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Ick help!

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alk care clowns eat fish food gallon gbta host ich invert live live rock pair pick points problem quarantine rbta reef remove rock royal gramma snowflake tank
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S

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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
I have a pair of snowflake clowns and a royal gramma and they have ick. I went to kees and they gave me medication to feed my fish. It hasent done anything for about 3 weeks now. They all still eat like pigs and are very actice. They are still covered with white spots all over. My next step id assume would be to quarantine them. I dont have room or another tank to set up a quarantine, so would anyone be able to help me get rid of the ick or know a lfs that would hold and treat them for me? Id pay you for your help. Thanks alot. I can be reached at 2485680054 jack


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L

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#3 ·
You wouldn't need much space, I'd just go pick up a ten gallon. I've also done the garlic food which seemed to take care of the problem in my tank, but from what I'm told it didn't make the Ich go away. I haven't seen any since, though, so that's good. Your best bet though is to remove the fish and leave the tank fallow. Someone else will have to tell you how long though, because I forget what the standard time frame is.
 
J

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#5 ·
Garlic does nothing. Treating your tank is not an option. Pull the fish and quarantine in a copper based medication. Recommendations for keeping a tank barren of fish to allow the parasite to run its lifecycle without a host and die are at least 72 days. Mine just went 103 days fishless. No one likes to hear the truth on treating properly and you will always get arguments to contradict but the scientific data is clear and the gimic remedies such as garlic food and "reef safe" treatments are plentiful. Good luck
 
D

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#7 ·
Garlic does nothing but help to get them eating. You need to quarantine them and keep your main tank fallow for at least 72 days. You can quarantine the fish in copper or hyposalinity (1.008 specific gravity). The other option is to move your anemones and any other invertebrates you keep to a different tank and go Hyposalinity on your main tank. That way you are ridding the main tank and your fish of Ich at the same time. I did it to my 90g last year due to an outbreak and everyone did well and no signs of Ich since. Its a big pain in the neck, but effective.
 
J

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#8 ·
Actually the hyposalinity method has been debunked. It is not as successful as once thought and has been said to be too stressful on some fish species. Now temperature elevation has been proven to speed the lifecycle up and lessen the wait time when leaving the tank fallow. My tank ran at 81 degrees for 103 days with hopes that it would help. Remember ich is a parasite from the same environment as your other inverts. If something claims to kill ich and not your other critters then something is not right.
 
J

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#13 ·
leejr said:
check out this link it will tell you everything you need to know about marine ick.

Marine Ich - Myths and Facts
Click to expand...
While 95% of his opinion is spot on it lacks any type of actual documentation. Some of the points he argues as being false are in fact correct and have been published in the scientific world. Still he wrote a very nice piece on the disease, just needs some fine tune and supportive documentation.

Sneor, here is the article I pm'd you about and here is one of the links over to rc.

FA164/FA164: Cryptocaryon irritans Infections (Marine White Spot Disease) in Fish

Marine Ich (cryptocaryon irritans) - the real scoop - Reef Central Online Community
 
B

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#14 ·
FWIW, i just went through hyposalinity with 3 fish. I kept them in hypo for three weeks. Before i added them to my display i wanted to ensure they were ich free and disease free. The first occupants of my tank got sick (did not qt), I let my tank run fallow for over 70 days while my current residents went through qt in cupramine. From my experience (reef for over 12 years) i find it less stressful on fish to go hypo watching the pH, then it is using chemicals. Not all fish can tollerate copper based meds.
All my new arrivals go into qt for observation and only hypo if ich is detected from now on. No bigger pain in the butt than to empty entire tank just to get one sick fish out.
 
M

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#17 ·
jay13 said:
Actually the hyposalinity method has been debunked. It is not as successful as once thought and has been said to be too stressful on some fish species. Now temperature elevation has been proven to speed the lifecycle up and lessen the wait time when leaving the tank fallow. My tank ran at 81 degrees for 103 days with hopes that it would help. Remember ich is a parasite from the same environment as your other inverts. If something claims to kill ich and not your other critters then something is not right.
Click to expand...
Where are you seeing that the hypo salinity method has been debunked?
 
L

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#19 ·
What do you base that on? I will agree that some Angels will not tolerate some types of copper, as all copper meds are not the same. But all my angels (bandit, chrysurus, emperor, regal, flagfin, blue line, blue spot, flame, potters, goldflake, multicolor, personifer, etc.) have all been through at least a six week treatment of Cupramine.
 
J

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#20 ·
mebbid said:
Where are you seeing that the hypo salinity method has been debunked?
Click to expand...
Read the entire scientific article I attached and those that you can link to from it. Based on multiple studies from specimens from all different capture points in the world it has been found that multiple strains of marine ich are resistant to hyposalinity. Some strains do in fact succumb to it but gambling that that is the strain you have is just that. A gamble. Copper is the cure that constantly falls back into the "it works" realm. The others are too inconsistent to rely on. Or, as in tank transfer method, beyond the means of most aquarists based on available space alone.
 
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