Icky Ich Situation

[MikeyZO]

Ok, so as a few of you noticed in my Hello, I'm new here thread, my reef tank is a little under 6 months old and consists of the following:

36gal bow
ProClear Pro75 Wet/dry filter with protien skimmer
50 Lbs liverock
2 Ocellairs Clowns
Purple Firefish
Pygmy Angel
Royal Gramma
Cleaner Shrimp
Several snails and hermits
Hammer Coral
Zoa Polyps
Metallic Green Star Polyps
Toadstool Leather
Pom Pom (Pulsing) Xenia

So far I have not lost any fish, corals, or shrimp. The only recent problem I've had is that my royal gramma seems to have an outbreak of ich. Now one person had mentioned water parameters and changes. I've had my water tested for everything under the sun by two seperate reef stores in my area (2 seperate places that are fish/reef only and have been in business for a very long time, so I assume they somewhat know what they are talking about), and both said my water is right on the money. As for changes, I do a 5 gal/week change with Tropic Marin salt. And I make sure I heat the water up to the temp of the tank before changing. I know that ich is usually caused by some sort of stress. I also have not seen any other fish bother my gramma. During the day he comes out and swims around, still has a hell of an appetite (speaking of, I feed Formula 2 flakes in the day and garlic soaked mysis at night) and I never see anyone bother him. At night he hides in a little cave under the rock. The only thing that seems weird to me is that the lifecycle of this ich seems to be much different then what I've read trying to research this. I will wake up, feed the flakes and see him and he will look fantastic. Then I will go to work, come home and he's covered in spots. Then by the next morning, he looks fine again. It seems very quick to me. I should also add that I'm currently on a Kick Ich treatment which was advised to me by both reef stores. Short of this, I'm totally at a standstill. I've read that the only real ich cure is quarrantine with copper and let the main tank cycle for 6-8 weeks to kill whats in there. Is there any suggestions people can give me to at least try to strengthen his immunity or something or keep the ich somewhat under control? None of my other fish have even one spot on them, and they never have... and I'd like to keep it that way. Any and all help will be appreciated (short of a QT tank cuz It would be hell to break the tank down and get the fish out.... unless it becomes an absolute necessity lol). Thanks in advance!!

[Matt Rogers]

I've gotta run but maybe someone else can jump in here.
In the meantime, check this out:

Bad case of ich...

[Reefkeeper]

I to am just finshing up with the kick-ich treatment and has tried this Ultra Cure BX for internal & external Bacterial infections someone told me about . All I can say is, I thought for sure I'd lose my two clowns the ich looked so bad, but after three days of using this it went away .Did it have anything to do with using this and the kick-ich, I'm not sure.But every fish is showing no sign of it. I'm a newbie ,so you should ask someone with more experience!!!

[luvreefs23]

Sad more people havent chimed in to help but ill throw in my 2 cents. Im scared to death of ich cause after 4 months of starting this hobby a few years ago i lost an entire 29 gallon tank to ich. Ive boughten 2 blue hippo tangs since and they are notorius for ich out breaks....my lfs told me that as long as your fish are eating GOOD rich nutritious foods your fish will be alrite. When my first hippo got ich and everyone in the tank continued to eat like pigs, same thing with the 2nd hippo and so far everyone is great. Id say u know and are doing everything u can do with your ich problem, just gotta wait it out. One more thing, when u are doing water changes make sure your measurement of salinty level is accurate, my marineland hydrometer was giving me false readings and i had problems because of that. Since i bought a fractometer, dont wanna burn a fishes slime coat off dumping concentrated saltwater in there cause u think its good.

[Bogie]

The LFS can check all your water parameters except your lighting and temperature. You could have temperature swings from the tank being heated up sitting by a window... or maybe it's just too high or too low. You may be leaving the light on too long or not enough, or randomly turing them on/off - best solution is get a timer. Other fish may also be bothering it while you're not looking, causing stress and an ich outbreak.... Just things like this that can stress a fish that your fish store can't do a water test on.