.. that's the way I see it.

Or find a medication without copper! (dunno if there is one..)

[omard]

To 3Reef!!!

Am sorry to hear about your problem with ICK.

But it is a very manageable disease. A fresh water dip is a good start, but get the fish into a QT tank if you can, then you can treat it with the many good medicines out there.

While many people think ICK is present in all tanks, I have never seen it in mine. Keeping fish healthy and well fed is a key. Along with plenty of swimming space, compatible tankmates, and the right food.

Insufficient swimming space may be stressing your tang out enough to make it vulnerable to the disease.

The Tao of Marine Aquaria
Tips for Our Hobby and Life

© 1997 Adam H. Whitlock
Edited By Elizabeth M. Lukan 11/25/00

[rkemp]

Thank you both for the input. I did consider trying to move the coral to the new tank after it cycles then using some medication. My only question with that is what about the invertebrates. I have heard that the inverts could possibly be the carrier of the parasite that causes ick? If this is so I would have to leave the inverts in the old tank. But I also know that the inverts cannot survive most ick medications. Does this mean I will have to sacrifice all the invertebrates in the tank to save the fish?

Thanks


Russell

[omard]

Originally Posted by rkemp

... Does this mean I will have to sacrifice all the invertebrates in the tank to save the fish?

Thanks

Not at all. Inverts do not carry ICK and are ICK safe.

I have never heard of it, but guess you could freshwater dip them also before moving to main tank, just to be sure.

[Mburke]

Ick is a parasite with three to four stages of life(depends on who you are listening to). The white spot stage on your fish is the adult feeding on your fish. The drop off to the tank bottom and encase themselves(cystic stage I believe) This means your tank has ick. This stage is the reproductive stage in 7-14 days the juvenile emerge(many of them and freely swim about until they find a host(your fish) The cycle begins again. The only way to break the cycle is to have your display remain fishless for 4-6 weeks(no fish at all parasite are in the tank). After 2 years of fighting ick(losing expensive fish,expensive miracle cures(which the expertsBorneman,calfo and all will tell you do not work)I finally went the quarantine route just a small 20 gallon And water from my display tankfor setup(faster cycle time) Traeted all my fish with Cuppramine for 10 days while at the same time lowering salinity in QT.Water changes almost daily for first two weeks. Lowered salinity to 1.090 for the remaining 4 weeks. Then took another two weeks to bring QT back up to normal.The whole time my living room display was empty and at 86 degrees(helps to speed up the ick cycle). Now fish and tank were completely free of ich. I placed two green chromies inthe QT tank just to keep the tank cycled at all times(for that impulse buy at the LFS) and I no longer intrduce anything wet into my display without a 4 week Quaratine.
Yes ick is present inthe ocean but your fish are not inthe ocean in our display tanks things are not diluted by the vastness of the oceans therefore anything which is wild caught has the abiltity to reek havoc on our little systems. The miracle cures will allow your fish to live with ick(stressed) but could you image how terrible your life would be to live with fleas on you ata ll times
Learned my lesson the hard way
Mike