ick treatment!

[Guest RED DOG]

So I see this nice looking Majestic angle at the LFS. Looks healthy, I see it eat, no spots or discolor anywhere. I buy it for a good price, bring it home, QUARANTINE for two weeks, Still looks great no spots and is still eatting good. Place it in reef tank, and WHAMO ICK! I've tried bringing up the temp a little (about 80 deg) And soak what ever I feed in garlic, but it has gotten worse. No other fish show signs of the Ick yet, but it has been like this for a week. Is there a reef safe remedy? I will try a few more things, If they don't work and/or I can't catch this angle, I will just copper treat the tank! and crank up the heat to 85 deg. good bye corals and oh well.

[Grav]

Dude, you are going to kill all your coral?

 

As much as I can apreciate your desire to save the fish, if you are serious, at least have the sence to give those corals away to the first to shout: "DIBS."

 

The heat thing is a new one for me.  My thought is cranking up the heat like that would only stress the other fish making them more likley to get ick too.  I'd take a real shot at catching that fish (including a barbless hook) and treating with hyposalinity in a hospital tank before doing something drastic... but anyway....

 

DIBS on all the doomed coral.

[traveller7]

RED DOG,

 

The only ick med I have used in a reef is "Kick-Ich" by Ruby Reef.  If the infection is not too bad, it has worked for me.  Many years ago in the days of undergravel filters we used Hex-A-Mit but it will wack some inverts.

 

Even jokingly, copper in a reef is difficult to maintain at proper level due to the filtration gear, precipitation, etc.  It will not likely be effective.  If the infection is really taking hold you'll need to move the fish to quarantine.  IME, all the fish to QT for 6 weeks so the parasites/protozoans in the reef drop dead.

 

Cheers and good luck.

 

Edit:  btw: Amylo could be the culprit and may take 20 days to show up.  On this I was recently reaquainted :(

[michaelg]

get a pair of cleamer shrimp ASAP:)

[quazi]

Red Dog,

 

Ick is present in your system at all times - unless you copper your tank.  The reason your fish got ick is stress.  I would concentrate on removing stress and feeding garlic soaked food (if he is eating) to help the infection. I find less medicine and more calm not stressful environment is the best thing.

[Grav]

oh no, I hear the "ick is everywhere / no it isn't"  conversation coming.

 

My feeling is that cleaners help, but not a cure

[chideloh]

If you don't have a lot of SPS in your tank here is what I would do. It has worked for me in the past more than once .

 

As Grav mentioned, lower your salinity to 1.0019. That alone will take care of it but to help the matter, get cleaner shrimps and if you can get a UV sterlizer. Doing all three will help greatly.

 

I even did it (lowering salinity) to my 135 full of SPS and other corals and they did fine and got rid of the ick.

 

HTH

[Guest RED DOG]

I don't want to crash the tank... But damit, I have more money it the fish than the coral, The angel is the biggest fish in the tank and I have not seen it picked on at all. The shrimp would not last long do to a dragon wrasse and a trigger. I will try the lower salinity. I would take the tank down and catch all the fish and send them to quarantine, but right now I just have to much going on, and don't have the time.

Thanks for the replys. If I do goto drastic measures I will save what I can.

[krish]

David,

You mean 1.019 and not 1.0019. Correct?

1.0019 would be a disaster, since even in a seperate

Quarantine, hypo is adminstered at 1.009.

 

The cryto can survive at 1.011 SG.

 

-krish

[chideloh]

krish,

 

Yes, you are right. My fault.

 

Red Dog,

 

It sounds like you don't have a lot of corals. Don't catch the fish, just lower the salinity for the tank.

