Same Old Ich Questions, I Apologize!

[JLAudio]

Im sorry for asking the same question, always getting good advice and asking again, its just I dont want to do something incorrectly and cost fish their lives.

I have two fish in a fowlr that have showed signs of ich (porc puffr and a sailfin). I attempted to qt puffer but the nitrite and ammonia was spiking so I put him back in main tank ( I know stupid, but without a good bacteria amount I was destine for his death)

1)I have currently lowered my sg to 1.015 and am attempting to hypo the main tank. (Should I buff it so my ph doesnt drop)

2)Or should I use a product like kich-ich for main tank

3)Use a diatom filter or UV (I was contemplating UV but a recent member has steared me toward diatom with their post.

In addition I plan to keep my 10 gallon qt running consistantly so I dont have to worry about it spiking. I also have a red sea prism skimmer, should I add that to my QT?

THANK YOU ALLLLLL! in advance

 

[marrone]

You can't do Hypo with LR in the tank.

When you start to bring the level down just watch the Ph, if it drop under 7.8-8.0 then add something to buffer the water, also make sure you have good water breakage.

The best bet would be to remove the fish, place them in a hospital tank and treat them for the ich, leave the main tank fishless for 4 - 6 weeks.

When you setup a QT/hospital tank you shouldn't have to worry about the ammonia or nitrites. Unless the tank is very small the fish should be fine in the tank for a week without any problems. Don't feed the fish that much if any, they'll be fine. You can then do a weekly water water change or sooner if you see the fish stressing some what. It's more important to look at the fish, and see how they're doing, then to do readings.

 

[manyfish]

try to run your tank temperature about 82-84 ich for few week.sometime ich will die off with high temperature if you fish are eating that a good thing.but your fish have ich a don't eat you might have to treat the tank with medication.diatom the tank is good to but it wouldn't kill ich that are on the fish.I try every thing to in past with ich in a fowlr tank so i change over to reef tank i still have the same fish and one years later no ich. I thing good water quality is the best thing to keep ich in check

 

[JLAudio]

My water quality is perfect, as well my weekly water changes are a never missed.

I just checked my sg and its 1.017, im not going to continue to lower because I have rock in there. I am going to try KICK ICH and see what happens. It says its safe to corals and inverts, well that might not be true It should be ok for fish and rock, i assume.

 

[KathyC]

JL..did you go back to your post regarding ich and look at the responses on there before starting this new one?
There is a link on there that would be quite helpful to read.


Buffering your water to keep it at 1.015 will do nothing to treat the ich but will probably stress your fish even further. Either raise it back to where it belongs, or hypo the tank(1.009), but it shouldn't stay where it is.


Why did you have ammonia & nitrate in your QT??? Where did the water come from? You should be using newly made SW matched to temp & salinity.

 

[JLAudio]

Im using the water from the main tank, I tested after 2 days with fish in it and ammonia and nitrite were beginning to elevate so I removed the fish and put him in the main tank

 

[JLAudio]

Hey Kathy I just went back and read your article, thank you it was very informative

 

[JLAudio]

I added KICK ICH to my main FOWLR(its supposedly safe for corals, invert etc.) so should be ok at least for main tank. The only thing bothering me a bit is that you have to turn off the skimmer for the 14 day treatment, so I guess Im gonna have to step up water changes.

 

[Awibrandy]

I added KICK ICH to my main FOWLR(its supposedly safe for corals, invert etc.) so should be ok at least for main tank. The only thing bothering me a bit is that you have to turn off the skimmer for the 14 day treatment, so I guess Im gonna have to step up water changes.

KICK ICH never worked for my g/f!! Another thing is that you will be removing it while doing the water changes.

 

[basiab]

This thread sounds like a disaster in the making. You are ignoring good advice and using something that does not work according to most.

But there is hope. maybe they do not have ick (and then you can claim the product worked). How do you know they have ick. You seem to indicate you suspect but unless you know for sure why treat your fish and stress them more. It is a reason to qt but not to medicate.

 

[KathyC]

Hey Kathy I just went back and read your article, thank you it was very informative

Not my article, I just posted the link.
Fwiw...there is no mention of using Kick Ich in there...

This thread sounds like a disaster in the making. You are ignoring good advice and using something that does not work according to most.

Thank you Sam, well said.
Aside from what Awilda said above, hopefully Emmanuel and Chris (CB747), and others will chime and and tell you how poorly the results were from using Kick Ich.

If you have them in a QT JL..please use the copper treatment if you are certain you are dealing with ich. Precious time is going away for your fish.

 

[cb747]

Ive used kick ick and about every other ick product on the market. They DO NOT work. You just threw your money away and rather than listen to some good advise you used it anyway. Goodluck!

