Kick Ick - tried it???

[FragMaster]

Specify for me please.
I wasnt talking about the last sentence in the thread I replied to (IE Gobies). I was speaking about tangs. They are much more prone to Ick. as well as hole-in-head diseas. They have a much worse time shaking it off than other more hardy fish (IME)
Purple tangs are infamous for contracting diseases ( specificly ick) more readily than any other tang. Black tangs as well. (IME)
If a yellow tang gets fin rot It wont grow back where it rots off. (IME)
Nothing broad about it ( atleast I dont think so?)

 

[Rlumenator]

Let's not gty bogged down on one sentence...start a new thread on which tangs are more prone, etc.

 

[Anonymous]

Day 7- there are definitly a few new spots of ick today.The hippo tang's appetite is great, acts normal, no one else shows signs of being infected. Dawn.

Exactly as I would expect with or without the kick ich.

 

[Rlumenator]

Okay- Righty, what can I expect in the next week?? Regards, Dawn.

 

[millstreetzoo]

I have been experiencing a situation similar to Dawn. I added a Tang and a few days later it had ick. I only have 2 fish so I put both of them in a new QT tank and started copper treatments. The ammonia went sky high, I was doing 2 - 50% water changes each day and adding double doses of Prime. No matter what I did I could not control the ammonia (apparently the tank was cycling). The fish were having a hard time. I finally put the fish back in the main tank after 7 days. It was either that or watch them die from ammonia poisoning. They still had spots. I then added a 25 wt UV to the main tank (55 gallon), started garlic treatments and dosing kick ick. It has been 3 weeks and there has been no signs of ick on the fish. Their colors are vibrant, they are active and eating well. Maybe it would have gone away on it's own - maybe its the UV - who knows for sure, but with no signs of ick after 3 weeks, I think I've got a good shot at saving the fish. The one thing I have learned is to keep a QT set-up 24/7. I now have 2 Qts - 1 for fish and 1 for corals. I am not taking any chances.

 

[Anonymous]

Dawn,

I would expect several more 'rounds' of white spots with it stopping eventually as the fish develops immunity or partial immunity or the parasite drops to levels that you don't notice.

 

[Rlumenator]

How long will this last- and why did this not happen for slapshot - things got worse, and he lost them?

 

[Anonymous]

Don't know how long it will last. Not too long I would guess because it seems the fish is eating and your water seems good.
As was stated earlier in this thread, there are many reasons why ich may take hold in one tank, and not in another - initial health of the fish at time of infection, water quality, number of parasites, pre existing immunity or partial immunity, other stressors, etc.
When you start adding things that may or may not have an effect it becomes even harder to discuss the why it spread in one tank and why it didn't in another.

 

[Anonymous]

Dawn,

I would expect several more 'rounds' of white spots with it stopping eventually as the fish develops immunity or partial immunity or the parasite drops to levels that you don't notice.

Or, if the parasites get out of control, they could take over and kill the fish.

That happens with and without kick ick too! :lol:

 

[Rlumenator]

Today there appear to be a few more spots on the hippo- still great appetite, has not spread to others.

I have to ask: What is the Banzai Institute??

 

[Anonymous]

Manny -

You betcha, but I think her tank will be ok.

Dawn,

Feed that tang often.

I would tell you about the Banzai Institute, but that would off the topic of this thread (or it would be the subject of a google search)

 

[Rlumenator]

okay, thank you.

 

[Anonymous]

wings, my fish had ich for sure. It started out as a few small white spots, then over the course of a few days, the whole body was covered in hundreds of spots. Within 48 hours, all of it suddenly went away. I've had this happen with my previous tangs too.

So your tang developed an immunity to it after 48 hours?

 

[Rlumenator]

Day 10- treatment #4- still spots on hippo- great appetite, no spots on other fishes.

 

[slapshot16]

Dawn: What is the status? I lost everything and I am letting the tank run fallow for 30 days before I add fish again.

 

[Anonymous]

Dawn: What is the status? I lost everything and I am letting the tank run fallow for 30 days before I add fish again.

