Ick Problems

[tropicana]

Well I was staring at all 3 of my fish yesterday and not a spot on them, Tonight when I got home from our ranch, the Yellow Tang has white spots all over him, and even my Volitan Lionfish has some spots on his tail and his eye. They werent there yesterday which i think is kind of weird, I sit in front of the tank everyday and look at everything in it. I dont have any corals, I have a Maroon Clownfish that doesnt have any white spots though.

Tank Contents:
4 Large peices of LR
1 Yellow Tang (with Ick)
1 Volitan Lionfish (with Ick)
1 Maroon Clownfish (no ick)
6 Red/Pink Mushrooms
1 Green Mushroom
a few hermits
a few turbo snails
and a few nasarius snails

What should I do to help them get over the Ick without hurting anything? I worry about the Maroon Cf because the fiance would get pretty upset if her fish got sick. We had the Yellow tang in the tank for a few weeks with no signs of anything, we put the Lionfish and the Maroon clown in last weekend. Then today 2 of them got it.

Food everyday:
1/2 block of Emerald Delight :)
1/2 block of Spirulana Frozen Brine/Mysis
2 halves of a Silverside for the Lionfish
3"x3" sheet of Dried algea every 2 or 3 days

Theres enough green algea for the Tang so I think hes eating a decent diet but im not 100% sure. The Lionfish eats good and so does the Maroon clown.

I put all that info incase anyone had any questions to further help me. Now what would be the best way to go about it?

If someone wants to take my Yellow tang and Cure him and Keep him, hes about 4" long and Hes free to whoever wants him but you gotta help catch him tomorrow evening when I get home. I just want to make sure the others dont get it again once I figure out how to cure this crap.

Please help!

[aquasport24]

Set up a hospital tank and have them there for at least 30 days with ick medicine. In the mean time just have your tank run free of livestocks(fish).I think it takes somewhere between 30 to 40 days for them parasites to completely disappear.Three of my fishes are in the hospital now too.(i hate ick)..

[Jeff]

read this post. http://www.maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=38905

[Bill S]

What Jeff said. How big is the tank? What are your Nitrates?

[erikharrison]

UV.

[tropicana]

What Jeff said. How big is the tank? What are your Nitrates?

Its a 55g. My nitrates were less than 20 before I stirred the sand up....

[erikharrison]

You should definitely be aggressive on water changes. What do you have for filtration? If it is a canister, have you cleaned it out? Clean any pads, and siphon out any detritus you have that may be built up in the rocks. How much LR do you have? I would do a 40% water change imeadiately.

[Bill S]

Just looked to me like you might be overfeeding... Ich is usually stress-induced. So, it could be new inhabitants, messing with the tank, or chemistry. I'd try a sizeable water change, as Erik suggested, too.

[tropicana]

I did a water change 2 days before the occurance. 15g water change. The chemistry is fine. I dont beleive im overfeeding, as Every other day i do half of each cube and 1 whole silverside. The opposite days i do half a krill, half a silverside and 1/4 each cube. I dont think thats too much is it? Its a wet/dry, new pad thats supposed to keep the phosphates low too. BakPak HOB skimmer, but i dont think its working that good. I siphoned out all the dt also during the water change. The only thing is, i have about about 55-60 lbs LR, but its Marshall Islands LR and 1 large base rock. They look better today, I have been trying the garlic juice, and I bought a 18w UV steralizer and installed it 10mins ago. I also FW dipped the Lionfish, kinda scary :/

[Bill S]

Think of it this way. The silverside is the equivalent of a "dead fish" in your tank, every other day, and half of one the other days. If all are eating well, I'd lay off the dips, but that's just my opinion. Fish get ich from stress, and a FW dip is just that...

[tropicana]

Think of it this way. The silverside is the equivalent of a "dead fish" in your tank, every other day, and half of one the other days. If all are eating well, I'd lay off the dips, but that's just my opinion. Fish get ich from stress, and a FW dip is just that...

Hes doing a heck of alot better since i did a fw dip. Me personally, I dont think its stress, I think its a parasite that when stressed the fish cant fight it off. I think that if they werent stressed, they could possibly fight it off better but they would still have it from what i have read. Since the FW dip the Lionfish is doing WAY better, he started eating and moving around alot more. He stopped eating so the fw dip was my best bet and I felt I did the right thing. The ich on the Tang is down to just a few spots and hasnt hit like that since. I think they are finally fighting it off. Ill keep you guys posted.

[erikharrison]

Keep doing water changes, and IMO a UV. FW dips are not a solution, but rather a band aid.

[MissT]

That's a heck of a lot of food

[crossxfire2]

Freshwater dips have proven effective in my experience. I have had a hippo tang in the past with a bad case of ick, And I stuck him in freshwater for about 3-5 mins, and he got better each time I did that. I thought it worked good. I would keep doing fw dips, but not too often because your pet might get stressed and die if its overdone.

[goodiebag]

Freshwater dips are definately frightening.

Although I agree with Erik on the UV, I think the quarantine might be too-stressing.

I have only had one real success in quarantine; saltwater or freshwater in many years after an icky situation.

Go easy on the water changes.(although definately you need to change 40%)
go slow over a few days) :angel:

Something stressed them!

Also get 2 cleaner shrimp immediatly.
I am not an expert, this just works for me.