Ich - need to lower salt level - will this affect my corals?

Hey, i have an ich outbreak. im a newb to this and i have read that i need to drop my salt levels down to 1.015 - 1.017 and leave for 2 weeks in order to kill the parasite to get it out of my system. (apparently it cannot survive levels below 1.017)

but no where does it say whether dropping to these levels for that period of time will affect/kill my corals. I know the fish and inverts should be right providing its dropped slowly.

If anyone has any experience with this or knowledge that would be great. ive searched everywhere for the answer.

 

Is it the ich that dies or does it just kill the eggs/prevent them from hatching? I'm comfortable in saying low salinity will have some residual effect on your coral. One thing I would certainly do is feed your fish food soaked in a vitamin supplement to help them combat the little boogers.

 

For hyposalinity to be effective you need a target of 1.008. This SG will kill your corals and inverts and cause some die off of your biological filter.

There is a lot of good information to be found here on 3reef, you just need to do the research and separate the myth from the fact and understand the life cycle of the parasite.

Check out the site below.

Marine Ich - Myths and Facts

I am not sure where you are researching but hopefully you will find a better resource than the one where you got that information.

 

Great website thanks for that, so best option is to move fish out of main tank for an 8 week period. treat fish with a non-reef safe remidy and move back once the 8 weeks it up?

 

Keep in mind that Marine Ich will become symptomatic when fish are stressed. Stessors include: acclimation, aggression, decline in water quality, poor nutrition... these are the most common. Symptomatic meaning you can see the white spots, the fish are flashing and scratching. The parasite is present in the fish gills and causing difficulties with gas exchange, but you can not see this until the fish is breathing heavy.

Reduction in those variables that cause stress will reduce the incidences of symptomatic ich even though the parasite is always present in a system to one degree or another: how virulent it is depends on the strain and time between introductions of fish.

If you are going to observe the strictest of quarantine after treatment, this means QTing everything, if it's moist it has the potential to carry the parasite, than you may want to proceed with hyposalinity or treatment with copper, you can not do both at the same time. If not than you might consider less invasive measures such as stress reduction techniques.

With that said, even a tank with low stress may have an out break with the introduction of certain types of tangs.

 

Thanks for that. So one way or another, no matter what i do the ich parasite will still be present and the best treatment is not trying to eradicate it, but to keep stress levels down in order to try and prevent an outbreak. correct?

 

The parasite will basically burn out in a system if no new fish are added for roughly a year. In theory the parasite becomes less virulent and the fish develop some immunity to it, well that is my take on the information in the link provided previously.

QT and treating for Marine Ich tends to be a controversal subject. Some are advocates of strict QT and treatment, others treat for stress and avoid sick fish at time of purchase. Many hobbyist are use to the routine of the occasional occurrence and take it one day at a time, while maintaining as stress free a system as possible and feeding quality foods.

Some advocate the use of a UV as well, and I personally see no reason not to use it as long your aware that it only treats those organisms that make it through the filter.

How many fish in your tank have it?
What types of fish?
How old is the tank?
How large is the tank?

 

You are in great hands with our resident Ich Queen.

Stress is the enemy.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/new-hob...general-rules-successful-aquarium-126326.html

http://www.3reef.com/forums/general-reef-topics/minimum-tank-sizes-selection-animals-137158.html

 

The ich outbreak started a few weeks, i went to the local aquarium store who were very helpful. although the measures they told me to take (drop the salinity raise the temp) seemed to just stress the fish out and affect the corals. many fish died and i think it is because of the added stress.

the fish i have left now is a clown, a couple of damsels and a puple/orange fish. (not sure what its called)

there are now only 4 fish. due to fish dying i have raised the salinity back up and everything seems to be settling down. the fish seem to be healthy. the clown and the damsel never got ich in the first place so i think they have a natural immunity.

the tank has been setup for roughly 6 months. i believe the infection was introduced from a fish i bought at the shop. that was the first fish to die and never looked healthy from about day 2.

the tank is a 3 x2 x2

 

Sounds like your tank maybe on the road to recovery.

Purple orange fish, perhaps Royal Gramma.