HELP!!! My first battle with ich

[tzhanks]

I raised the temperature and have increased aeration. What else do I do? Should I increase salinity or anything else?

[Mr Cob]

Here's some good info to read about.

http://maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=49040

[Big_Pun]

when my clown got it i just kept feeding him and did a couple fresh water dips for about 5-10 min at a time, but i think just keeping the fish healthy and eating and bumping water changes up to 2 twice a week helped

[tzhanks]

What is a fresh water dip?

[Big_Pun]

dip in ro/di water but only if your comfortable, but most people just wait it out and keep the fish eating

[justahobby]

The thread Mr Cob posted is a great tool. Tell us some more. How many fish in the tank, how many show signs, what type of fish? My personal experiences w/ raising temperature has been negative. The fish's metabolism increases so its working harder while at the same time trying to fight infection. Also, (and this is purely my personal opinion) attempting to speed up the life cycle of an out of control parasite is a bad idea. They reproduce faster than they die while yur fish become more and more infected.Adjusting the salinity should only be done in a QT tank to avoid killing your established beneficial organisms. Good luck and please give us some more info.

[Mr Cob]

If you do not plan to address ich correctly as noted in the link I posted then this is my recommendation:

Keep your tank stable. Keep your fish fat and increase feeding throughout the day. Also increase water changes to combat the additional waste from feeding. If the fish aren't eating, add garlic to the food. If you have tangs you can add drops on the seaweed. Keep the fish happy and they can normally continue living happy lives with ich.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/tc-photos/11442/product/standard/503440.jpg (http://s3.amazonaws.com/tc-photos/11442/product/giant/503440.jpg)

[Bill S]

What Rob said.

Increasing temp won't help. The following 3 things will help fish when infected with ich. You'll still have it in your tank, but this can keep it under control:

1) keep them from being stressed (chased - rearrange the rock if necessary)

2) keep them fat

3) maintain the BEST water quality.

[snfkotara]

Viatmin C is good for both white and black ich. And a uv will help. I have used Ich Attack in my main tank before also it is 100% safe for reef tank.

[Ping]

Ozone has helped me.

[Europhyllia]

What Rob said.

Increasing temp won't help. The following 3 things will help fish when infected with ich. You'll still have it in your tank, but this can keep it under control:

1) keep them from being stressed (chased - rearrange the rock if necessary)

2) keep them fat

3) maintain the BEST water quality.

I agree with Bill. There are always going to be some kind of things around. It's when fish get stressed/weak/etc. when they succumb to the stuff that's around so see if you can eliminate/improve on any of the above items
Good Luck!

[swiatrek]

you could also try a cleaner wrasse or cleaner shrimp, they will actually eat the ich right off the fish.

[Bill S]

you could also try a cleaner wrasse or cleaner shrimp, they will actually eat the ich right off the fish.

Please read the referenced post at the top of the thread. This is an often repeated reef-myth. The parasite that causes marine ich is not removed by either cleaner wrasse or cleaner shrimp.

[tzhanks]

Thank you everyone for all the advice, unfortunately today my clownfish was found dead. I guess ich won

[Mr Cob]

sorry for your loss.

[Ping]

Sorry also. I would like to correct my previous post on ozone. I was thinking... and should have put U.V. sterilizaton has helped me keep my Powder Blue Tang healthy.