darbex
Guest
So I got a bad case of ich and it basically wiped out all my fish. My question is should I empty the tank and let it sit dry for a while to kill the residual parasites or should I just heavy dose copper?
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Ich question (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter darbex
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Don't use copper if you ever plan on keeping inverts in the tank. If you've got live rock in the tank, I wouldn't empty it. I'd just dose the tank with something like KickIch and let it sit without any fish for a month or so.
6-8 weeks without any fish should be adequate. I wouldnt dose any chemicals to the tank. Make certain to QT any newcomers once you repopulate the system.
R
RocketSurgeon
crvz said:
In addition, would a UV light be beneficial?
doubletap4311
Guest
Yea uv lights do work well for the free swimming parasites.
R
RocketSurgeon
doubletap4311 said:
seems like they would become free swimming once the fish were removed. they'd b swimming around looking for more fish to latch onto. Of course, that's just my way of thinking. Knock on wood, I haven't battled ich yet.
Though you might want to quarantine them first, you can add corals and inverts while you are running fallow (fishless).
I would follow the advice of most. Let the tank run without any fish for at least 8 weeks to allow any remaining life cycles to complete. I wouldn't worry about running any UV filters or trying any chemicals as there are no reef safe chemicals that work, just marketing gimmicks.
I'm guessing you purchased a tang that brought in ich? In most cases if you want a tang then ich is just something you are going to have to live with. I don't think I've ever seen an LFS that had tangs without ich. I don't know if it's even possible to get them as the holding tanks of most distributors are infected. A lot of people just accept they will have infected fish and keep them healthy. A healthy relaxed fish with ich won't be greatly affected by it.
I'm guessing you purchased a tang that brought in ich? In most cases if you want a tang then ich is just something you are going to have to live with. I don't think I've ever seen an LFS that had tangs without ich. I don't know if it's even possible to get them as the holding tanks of most distributors are infected. A lot of people just accept they will have infected fish and keep them healthy. A healthy relaxed fish with ich won't be greatly affected by it.
KickIch may help boost the immune system of the fish and prevent infections for the fish to recover, but I highly doubt it does anything about actually getting rid of the ich. It's been out since before 2006 at least, if it actually eradicated the ich it would be the most recommended product on the market by now.
Some people have gone years without doing a single thing to their tank, then one day something happens to stress the fish and ich appears. It is possible for ich to be present with absolutely no signs, only becoming prevalent when the fish's immune system can no longer suppress the majority of the parasites.
Not saying you're wrong, I've just spent a great deal of time reading many articles as well as posts from very experienced people and tons of posts of experiences with all the various products and no one agrees there is a reef safe medication, not even biologists studying marine ich.
As it stands now, I am only aware of 4 known methods to truly eradicate marine ich.
1. Copper
2. Formalin
3. Hyposalinity
4. Tank transfer method
It has also been observed that some strains of marine ich have the possibility of "burning out" their reproductive cycle after a certain period of time, if no new strains are added to the tank. This isn't a guarantee as marine ich infections have been observed years after any additions to the tank.
Some people have gone years without doing a single thing to their tank, then one day something happens to stress the fish and ich appears. It is possible for ich to be present with absolutely no signs, only becoming prevalent when the fish's immune system can no longer suppress the majority of the parasites.
Not saying you're wrong, I've just spent a great deal of time reading many articles as well as posts from very experienced people and tons of posts of experiences with all the various products and no one agrees there is a reef safe medication, not even biologists studying marine ich.
As it stands now, I am only aware of 4 known methods to truly eradicate marine ich.
1. Copper
2. Formalin
3. Hyposalinity
4. Tank transfer method
It has also been observed that some strains of marine ich have the possibility of "burning out" their reproductive cycle after a certain period of time, if no new strains are added to the tank. This isn't a guarantee as marine ich infections have been observed years after any additions to the tank.
R
RocketSurgeon
I've read countless posts where addition of a UV light is greatly beneficial.
These two posts below came from the same thread, but there are countless others...
http://www.marshreef.com/modules.ph...stdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=hypo&start=0
These two posts below came from the same thread, but there are countless others...
http://www.marshreef.com/modules.ph...stdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=hypo&start=0
Scott said:
stealthfightrf17 said:
trb
Guest
I lost about 2/3 of my fish to ich about 4 months ago. I set my fish up in hyposalinity, and it did kill the ich on my fish. I left the main tank running with only my shrimp, anemones and corals in it for a good 7+ weeks before I put any fish back in it. Knock on wood, no relapse yet.
Before I get any new fish from now on, I do plan to quarantine them for at least a month, maybe longer. Eventhough I don't think it was a new fish that caused it right away, since the last new one was added about 4 months before the outbreak. it must have just been laying dormant and the fish were resisting it for a while.
Good luck!
