catholicteacher Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 So, the water cleared up today after I moved the tank and the first thing I noticed was that the majority of the fish had white spots all over them and a few of them were rubbing a lot. I don't know what to do since I don't have a quarantine tank or any resources to treat them, what should I do here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 The 'ich' probably showed up from the move which caused stress to them. If I remember right Pat at SWF sells a product that is a 'ich' cure/remedy that is also reef-safe. It would be worth a phone call to see if he has some. I have heard of people say they had good results with it. If that isn't an option then.............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelhead77 Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 I just went thru this, first with new Pink Skunks, and then a new Purple Tang. After being chided for not quarantining first, a lot of people with a lot more reef experience than I had a lot of great suggestions ranging from feeding them garlic and/or metronidazol to trying the "reef safe" additives, to taking all of the fish out and letting the tank go fishless for six to eight weeks, and lastly, to doing nothing. The Skunks cleared up on their own in about 3 days with no treatment. The Tang, however, literally looked like he had been dipped in sugar and he had it that bad for about 2 weeks. About 4 days into it, I tried a product called "Ich Attack". I think it had dubious results. One thing it did do is turn the water brown. It did not harm any corals but I did not like the color of my water so I stopped it's use after 2 days and did a 25% water change. I ended up using garlic (both fresh and concentrated) on their food. The Tang finally cleared up and has been ich free about two weeks now. One LFS owner that I (and more importantly, my wife) trust, said to do nothing except maybe garlic. He says that as long as you keep your water params good and they are active and feeding and otherwise healthy, they should be able to fight it off. During the episode with the Tang, no other fish came down with it and right now all of my fish are ich free (knock on wood). So ultimately I'm not sure if any of these "treatments" worked or if he just built up an immunity. YMMV, of course, and like I said, many people know A LOT more than I, so get as much advice as possible and listen to someone you trust. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 I don't know much, buuuut.... IME, the stress of netting the fish and subsequent QTing is at least as damaging to sick livestock as the infection itself. Also IME, the cost of "medicines" and treatments often exceeds the value of the livestock and never seems to come with any kind of guarantee. Or, for some products, a list of active ingredients. YMMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catholicteacher Posted March 16, 2009 Author Share Posted March 16, 2009 Well, after talking to some Stores, some people in the hobby and the opinions of yall I have decided to wait it out after getting my water tested today. I have started using Rods food and have added garlic powder to the feedings hoping it will help, I have about $200 in fish in the tank and would hate to lose them because it would take about 5 months to save up to replace them. Thanks again for all the help, I will update as it progresses/regresses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Mike, don't use garlic powder off the shelf. If you must add garlic, go to a health food store and get liquid garlic that has nothing in it but garlic juice and water. Garlic powder is full of preservatives, which are really phosphates. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catholicteacher Posted March 16, 2009 Author Share Posted March 16, 2009 awesome, thanks for the tip Bob, will do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 You can soak a clove of garlic in the water that your food is thawing in, just don't add it to the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 I had good luck with "Ich Attack". fixed ich, not so much on the velvet side though. But it did work well with the ich. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 +1 on the garlic, Garlic extreme worked well for me. do you have UV sterilizer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 It's better to use organic garlic if you are going to soak cloves of it in water. Alliums are heavily sprayed with chemicals during the growing process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriswaters Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 The only thing that garlic will do is make the food more "tasty" to a fish that is not eating well due to the infestation. Ich has a time line associated with it. Most people say that garlic works well because by the time the fish consume it, the "cysts" on the fish have reached maturity and fall off. (Thanks Joel for this info...). I picked up a tube of metrodiazonale for $10 bucks. Cheap compared to $200.00 worth of fish. If your fish are eating...soaking this med in the food and feeding it to the whole tank will help! If they are not eating...well, I hope they pull through. As for QT'ing fish...I agree 100% with others that trying to catch a fish in your display is pretty stressful. For the cost above, just treat the entire tank and let your already stressed out, sick fish relax. As for QT'ing fish after you buy them...I don't do that either. Most of the junk is already lurking in my tank ready to attack that weak fish. Buy healthy fish. Don't be afraid to treat for ich. I tried garlic in the early stages of ich...it did nothing. Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Just to be clear, i don't use garlic either, the only time I tried it, it didn't work for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Garlic is used, IMO, purely for stimulating the appetite of the fish. Nothing else. Only helps infected fish by keeping them eating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Garlic is used' date=' IMO, purely for stimulating the appetite of the fish. Nothing else. Only helps infected fish by keeping them eating.[/quote'] I agree with this statement completely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelhead77 Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 See what I mean. All great advice! This forum is great for those of us just starting out and running into problems like this. Most of these folks have been through this, some more than others, but everyone has something worthwhile to contribute. I really appreciate everyone on this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catholicteacher Posted March 17, 2009 Author Share Posted March 17, 2009 Update: All the fish are eating as normal, but still are rubbing a lot and all look like they have been rolled around in sugar. Ive got my fingers crossed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Good luck, sounds like you are at the tipping point. They will either start to die off or start to look better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 again, I had good luck with "Ich Attack" it is sold at one of my least favorite places, Petco. 11.99 for big bottle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catholicteacher Posted March 20, 2009 Author Share Posted March 20, 2009 Update: Still no dead fish, started using Marine Max from Fantaseas yesterday. The spots are still prevalent and rubbing hasn't ceased but I still have all of my fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdumitru78 Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 Catholicteacher, I had battled ich in the past and tried most of the chemicals listed above - pretty sure you're wasting your time and money with those, there is no proof out there that they "work". The ich goes through its life cycle, and while you think your tank is cured, the ich might come back tenfold. I have tried the Hyposalinity Treatment described here - http://atj.net.au/marineaquaria/hyposalinity.html with great success twice and at the same time I ran my tank without any fish for 8 weeks, I now have a ich free tank. You might also wanna go to reefcentral and under the "disease" section there is a wealth of info about ich and how to deal with it. Good luck with it, and you might want to invest in a quarantine tank, they are really cheap to set up and well worth the hassle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catholicteacher Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 update: 6 line is 6' under, everything else is still alive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catholicteacher Posted March 24, 2009 Author Share Posted March 24, 2009 Update #3: recent deaths=Black Cap Basslet and False Percula, bad thing is that all 3 of these looked the healthiest. It looks more and more that I may have a coral only tank soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Sorry to hear. If you can catch the remaining fish it might be worth it to QT them now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catholicteacher Posted March 24, 2009 Author Share Posted March 24, 2009 I wish I could, I do not have a QT tank set up. I am banking on the 1% chance that they can make it through this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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