# Fish has ich



## miataliker

I have two clown fishes. Would changing the whole water out help take out all the parasites in the tank? Or should i change the clown fishes into a QT tank and treat them?


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## mollies

some one will better help but I can say do not take the water out. i would gues to get a med dont know what kind cause my fish have never got ich but some one els could better help.


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## miataliker

Alright. But i really need help. One of my fish died not to long ago.


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## mollies

ok wher are you located?


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## mollies

here answer this questions. while im geting you some info. How lon have you had the fish? How big of a tank? Do you have a liquid test kit? If so what are you readings? What is your temp at?


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## miataliker

Im located in california fresno. I have two clownfishes for about 3 months now, I have the tank for about 4 months, the temp right now is at 75-80 degrees right now, Did the nitrate, nitrite,ammonia and PH test and all came out good:

Nitrate 0ppm
nitrite 0ppm
ammonia 0ppm


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## mollies

Have you added any thing new to the tank since the clowns?


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## Jack Middleton

Does the tank contain any invertebrates? and is it run with live rock for filtration?

Ich in the salt water aquarium can be a bugger! 

If you dont have any invertebrates and dont plan on adding them in the future, you could treat in the tank, but the live rock if you have any will not be safe for use in an aquarium with inverts.

If you do have inverts then you will need to set up a QT tank with a small amount of live rock, you will have to treat with a form of copper to kill the Ich. The fish will have to remain in the QT tank for 8 weeks, whilst the main tank runs fallow for that period, so the Ich starves


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## miataliker

Sorry but whats inverts? And yes i have live rocks with a filter.


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## Jack Middleton

miataliker said:


> Sorry but whats inverts? And yes i have live rocks with a filter.


snails, shrimp, corals etc anything with no back bone


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## miataliker

Yeap i have two red crabs and a coral. What do i do now?


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## Jack Middleton

miataliker said:


> Yeap i have two red crabs and a coral. What do i do now?


Set up a QT tank of about 60 litres with some cycled live rock (about 6kg will cost you £30 from a reefer breaking down)

Set it up and then introduce the fish and then dose a copper based medication. the fish will need to remain in this tank until the main tank has run fallow for 8 weeks.


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## foodgodess

I'm no expert but the information available to me says.If you have a quarantine tank option, use that fursure and treat them with the copper sulfate. But also read that not moving the little sickies unless you have to is best. You can limit the problem by lowering the salinity,do more frequent water changes and feed medicated and vitamin supplement foods. If it's really bad they might need a dip. What is your calcium and alkalinity? Just cause I know Pas will ask you and I'm sure help you out when he see's this


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## Pasfur

I would personally take a different approach to treatment. The firs thing I recognize is that this tank is only 4 months old, and you mention that you have lost a fish in the past. Did you loose this fish to ich? This is a very important question, because recent studies indicate that you need to wait a full 90 days after the last signs of ich before you can successfully declare the tank to be 100% free of ich. 

For treatment, I would not move the fish. Given that you do not have inverts at this time, I would suggest quickly lowering the salinity to 1.013 with a water change and begin multiple daily feedings of a garlic enhanced food. I personally use Formula Two marine pellets by Ocean Nutrition. I find the effectiveness of this particular food to be outstanding for helping the fish to quickly boost their resistance to parasites. 

I would leave the salinity at 1.013 until you see no signs of ich for 7 consecutive days. Then begin SLOWLY raising the salinity back to normal levels (1.023-1.024) over a period of 10 to 14 days. Continue feeding garlic supplements daily, and after 90 days without any signs of ich you will be home free.

I find that treating ich successfully is not difficult at all. Having the patience to do it properly is very difficult and is usually the reason for continued difficulties with ongoing outbreaks of ich.


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## HardCory

I completley agree with Pasfur. No copper, TONS of patience!


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## miataliker

So all i do is i change the water so that the salinity will go up?


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## mollies

no make it go down. to 1.013. Then after 7 days you will want to gradualy make it go to 1.022 or 1.024 over a 14 day period. I beleive that what* pasfur* ment.


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## miataliker

Sorry but how do i make it go do?lol


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## mollies

I believe you wil have to take some water out then add less salt then normal. But pre mix the water the day befor you add the new water to the tank. and you should check the salinity befor adding to the tank to. I have never had to lower my salinity. I hope im corect. Pasfur will addres the situation better tomorrow if that is wrong. So if you could wait till then?


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## Pasfur

You lower salinity with a water change. However, this will have a negative impact on your corals and possibly crab. We need to know EXACTLY what you have living in this aquarium. Every species of invert, coral, fish, crab, snail, etc, etc. What is in this tank?

At this point i hope you have picked up a garlic supplement. If you have, then at this point I suspect you are already seeing an improvement.

By the way, I am glad to see Jack Middletown posting the advice given above. The approach of setting up a hospital tank and adding copper based medications is a very traditional approach to ich treatments. You will find a ton of literature recommending this treatment. Unfortunately, it is an approach that I personally disagree with based on my personal experiences and conversations with hundreds of people on these internet forums over the last decade. There have been many recent published articles that agree with me. You would need to reference publications written in 2008 or 2009, such as FAMA and TFH, to support my point of view.

Keep in mind, treating for ich is not an exact science. There is not really a "right" answer here. The hobby is still studying these techniques. Major universities and still "discovering" how ich is best treated. I am just giving you my personal approach.


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## miataliker

Thats alright.I understand, but i have a live coral, live rocks, live sand and two little red crabs. Sorry but i dont know what their called. Hahah.


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## Pasfur

Can you post some pictures? Even with the corals and inverts, I would probably just feed garlic and closely observe the fish. Moving the fish at this point will be very stressful.


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## miataliker

Yeah. Well i was searching through this site about feeding it garlic and i bought it not to long ago and i just started feeding it today  But For the salinity do i have to put less salt or how does this work? Sorry, ive changed the water a couple of times but it doesnt seem to work.


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## Pasfur

To lower salinity you would remove saltwater and add freshwater. The new water should not have any salt at all. 

However, given that you have corals and inverts, you do not want to use this option. Do not lower the salinity.

How have the fish responded with the garlic feedings?


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## miataliker

The fishes is still acting the same. One of the clown fish is swimming with its fins in and it twitches. Its weird.


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## Pasfur

How about the spots? Are you seeing less or more? If symptoms get worse, we will need to take additional action.


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## miataliker

Its getting better. The spots only comes once a while. Should i take the coral out before lowering the salinity?


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## Pasfur

You're missing the point of this. You have no reason to lower the salinity. The garlic is doing what you need. No further treatment will be necessary, most likely. Just continue feeding garlic and close observation. I will keep checking in, but if things get worse shoot me a PM and I will check the thread... just in case I miss it.


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## zaitmi

I am delighted with this thread. Great advices by Pasfur. You must follow him blindly to be successful in this profession.


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## CamryDS

nvm -- didn't read the end of the thread.


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