 

[JLAudio]

I currently am using copper on fish that are in QT. I just wanted to treat main tank aswell to kill free swimming ich so I do not cure them to add them back to a tank with ich.

I will discontinue use and do large water change tonight. I only added one dose and I am not ignoring advice, I am just trying to remove ich from my tank and most people said at worst it doesnt work, but doesnt harm fish or biofiltration.

I currently have only a 10gallon qt so quarentining all fish is not possible till I get a larger QT

 

[KathyC]

Petland usually sells 10g tanks for about $7-10. Perhaps if you added a second one you would have enough room to QT all of your fish.

Since QT'ing fish should be done for 4-6 weeks..if you leave your main tank devoid of fish during that period, it should be ich free when you return your fish there, so no need to treat it, especially true with a product that has such a poor history of effectiveness.
Ich cannot live without a host fish.

 

[JLAudio]

Thanks kathy, marrone and EVERYONE for all advice. Please understand I am not ignoring one word, Just hate seeing sick fish and want the quickest way to fix problem (hope sometimes clouds logic and judgement). There are currently no fish in my tank that have even a spot of ich. All of the fish with ich are in QT.

This obviously does not mean that tank is void of ich. I was wondering if I could attempt a method such as UV or a diatom filter before doing the 6 week QT method. I have a read a few recent threads swearing by diatom filters for this purpose and I am currently attempting to purchase one

Is that a waste of time?

 

[KathyC]

This obviously does not mean that tank is void of ich. I was wondering if I could attempt a method such as UV or a diatom filter before doing the 6 week QT method. I have a read a few recent threads swearing by diatom filters for this purpose and I am currently attempting to purchase one

Is that a waste of time?

There is no quick way.
IMO while a diatom filter may help some, it is far from a guarantee as the ich has to go into to be removed. If use of them was a guarantee against ich, we'd all have them.

 

[h20 freak]

I've heard that a UV shouldn't be used in a reef because it rids the tank of something the corals need but it was a while back and I forget what.


And have you seen ich on them? Be careful, you may be acting prematurely,theres a thread in this forum(probably still on the front page if not its on the second) that is basically about this guy who though his fish were sick,stressed the fish with QT and (I think) lost the fish who weren't sick in the first place.Its called sick fish part 2,its a good read and I had the same situation with my tomini but now he seems fine and I did nothing but feed garlic soaked nori(very safe).

 

[cb747]

Copper, QT and a fallow tank is the only way to be ick free. I get bouts of ick still. My fish usually recover with no input from me. However if i add a new fish it will come down with ick. Point is even if you dont see it it IS still there. A UV will help but its not a cure. A diatom will help also but its no cure.
I used a product called no sick fish. Its miracle grow for ick! it does NOT work but my results were explosive ick when i added it to the tank. According to the company the product is deigned to hatch all ick and there is no doubt it did. However the only way the ick was cured when when all the fish were dead. So then i had "No Sick Fish" I had a thread on here that maybe you could search for that detailed my battle with the company. Its basically the same as with any other ick product on the market. Seriously consider multiple QT tanks and doing as Kathy said.

 

[JLAudio]

I've heard that a UV shouldn't be used in a reef because it rids the tank of something the corals need but it was a while back and I forget what.


And have you seen ich on them? Be careful, you may be acting prematurely,theres a thread in this forum(probably still on the front page if not its on the second) that is basically about this guy who though his fish were sick,stressed the fish with QT and (I think) lost the fish who weren't sick in the first place.Its called sick fish part 2,its a good read and I had the same situation with my tomini but now he seems fine and I did nothing but feed garlic soaked nori(very safe).

I have a fowlr, Does the negative aspects of a UV still pose a threat?

 

[regal]

UV or a diatom filter before doing the 6 week QT method. I have a read a few recent threads swearing by diatom filters for this purpose and I am currently attempting to purchase one. Is that a waste of time?

I had tried to use the diatom filter to get rid of ick before but I gave up b/c of the hassles involved. Questions remain how long are you supposed to run it, and for how many days etc. You also have to rinse the diatom after each use to remove the ick (I ran the filter with fresh water), and how are you supposed to do that or should you change the diatom after each use? I got to say when I used it, my water was crystal clear but I did not use it long enough to know if it helped with the ick situation.

As far as UV, I use it on my reef but I am not sure whether it helps either. My PBT gets ick almost every year when there is a big change in temp even with the UV while the other fish are all fine. With the UV, you have to figure out how many watts you need for your tank and the flow rate through the unit. The quartz sleeve also has to be cleaned very often for a reef tank otherwise the UV will be blocked by the calcium deposite to rid its effectiveness. If I can be of more help, pm me. I know how it feels to see your fish dying from diseases.