Go longer than 30 days. I've let mine fallow for 2 months...no cigar.

 

[Rlumenator]

Slapshot, sorry you lost everything- that is so tough! I continued the 15 day course, and then went two more doses until the bottle was empty- the last dose was last Thurs. The spots appeared on the Hippo again yesterday- they seem to cycle with the life cycle of the parasite. Some people on this forum, have suggested that this will be the same outcome with or without " Kick Ick", so I am waiting to see what happens with this cycle. No other fishes have been affected. I will update on this.

On page 4 of this thread, there was some discourse on the CVM's input into foods, etc. on the market. I received a reply, and will post here shortly- been busy, busy. Regards, Dawn.

 

[Rlumenator]

On page 4 was discussion on the FDAs input on aquarium fish (not food fish) food, additives etc. Since somewhere down the line I saw on this forum or elsewgere that they had no input- I presented this. I was quickly shot down by Budhaboy & Greshamh, and was given a link on page 5 by Budhaboy. I e-mailed to the link on that date, and finally rcd a reply on May 1st stating that they only comment on the products when a company submits them and REQUESTS them to. If anyone would like me to copy them with this e-mail from the link I was given- I will be glad to.

 

[Anonymous]

Dawn: What is the status? I lost everything and I am letting the tank run fallow for 30 days before I add fish again.

Go longer than 30 days. I've let mine fallow for 2 months...no cigar.

2 months should do it for sure.

Slapshot- Up the temperature to 82 for the fallow period. The higher temps force the ich through it's lifecycle a little faster. Go at least 45 days at that temperature fallow.


The system is then free of Ich.

Now to prevent bringing in more parasites, you have to do some preventative treatment in QT. You can't just QT a fish at full salinity and then believe he doesn't have ich just because you don't see any spots. Remember, ich can hide in the gills and it can even lay dormant in the skin for a long time without developing into a white spot! :x Plus, a single spot can go unnoticed if it is at the base of a fin or some other spot you don't see it. Then it keeps reinfecting in the QT until you put that fish in your main tank, then all that fallow time was for nothing!

If you are going through the trouble of letting a tank lay fallow, you should go through the trouble of preventing a fish from bringing ich back in.

As Terry B advocates, I put all new fish in hypo. I started with a fallow tank (for over 2 months) and then every single fish that went in there was put through a 30+ day period of hyposalinity at 12-14ppt salinity (about 1.009-1.010 sg).

No meds, no freshwater dips, just a month or more in hypo.

I have NEVER seen a spot in my main tank despite several stressful incidents from a temp drop of 8 degrees once to several days without power or circulation durring a hurricane. And fish I got with gill flukes and clear ich spots were 100% cured in the month+ of hypo.

Before I did this, I lost a ton of fish to ich, both in my main tank and in QT before even making it to the main tank.

I tried Kick ick (still have the bottle if anyone wants it :roll: )...fish died
I tried freshwater dips...one fish died of it, others stressed, ich came back with a vengance
I tried copper...harsh, stressful, and bad for the fish.


Hypo is the best! Tried and true. You will not be disappointed if you do it right and with patience.

 

[Anonymous]

On page 4 was discussion on the FDAs input on aquarium fish (not food fish) food, additives etc. Since somewhere down the line I saw on this forum or elsewgere that they had no input- I presented this. I was quickly shot down by Budhaboy & Greshamh, and was given a link on page 5 by Budhaboy. I e-mailed to the link on that date, and finally rcd a reply on May 1st stating that they only comment on the products when a company submits them and REQUESTS them to. If anyone would like me to copy them with this e-mail from the link I was given- I will be glad to.

Did you notice my posts on what the active ingredient in Kick Ick is? It is not printed on the bottle I have. Is it printed on yours?

Either way, it is an anti-biotic and we all know that you can't treat your main tank with anti-biotics because inverts have permiable cell membrains and the anti-biotics will screw up your bio filter.

Since Kick Ick doesn't do that, the concentration has to be very very low. Too low to do much against the ich.