[Lee Stearns]

ok I've been tagging because i have a hipo Tang with Ick-suprize suprize- I fresh water dipped 10 minutes and I quarantined two weeks just to try the theory that you could keep ick out. In the dark ages It was my belief that ick was prevalent and just a matter of fish stess if you were to get it. After two weeks and not even one bit of scratching or rubbing or spots of anykind,  I place him in the tank. After about two weeks in the display tank the Hipo has ick. So I will lower the salinity a bit- But luckily my hipo is easy to catch for now as its favorite home is a large myrx shell which I just lift out with fish and all. Now the Question. What is the preferred tratment if you can quarantine again the hipo. Fresh water dip- the blue mythel water, the copper treatment? Combinations? how long a FW dip- etc etc

Thanks ,

Lee

[Guest RED DOG]

I have mostly soft corals. A large purple rim sps. How long should I take to bring the level down. About a week?

[AquariaUSA]

Most has already been covered but here is a list

 

QT 3-6 weeks (screen for disease, and enhance diet/immuno complex). Not many do this, but if you do I seriously doubt you will have mortality issues experienced without QTing.

 

Drip acclimate species to desired tank. Lights off or feed if large community to alleviate immediate stress on new addition.

 

Watch for signs of stress (mainly inability to eat without feeling threatened by other species in tank) for first 2-3 days.

 

Cleaner Shrimp (if applicable to system) will keep "ick" issues to a minimum depending on how often they receive man-made foods. 2 per couple tangs usually works, unless the dominant tang keeps others from using the cleaning stations.

 

UV sterilizer if you continually have "ick" outbreaks. Won't take the cysts/trophonts off the fish, but will irradiate what is in the water column if it passes through the uv.

 

Hyposalinity (but be wary of wild colony sps, delicate seastars, inverts in molting phase, etc.) Slowly drop salinity over course of two days. All at once can tick off certain coral species. Ex. 180 gallon tank running at 1.025. Exchange 12 gallons of tank water with 12 gallons of fw topoff (elevate pH). Salinity should be around 1.022~1.023. A few hours later you can drop another 12 gallons. Wait at least 12-24 hours before going any further. 1.019-1.020 for a period of 3-5 days should help eliminate free-swimming "ick" looking for a host. If you go any further you can risk coral species or inverts.

 

Ruby Reef, or Kents RxP can also help to slow the bloom phase of "ick". Use sparingly with wild colony SPS dominated tanks (preferably not at all if you have a sizeable investment).

 

Elevating the temp to about 82-84 degrees will speed up the life cycle (repro) phase of most parasites, but can put stress on the tank inhabitants as well. Watch closely if using elevated temps.

 

Pull the fish and re-quarantine for another 3-6 weeks. Strengthen the diet as much as possible with products like Selcon, Garlic supplements, B12 (capsule/liquid form), and Beta Glucan. Supplementing natural foods (those found in the natural environment if possible) can also help greatly.

 

Goodluck, keep us posted

 

Avoid copper, usually does more harm than good, even in a separate med tank. There are more milder meds on the market that work just as well, if not better than copper on parasitic outbreaks.

[Guest RED DOG]

Thanks for all the help, and advice. Today the cryst spots are less noticable. I am in the middle of laying ceramic tile in my kitchen for the last week. With everything moved to the living room, I can see my tanks and get to them enough to feed, but thats about it. This all came on at the worst time to do anything about it. Which just added to the overall level of craziness and frustration going on right now.

[Lee Stearns]

Red Dog- I have been taggingwith the same Ick problem- This weekend I lowered slowly my SG to 1020 and will bring it to 1019 tonight. I have seen no problems with any of the soft corals excep the pulsing xenia is less active- all other polyps are open mushrooms, digitas, yellow colony, zos, colt and devil hand- Green finger leather is a bit droopy- Question - how long does one keep the hypo salinity at this level? next I will raise temp a bit- I usually maintain 79 degrees. I am in search of a UV sterilizer- they are a bit pricey for what they are. And I have heard that I would need greater than 25 watts on a 150G system. Last resort would be chem- Kick Ich or Ruby reef? preferences out there? I know to stay away from any copper based- Thanks for letting me tag Red Dog, how is your ick doing.

Regards, Lee

[chideloh]

Lee,

 

I  leave the salinity level until the ick is completely gone and then I gradually raise the level back up next 2-3 months each time I do the water change. Back to normal salt level is not critical so take your time doing it. Just want to make sure the ick problem is completely gone.