Reef-Safe Ich Treatments - are they really safe?-Diseases-3reef Forums

Coral Falconer · 09-29-2006, 04:06 PM

Does anyone know if the ich treatments advertised as reef safe - such as Ich Be Gone - are really safe, and if so, do they work? The website had all these great testimonials but I wanted to know from you all first before I tried this $60 per bottle stuff! I hate using a QT because it's so damn hard to catch my fish but I don't want to kill $800 worth of coral by doing something stupid. If anyone has any experience with reef-safe medications, please let me know which, if any, work.

fletch · 09-29-2006, 05:58 PM

Sorry but I my self don't know of any.

serotonin · 09-29-2006, 07:09 PM

I can't comment on it, ive always stuck it out and got the fish into QT. Once it took me 45 mins to get a coral beauty out. Perhaps even research some peoples DIY fish traps. I've heard of people cutting the open end of a 2L bottle lid off and inverting it. (something along those lines) Put some food in the 2L and try your luck. Just a thought, as I would try everything I could before putting chemicals in my reef!

Best wishes!

RAVEN · 09-29-2006, 07:45 PM

There is no effective reef safe ich treatment other than taking your fish out and QT for 12 weeks and let the main tank go fallow. Raise the temp in the main tank to 82F and stir the sand every few days.

Tangster · 09-30-2006, 07:27 AM

Saltwater Ich {Cryptocaryon} will not kill a fish.. Its what I'd call equal to a cold in mammals its stressed induced and seasonal also I think it seems to appear in the early spring and early fall the most. If you have one fish with Ich then removing it will only induce more stress..
Turn up the temps a bit a few degrees taking a fish out will do nothing but cause more stress to that animal and besides The flagellates have already completed the maturing stages and became free swimming and found a host animal so removing that fish won't stop the cycle of the spores either.
Now if the fish continues to eat and acts normally except the occasional scratching on a rock then the flagellate it will drop off and go the bottom and wait for the cycle to start all over again. I just let them be its a secondary infection that will kill the fish like a chest cold going into Pneumonia to the higher animals Then I just treat the entire tank with a good antibiotic like tetracycline or penicillin I have been using them for more yrs then I care to recall with never a problem.. No matter what the experts would tell you or me. But only when I needed them and not just for Ich.
But for the water temps say from 78 F to 80F will speed up the cycling life span of the parasite by 1/2 the time . But all this info is for true Ich and all white spots where not created equally you have to know what you are looking at. Ich is like a grain of salt A .Oodinium marine velvet is like a dusting of smaller spots and former is like chicken pocks the latter is like smallpox's There is tons of info on these disease and causes amd cure and as man opinions as to where thet all come from and go to do a search. And find out what you are really dealing with. Good luck

djnzlab1 · 02-20-2007, 07:48 PM

HI,
I had one or two spots on a dotty back and maybe a clown they kept visiting the shrimp and it seemed to go away not sure if the shrimp was contributing to the removal or scratching a itch, but its gone now.
Doug
I hate heavy metal ich poisons its like a slow death for all inverts.

coral reefer · 02-20-2007, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coral Falconer

Does anyone know if the ich treatments advertised as reef safe - such as Ich Be Gone - are really safe, and if so, do they work? The website had all these great testimonials but I wanted to know from you all first before I tried this $60 per bottle stuff! I hate using a QT because it's so damn hard to catch my fish but I don't want to kill $800 worth of coral by doing something stupid. If anyone has any experience with reef-safe medications, please let me know which, if any, work.

Hey Coral Falconer this may help you! I just found this!Fish Corral

coral reefer · 02-20-2007, 08:05 PM

Reef safe treatments IMO are not all they are made out to be! These chemicals are not found in our reefs of the world so, you have to wonder how effective they are and what long term effects they will have on our livestock!

coral reefer · 02-20-2007, 08:22 PM

Fish Disease - Ich
Lets all read this to help us better understand the true effects and possible things we can do to eliminate or at least control this potentially deadly effect on our wonderful fish.

geekdafied · 02-20-2007, 08:30 PM

I disagree with Tangster. Saltwater Ich is a parasite. The parasite eventually covers the gill plates and suffocates the fish to death, this is why heavy breathing is a symptom of Ich. I am just now getting over a Ich outbreak, and have spoken to a Marine Biologist about this and he explained it all to me. He said to raise the temp to 82 degrees to speed up the gestation period, so it would be less then a week turn around from egg to protozoan(free swimming) The normal life cycle is 3 weeks for Saltwater Ich. He also said to cut down the salinity to around 1.015(hyposalinity) because they require the higher salinity to thrive. Feed your fish foods high in garlic such as Formula2, or dose with "Garlic Xtreme". The garlic helps build the fishes natural slime coat to help protect it from parasites and other diseases. The downside to hyposalinity is that your corals will not make it thru it. The only choice for reef aquariums is trying the all natural approach such as using garlic products and raising your temp to 82 degrees gradually.

I tried the raising the temp and dosing with garlic and it helped the fish that I noticed originally having Ich. Then my female clown got it, and nothing messes with my clowns, haha. So then I looked into the all natural methods.

As for the reef safe "all natural" products on the market, there is a draw back to them. I bought some of the "kordon- Ich Attack" which it does work, my female clown looks a lot better now, but.... I have diatoms everywhere now and got some hair algae making a comeback because you have to remove all of your filter media when dosing. ALL of my corals are fine, no harm to them whatsoever. Chala on here, is also having the same problem and is using "Ich attack" with a lot of success as well, but she has a FOWLR tank.

So my advice would be to try it, and it should work. Here is alink to their website....Novalek - Kordon - Herbal Ich Attack