Marine Ich

[msmith619]

I know this has come up several times before and I have read all the information from the previous threads (including the excellent links on treating marine ich) BUT, I would like to see if anyone has been able to erradicate this pest without tearing the tank down, quarantining the fish, and leaving the tank fish free for 3 months, etc.
Here is my problem:
I have a 75 gallon reef system with LPS and soft corals. About 3-4 months ago, after doing a frag swap, I had a marine ich breakout that lasted for 2 weeks and ended up killing all my fish except the blue hippo tang, 2 false percula clowns and diamond gobie. They came close to dieing but pulled thru. I lost a beautiful queen angel, 2 bangaii cardinals, a tomato clown, royal gramma and firefish. I left the tank alone for 6 weeks of no disease showing before replacing the dead fish. I replaced them about 4-5 weeks ago and all has been well. No new frags, etc. Today when I get to the office, every fish is breathing heavy, covered in a fine white powder, scratching and off their food (except the pig blue hippo who would eat if half dead!). I do not have a quaranteen tank to catch them and treat them separately and to let the infected tank go 3 months fish free as the previous posts say I must do.
Here is my question. Has anyone had success with any alternative treatment that might help without breaking down the reef tank? I know if everything dies I need to let it go fish free for several months but would like to try a reef-safe remedy that MIGHT work rather than do nothing.

[dpotts]

I feel your pain Mike. Back in May I bought a small Hippo tang and didn't QT him...just put him in my main tank ( I now know better!!!). Well about 1 month later I noticed what I think was Ich on him. I didn't want to break down the tank so I decided to try the product "No-Ich". I did the treatment as directed and haven't seen Ich since and it's been a little over 2 months now. I started the treatment within 1 week of noticing the spots on him so it wasn't a really bad case. I am in no way endorsing the product because I did end up losing a beautiful Bubble coral (not sure if it was related to the product use or not) but just wanted to let you know what I tried. Since then (knocking on wood) all fish and corals are doing fine with no signs of disease. Fish include small hippo tang,lawnmower,firefish, and a school of Chromis. As for corals I have softies,LPS and zoas....no SPS for me. Oh, and the tank is 90g.

[Purplebeladona]

WOW!! Never have had trouble controlling ICH (been in the hobby 10 plus years). When it crops up start garlic in the food and should go away quickly. All fish have Ich and it is just a matter if they will break out or not. Cleaner shrimp in place originally can and usually will let nature run it's own course with very little help then needed by the owner. If you still have problems hyposalinity and slightly higher tank temperatures (obviously both done slowly) should take care of your woes.
Purple

[msmith619]

My tank has 3 cleaner shrimp and all my bigger fish use them on a regular basis but they cannot clear ich. I will try the garlic and see if it helps and add the above no ich treatment if the garlic fails.
I have not had ich in over 15 years. I think it came in on a frag as it started about a week after I added some coral frags.
Thanks for the responses.

[cowboy572]

Garllic does not help with ich. It just helps them feed with helps boost there immune system. The most natrual way to take care of ich from my readings is to slowly raise tank temp to about 82 to 83 degrees. Also if you haven't invested in one yet is to put a uv sterilizer in line and let it run a couple hours out of the day.

[Big_Pun]

when i first setup my first tank i had ich on a clown i got, then a firefish got it and it died i freaked out did fresh water dips, but mainly kept my water at about 82 and kept feeding him, water changes, eventualy it went away, then it came back again due too a tank move did same thing and the clown has been fine since then.

[Purplebeladona]

Pacific cleaner shrimp

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Pacific cleaner shrimp
Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Infraorder: Caridea
Family: Hippolytidae
Genus: Lysmata
Species: L. amboinensis
Binomial name Lysmata amboinensis
De Man, 1888 The northern cleaner shrimp, Lysmata amboinensis, is an omnivorous shrimp species, which will generally scavenge and eat parasites and dead tissue. The Pacific cleaner shrimp is naturally part of the reef ecosystem,