Ick in the reef tank help...

mikelush78

mikelush78

AC Members
Jun 30, 2006
358
0
0
46
Rochester
OK I have ick in my 90 gallon reef...

The tank's Parameters are:
PH: 8.4
Alk: 10.2 dkh
Cal: 400 ppm
Ammonia: .25 ppm
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5 ppm

I bought a flame angel and he had ick on him 2 days after i bought him. He went down to my cleaner shrimp and got it all off him except on his tail. There is one small dot on his tail still. My grandma basset got it on him and he went to the cleaner shrimp and looks better today. But today my Golden Neon Goby has got allot of spots on him now and today it looks like the flame angel has some more little spots on its tail.

WHAT DO I DO????

If I add something to the tank it will kill all my inverts right.. If I buy a Fish trap and get the fish out and treat them then they wont be near the cleaner shrimp which seems to be helping...

What do I do?

This Saturday i did a 5 gallon water change...


e44.jpg
 
If you want to rid your tank once and for all of ich, you'll have to let your tank go fishless for five to seven weeks. This will starve the parasite.

In the meantime, your fish would have to be treated with hypo in a hospital tank.

All new fish would then have to be treated with hypo in a quarantine tank, to ensure it's all killed off, before adding it to the tank. Otherwise you could re-introduce it.
 
Do I have to do this or will the ick die off in the 90 gallon reef on its own?

I only say this because I do not have another 90 gallon aquarium to put my fish into as a hospital tank... Best i can do is a 24 gallon nano cube and that is not big enoughfor the fish I have in there...
 
Well if there is NO way to do a QT tank you could try A: feeding food that is healthy, like mysis, and phyto that have been soaked in a garlic extract, B: use a product called ICH ATTACK by Kordon (I have used this in my reef at double strength as is is all organic and that label says you can do so and I saw no ill effects) C: keep your water as close to perfect as you can.

As I said these steps are second only to a QT tank but may help if you do not have any way to set up a QT!!
 
you could always use a product called Kick-Ich it worked really well for me its completely reef safe and had absolutely no problems i highly recommend it. just make sure to take your carbon out. btw it only costs about $25.
 
NIGHTMARE sorry to hear this i also have add a ick problem in my 17 gallon after adding a royal gramma but i`ve put them in to a Q tank & running the 17 gallon fish less for few months

but i`ve had big success in my 29 gallon tank using a reef safe ich treatment & food soaked in garlic took 7weeks to clear but its never returned since thankfully

you could add a UV sterilizer this will not rid your fish of spots but it will kill any free swimming parasites & its not such a waste of money in the long run because it removes phosphate from water..

at times its a pain one of my clowns was white with spots & lay-in on the sand i thought he was doomed but all the fish pulled throw in end so if your going down the reef safe treatment & garlic then hang in there but expect anything.

if the worsted thing happens don`t let it knock you off your hobby we all learn from our mistakes & remember marine fish R only half of the fun in the marine/reef aquarium........

GOOD LUCK.
 
I have the same problem with my blue tang and now my yellow has some. There's no way i'll be able to get them out of my reef without total disassembly or death. I'm expecting a new UV sterilizer shortly. Going to go that route before I dose chemicals. So far a little extra food (brine/veg mix and red sea veggies) have kept him hopping. Despite the ich he eats like a maniac and seems to be the life of the tank. My flame angel has so far avoided the dreaded disease. In the past, if tank perams are good and no stress my tangs (ich magnets) have gotten over it. I personally have had enough hence the UV sterilizer. Good luck.
 
once you rid your tank of ick it cannot come back unless re introduced into the aquarium some how correct?

I forgot about the 55 gallon tank i had in the basment... The only problem is i dont have a filter for it. I have a couple extra maxi jets and heaters but not sure if i would need a filter...
To set this up as a hospital tank would cost a bit of money on salt so i want to be sure it will be worth it... How long will the fish be in there? Also it will not be cycled so how will that work for the fish? What will i have to do and what will i need to set the 55 gallon into a hospital tank? What medicin should i use in the hospital tank if i go that route?

Or should i give this a try:
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=RR1113

It says its reef safe? What route should i take now? lol this sucks lol
 
Last edited:
Mike, the ich will pass if the fish are healthy. I would add a second cleaner shrimp also. I have 6 in my 180g. Many fish are carriers of ich and will infect a healthy tank. If the fish is overcoming the infection naturally then let it ride.

Your params say ammonia .25, why? Hasn't the tank cycled yet?

Also, are you using an iron based phosphate resin? That would help alot with your algae in the pic. Your RO water may need new filters. I would test it.
If you are not using DI after the RO I would add a DI filter. It will help alot with water quality.

Are you using carbon? I recommend the phos resin, carbon combo and change media every 30 days. Keep up on water changes and keep an eye on your source water for contaminants.
 
I just read in another post that someone got rid of ick by adding Garlic-Extreme to the fish food. Its totally reef safe and supposedly parasites will not attack a fish it garlic is running through its blood?

Truth? Worth a shot before I set up a hospital tank or no?

Catching the fish to put in the hospital tank will be impossible.. Ill have to get a fish trap, or make one if i go that route...

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=5016&Ntt=garlic%20xtreme&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom