# treating ich



## zachhay11 (Dec 27, 2008)

ok so my domino damsel got ich. he has had some white dots on him and has been scratching against the glass and sand. so i got a bottle of "nox-ich" and it says 2 drops per gallon. so i turned up my heat and added roughly around 130 drops. any way it did turn my water blue for a few hours which i was told was supposed to happen but it told me to remove my activated carbon stuff from my filter, which i did, but now my protein skimmer is pulling out bubbles and fluids that have a blueish colour to them. is this normal or should i turn off my skimmer? also, all i have in there is one hardy damsel so should i lower my dose?


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

I would stop treating altogether. I have never found an effective chemical treatment for ich, and yes I have used Nox Ich on many occasions. Quick Cure is more effective on marine species, but still leaves a lot to be desired, as does copper treatment.

My approach is to feed a garlic supplement daily, lower salinity if live rock is not present, and allow the fish to naturally fight off the infection.


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## zachhay11 (Dec 27, 2008)

your right, the medication did more harm then help. i added it(probably to much of it its hard to dose) then gave it some time, came back and found him dead. i guess a combonation of ich, bad treetments, a nitrite spike, and the stress of being new is to much for even a damsel. well anyway i'm guessing the ich is gone since i treated it already so i then put the carbon pad back in, turned on the skimmer and gave it a few days, i then tested it, ammonia is gone but nitrites are up(i'm cycling) and everything else seemed fine so i bought a cheep blue damsel and now i'm gonna see what happens. he's doing well and eating well so far. anyway for the future can you elaberate on the garlic supplement?


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

I will be very surprised if ich does not present itself again. I would not consider any treatment successful until the aquarium goes 90 days without seeing any signs of the parasite. 

I feed foods supplement with garlic. My favorite is Formula Two Marine Pellet by Ocean Nutrition. I have had very good success, repeated over a number of situations, in using this food to help fish fight off signs of ich. At this point in my fishkeeping life, I feed this food every morning and night, in addition to the normal feeding routine.


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## zachhay11 (Dec 27, 2008)

will it evetually run its course? it will just die off without a host right? and i think if i feed him a garlic supplement they will stay off my one fish if i feed him right?


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

zachhay11 said:


> will it evetually run its course? it will just die off without a host right? and i think if i feed him a garlic supplement they will stay off my one fish if i feed him right?


Ich is a very controversial subject and you will get a lot of different opinions, even from the "experts". That being said, I agree with your statements above and would handle my aquariums accordingly.


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