Another ICH question(oh joy)

[rift-n-reef]

I've been having a problem with my 125g and I'm just not sure how best to handle it. I set this tank up probably around 4 months ago, and have had nothing but problems this go round. I think perhaps I got lucky the last time when I ran a 125g FO for over two years with out incident.

At any rate, I have lost a good number of fish(more than I care to admit at this point) mostly to unknown causes. But more recently I've lost a couple to ICH!!

Well, the stocking has been put on hold till I get this remidied, and figure out what was causing my mysterious fish loss early on. I currently have in the tank, about 40lbs of live rock(for deco reasons mainly), a couple large hermits, a blue fiddler crab, a chocolate chip star, and a red-spotted hawk fish. The hawk fish has been in since day one, and has yet to show any signs of problems. I had a huma huma trigger in the tank, but sent him packin' so I could have the crab and some starfish.

Any who....;) Heres where my question comes in. I want to let the tank sit fallow for a month or so to get rid of the ICH, but I don't really want to get rid of my hawk fish. Since he has never shown signs of ich, can I accomplish this with him in there? Also, what is the exact time frame a tank must be left fallow to rid if ot the parasite??(so I can add two weeks to it..lol)

Thanks for your thoughts.

"J"

[makai]

If you can catch 'em when u see it dip in this.....

I swear by this stuff. I only have a 55g, so i treat the whole tank.
I have some mushroom corals and a condy anemone. Its safe for all invertabrae.....

I put this into the tank and the water turns a brown color. I could actually see some ich spots fall of my trigger with in three hours. after three days of treatment it was gone. and haven't seen the dreaded ich since....

here is a pic of the lable....if it works...

[makai]

sorry tried to post pic of the label....

i don't know how......
i'll try to figure it out and post again....

[makai]

here is the label.......

[rift-n-reef]

Thanks for the thought, but I'm probably just going to let the tank sit with out fish for a while to assure the absense of ICH in the system. On another note, I'm all about nice natural cures for ICH, and particular the ones that are reef safe....could you enlighten me as to where you picked up this wonder drug??

Cheers,
"J"

[Corax]

soak the food in garlic juice (goto the grocery store, buy minced garlic in WATER, not oil...) for 5-10 minutes before ya feed it to the remaining fish. Garlic will help strengthen the fish's immune system to fight off the ich. Some people use garlic as a general food additive, but that robs its potency when you actually NEED it, such as now...

Also, you might want to add a uv sterilizer to your system, it will kill the free floating ich parasites...

[makai]

http://www.novalek.com/kordon.htm

there is the company's web site. I've only seen it at one of my LFStores. Haven't seen it anywhere else though. U can order it from the site though.

The last garlic post is a great idea if you can't find this. This kordon product is mostly garlic extract. It'll stink up the whole room. I use fresh crushed garlic when feeding...

[rift-n-reef]

I did the garlic thing a couple years ago with fair results. It didn't seem to kick the ich, but it did seem to help prevent it from getting much worse. As for using it currently, I don't really have a need to treat. Outside of the spotted hawk,(who is 100% ich free) there are no fish in the tank. Thats why I was wondering the length of the life cycle of the cycst.

On another note, ever see a hawk with a 125g all to itself?? Talk about a happy camper...lol

"J"

[WAR EAGLE]

get whatever they have as long as it contains Malachite Green & formalin you are set. m.g. is a known carcinogen, and its use is prohibited in food fish, but you can still get it for aquarium fish. make sure you remove your biofilter while your treat it (or at least move your filter media into sometype of aerated containter), or else you'll nuke all the bacteria. mg & formalin will take care of what ever it is. You'd be wise to treat your system, because alot of parasites can lie dormant in the sediment until you put more fish in.

[kev82]

Oh, and malachite green and formalin will most likely kill most of your other inhabitants (including crabs, corals and anemones).
It's generally not a good idea to put medicine in saltwater tanks that have anything else than fish, because only the fish can take it.