Before I get any new fish from now on, I do plan to quarantine them for at least a month, maybe longer. Eventhough I don't think it was a new fish that caused it right away, since the last new one was added about 4 months before the outbreak. it must have just been laying dormant and the fish were resisting it for a while.
Good luck!
I've used it for three outbreaks in two different tanks. Each time it completely "eradicated" the ich from the tank. I don't believe it's marketed as an immune booster so I believe you're misinformed as far as that's concerned. And yes, it's reef safe as I've used it all three times within a reef tank complete with all types of corals, nems, shrimp, etc...
This is a hobby of anectdotal evidence. I'm not sure of many true experimental data dealing with the home aquarium. So, we rely on what experiences others have had. What some "expert" writes in an article that nobody will read doesn't really matter to me. All I can tell you is what has happened in my tank and others' who have told me they have used it with success.
This is a hobby of anectdotal evidence. I'm not sure of many true experimental data dealing with the home aquarium. So, we rely on what experiences others have had. What some "expert" writes in an article that nobody will read doesn't really matter to me. All I can tell you is what has happened in my tank and others' who have told me they have used it with success.
I'm not saying it didn't stop the outbreak or it's not reef safe. Just stating there's no evidence that Kick Ich actually kills every last parasite. In fact, just a quick google search pops up countless cases where it either didn't work or came back several months later during a stressful event.
There have been controlled long term studies that showed only the methods I listed above as sure fire ways to completely kill every last parasite.
I'm simply stating for those that want to be absolutely sure there is no ich present in their tanks, there are only 4 proven methods. I would trust a controlled study by a biologist with a microscope before I would trust individual visual evidence.
There have been controlled long term studies that showed only the methods I listed above as sure fire ways to completely kill every last parasite.
I'm simply stating for those that want to be absolutely sure there is no ich present in their tanks, there are only 4 proven methods. I would trust a controlled study by a biologist with a microscope before I would trust individual visual evidence.
doubletap4311
Guest
About 6 years ago I had a terrible outbreak of ich. I used garlic extreme(used to boost eating) and installed a quality uv light. I have not had ich since I started using the light. This is my personal experience and have never lost a fish.
Yes, total complete eradication comes only a few ways. I've not seen any evidence, or study, on KickIch so I can't say for sure one way or the other. I can only give you my experience. Sure, treating with Cu will kill all the ich in the tank, but say goodbye to ever doing inverts in that tank again. Yes, you can empty everything out and let it all dry. That should kill all the ich too. Problem is, if he's got a couple hundred pounds of live rock and sand along with coral, that's a lot to go to waste. KickIch is the only product that I've seen that is "reef safe", and I've seen and experienced that claim in person. The only way to completely secure your tank from getting ich is to not keep any fish, coral, live rock, sand, etc... All these can potentially bring in ich. So if you're that hell-bent on complete eradication, enjoy your empty glass box of water.
No one said anything about using copper to treat his tank or taking everything out to dry, just letting it run fallow.
There's no need for "empty glass box of water" talk. It is completely feasible to have a full healthy reef free of parasites. It has become highly recommended to quarantine your fish and corals for more reasons than just ich, many worse things. Some people even go to the extreme of running any new fish in a hyposalinity treatment, which I would personally do with any tang.
That being said, as I said before, there are a lot of people who don't worry about if there's really ich in the tank or not. Healthy happy fish can fight off ich no problem and you may never see it. The problem is all it takes is the right situation and you have an outbreak possibly losing your expensive, favorite, 10 year old fish etc....
Either way, there's many ways to go about this hobby, to each their own I guess. Just trying to get the facts out there for an informed decision...
There's no need for "empty glass box of water" talk. It is completely feasible to have a full healthy reef free of parasites. It has become highly recommended to quarantine your fish and corals for more reasons than just ich, many worse things. Some people even go to the extreme of running any new fish in a hyposalinity treatment, which I would personally do with any tang.
That being said, as I said before, there are a lot of people who don't worry about if there's really ich in the tank or not. Healthy happy fish can fight off ich no problem and you may never see it. The problem is all it takes is the right situation and you have an outbreak possibly losing your expensive, favorite, 10 year old fish etc....
Either way, there's many ways to go about this hobby, to each their own I guess. Just trying to get the facts out there for an informed decision...
tektite said:
Are you saying to remove everything from the tank for 8 weeks, or to QT everything? If remove, do you have a reference for this? The idea I've always read is that a fallow tank for 8 weeks will suffice to eradicate the pest. With no host fish, the parasites will die off by the 8th week, while leaving any substrate, corals, etc. in place. I've never read a recommendation to remove everything, that may as well be a recommendation to start your entire tank over.
R
RocketSurgeon
crvz said:
I believe the instruction was to QT everything, so that you don't introduce ich or other invasive parasites etc.
