First fish with ich, help.....

[tmace64]

I patiently went through the whole cycling process and have just recently added my first serious contribution to my marine environment. I added a Pacific Sailfin Tang. ONLY one week after adding, this fish is clearly displaying signs of ich. If this is what having a marine aquarium is all about - i.e. - treating sick fish,, I dont want it any more.

--Would definitely appreciate any suggestions on immediate treatment for this BEAUTIFUL fish.

--- MY BIGGEST CONCERN How how how, do I get this fish out of the tank for treatment in a hospital tank????????? I've tried this before and found that ultimately,,, I had to RIP UP and DESTROY ALL of the aquascape!!! I DON'T want to go through this mess again so soon. My LFS is telling me that new tanks should be left alone,,, not disturbed. HOW CAN THIS BE when fish get ill with ich and need to be removed from tanks for treatment....????? Please Help!!

Thank you so much
Todd

[Guy W]

Todd,

First of all I would recommend accepting the fact that the potential for a fish to show signs of Ick are pretty high, especially in any wild caught fish.

I've never had a fish that hasn't showed a couple white spots from time to time. Sometimes more.

I've never lost a fish to Ich either.

What I would do is first, make sure your tank is cycled. Fish don't get ick. they need to be stressed. Be it a tempurature change, poor food, lighting, ammonia spikes, fighting. Any and all of those things can and probably will cause white spots on a fish, commonly called Ick.

In my opionion a few white spots aren't a big deal. Just make sure everything is stable and they will go away.

If they don't go away your doing something wrong. Treatment won't help because they will likely come back.

Figure out why the fish is getting Ick and then remedy the problem. If it's way out of hand treat the fish.

As for saying if this is what having a marine tank is all about you don't want it. I can only suggest getting rid of your tank. I don't mean to sound harsh, but if your not willing to be patient and do a lot of work, you might as well stop now before you get any more involved. It's not an easy or cheap hobby by any stretch of the imagination.

Also, I don't know a whole lot about the Sail Fin but a lot of Tangs are prone to Ick. Also the sail fin gets really large. I think 15 inchs or so at it's max. Your going to need a hell of a large tank for that fish.

I wouldn't have recommended that fish as a first fish for a newly cycled tank.

Guy


Originally posted by tmace64
I patiently went through the whole cycling process and have just recently added my first serious contribution to my marine environment. I added a Pacific Sailfin Tang. ONLY one week after adding, this fish is clearly displaying signs of ich. If this is what having a marine aquarium is all about - i.e. - treating sick fish,, I dont want it any more.

--Would definitely appreciate any suggestions on immediate treatment for this BEAUTIFUL fish.

--- MY BIGGEST CONCERN How how how, do I get this fish out of the tank for treatment in a hospital tank????????? I've tried this before and found that ultimately,,, I had to RIP UP and DESTROY ALL of the aquascape!!! I DON'T want to go through this mess again so soon. My LFS is telling me that new tanks should be left alone,,, not disturbed. HOW CAN THIS BE when fish get ill with ich and need to be removed from tanks for treatment....????? Please Help!!

Thank you so much
Todd

[kreblak]

Unfortunately, sick fish come with the territory. I disagree with Guy, in that I believe that treatment does work. You must treat long and thoroughly, though. I recommend NO-ICH MARINE available from www.drsfostersmith.com as I have had great success with it. It is 100% reef safe. I used it with a tank full of inverts, and didn't lose a one. The one drawback is that I did have to treat for a total of 7 weeks before I eradicated the ICH.

ICH is a parasite and will never go away if not treated. You may not be able to see white spots on your fish, but that doesn't mean that the parasite isn't present and active. Guy is correct in that many stress factors bring on the full blown outbreak of Ich, but if the parasite isn't present to begin with your fish cannot come down with it.

[Guy W]

My point though Kreblak was that every wild caught fish is going to have the ick parasite. Even if their are no visible signs of it. I think the only way to guarentee that you never have Ick in your tank is to either hit the whole tank with copper every time you get a fish (bad idea by the way but it would work). Or only put a fish into your tank after you QT and treat it for Ick first for a month.

Guy

[tmace64]

First off, Id like to comment on my loss of "cool" when I first began to "cry" by saying "I don't want it." I came from a bad day,,, I came to relax and as every day,,,, relax in the beauty of this awsome marine eco system. As with my entire day,,, this too was "failing." I was in a real hole by this time, discovering a few ich spots on a beautiful fish. I came here to this board for safety, comfort, and most importantly --> "re-assurance." Sometimes we all need a little. Just because little Johnny was loosing at little league,, and becoming dis-enchanted with baseball,,,, his dad would Never Ever encourage "quitting."

Guy, thanks for offering your experience with this completely new experience of mine - the same thing. Parts made me feel more at ease, thanks. Both have painted a clear picture.

Kreblak, thanks - I'll look up that treatment - I have more homework to do. Should I monitor a bit more before taking steps of treatment?? - This is the first day I noticed any signs of ich on this fish. Only 3 spots on the tail fin,,, 1 on side fin,,, and barely one on it's body. I recognize em from the olden days,,,, way way back when I had 5 freshwaters all over my parents house......

Thank you both!!
Tod;)

[MonoSebaelover]

Am sorry to point this out but this should have taught you to do your homework in advance, and NEVER 100% trust your fish store. There is a 50% chance they will be WRONG!!! Tangs do best in an established tank that has been up and running for at least 6 months. This is why you are seeing the ich breakout. What size tank do you have to. See the problem with newly set up tanks is sometimes when you add a fish you get an ammonia spike which will stress fish. I would bet that this is what happened so doing a small water change would probably help him. I don't really believe in medicines, I try to do everything to avoid them. I would recommend getting a Cleaner Shrimp before adding any chemicals ESPECIALLY to the main tank. That is a huge no-no. Anyway, hope this helps and good luck.

[kreblak]

My point though Kreblak was that every wild caught fish is going to have the ick parasite

I can't argue with that! ;)

[tmace64]

Thank you so much, that makes total sense. I am at 11 weeks with only a trace of ammonia that is slowly decreasing. The guys at my LFS seem to repeat what is talked about here. I too read that tangs are prone to contact ich.

Thank you mono..... I like your philosophy. I will perform a small water change INSTEAD of their suggested "Green-X" or Kick-Ich.
I too would much rather use natural methods. Nobody's dumping treatments into the ocean,,,,, cept for toxins, sewage, trash, leftover subway cars,,,,,, jeese its a wonder the ocean continues to be at all.

Today, you wouldn't even thing this tang had any ich,,, it has subsided for now,,, i'll still go with a water change,,,,,, couldn't hurt right?

thanks
tod

[BrianH]

I would also suggest not adding anything else to your tank until your ammonia & nitrites are 0 and stay there for at least a couple of days.

Brian

[mtdd]

I have been battling ick for weeks now and have tried a 25-watt uv sterilzer, garlic, and water changes. None of those methods worked. Out of desperation and great reluctance I tried the new Probiotic Marine Formula available through drsfostersmith.com and 48 hours later there is no sign of ick anywhere. All the inverts and corals seem to be okay.

I know it is way to early to declare victory but I will keep you posted.

[Cearbhaill]

Today, you wouldn't even thing this tang had any ich,,, it has subsided for now

Out of desperation and great reluctance I tried the new Probiotic Marine Formula available through drsfostersmith.com and 48 hours later there is no sign of ick anywhere
You guys need to do some big time research if you think this means things are improving....NOT.

And get a q-tank!
It seems a simple thing but can save you worlds of worry and prevent situations like this.

How much do you have invested in your tank already?
Is another $50 really so hard to swallow?

[benjen]

The only 'solution' for ich is to kill it off before you add a fish. Otherwise it will come back for vengence every time something else goes wrong in your tank. You can use chemicals to do this, but a simple 6 week hyposalinity at 1.009 after a 5 minute freshwater dip will eradicate the vast majority of parasites that come in on your fish. A quarantine tank can cost as little as 1 10 gallon tank, 1 powerhead, 1 sponge air pump, and a handful of PVC pipe segments. The PVC is just to give the fish hiding spots, which reduces stress. Everything should be cleaned between quarantinings. If you happen to get one of the Taiwanese ich variants that can tolerate extremely low salinity, you might have to resort to copper to kill it off. Cleaner shrimp and gobies don't eat ich or marine velvet in the wild. They might eat it in a tank, but don't make that your sole defense. (Don't get cleaner wrasses at all. The ocean needs them.)

Otherwise, you will face the choice of catching fish to save inverts, using chemicals in your display tank with myriad potential side effects, or re-treating frequently enough over time that the quarantine will seem like less of a hassel. If you have a near perfect set of conditions, ich and other parasites may never become much more than an irritant, but it seems easier to me to not place all my eggs in that basket.

If you want to clear a tank of ich and velvet, take all fish out of the tank for 6 weeks and keep all the fish in hospital tanks. When they are completely cured, you can put them back into a tank free of the most common parasites.