Recommendations on ich

[Jeremy Brito]

Googleing the safest easiest way to treat ich I've come up with a lot of what looks like BS and a few potential good ideas
The first was to starve the ich by removing the host and then treating the fish in a quarantine tank for weeks.. With copper
The next was to treat The fish by doing a hypo salinity over time.
I am looking to hear what has actually worked for you guys in the past and how you did it what works and what doesnt

 

[diana a]

Your choices are hypo or TTM. Both are 100% at curing it as long as you follow protocal. There are no meds to cure it or speed the curing process

 

[Jeremy Brito]

Your choices are hypo or TTM. There are no meds to cure it or speed the curing process

What is ttm? For those of us who dont get accronyms

Sent from my VS835 using Tapatalk

 

[diana a]

TTM = tank transfer method. There is a big library of info on Reef Central. I use to work years ago at an aquarium store on hwy 36 in Keyport Airport Plaza. The owner had us do hypo on the ich fish

 

[diana a]

He is a quick explanation of treatment options:

Have ICH looky here!!!!! - Reef Central Online Community

 

[MadReefer]

TTM = tank transfer method. There is a big library of info on Reef Central. I use to work years ago at an aquarium store on hwy 36 in Keyport Airport Plaza. The owner had us do hypo on the ich fish

Did not know you worked there. I was in that store constantly.

 

[MadReefer]

I used PraziPro in DT for ich.

 

[Jeremy Brito]

So I have been doing research all morning .. Trying to decide the best course of action, reading up on the Diffrent medications and treatments ECT... Of course copper has been brought up.. Also TTM @diana a , hypo salinity, formalin, ruby's reef safe kick ich, polyp lab medic, raising temperatures, and just plain boosting the immune system of the tank by feeding healthy with the addition,of garlic... What I have discovered amongst it all is no one can agree on the best move .. So as promised I will discuss ich and what I've learned and my plan of action.
First ich is know as cryptocaryon irritant it is a parasite that has roughly a 28 day life cycle but can lay dormant for up to 72 days..
Being host dependant this parasite requires a living fish to complete its life cycle, the parasite attached to the fish to feed during this process it builds a cyst like caseing around its self which is the visable white spot which we see when the fish is infected. Now infection is a odd word here because infection is something that pertains to contamination and weakness of the hosts internal systems blood organs ECT when in reality the fish are carriers of the parasite they aren't in the fish as much as they are kinda more like hitch hikers think leechs.. After a period of 2 days these parasites detach drop eggs to the sand bed and die, the eggs incubate over a period of a few days depending,on the temperature of the tank usually 76 degrees Fahrenheit but slightly higher temps speed this process.
Once the eggs hatch they start the free swimming stage in which they float or swim in,the water column until they find a host and start the process over.
Ich has a higher chance of being killed in its free swimming stage when it is unpretected by its egg shell or cyst. I know the pictures arent the greatest but if you look closely you can see the spots
So how do we kill ich??
Well for starters we try to avoid adding it but there is another catch to this .. Parasites do not kill .. Yes I know..stop the press ! What did he just say! Parasites don't kill?! Yup you herd me right parasites don't kill.. But be for you think I'm some softy who wants equal rights for the parasites in our tanks hear me out.. Parasites depend on hosts to survive with out the host they cant live.

 

[Jeremy Brito]

So they don't intend to kill what happens is the fish get weakened and stressed by there presence .. And what kills them is the second factor .. The second factor is a random variable in the tank it could be a PH swing, temp crash, ammonia spike, lack of nutrition.. Anything that a normal fish might shrug off but a weakened stressed fish balancing on the edge will tip the scale and die.
So with that in mind when dealing with,ich you must keep the fish healthy and the tank stable.. A healthy fish can survive a weak fish can't.

 

[Jeremy Brito]

TTM = tank transfer method. There is a big library of info on Reef Central. I use to work years ago at an aquarium store on hwy 36 in Keyport Airport Plaza. The owner had us do hypo on the ich fish

We've probably meet I loved that place went there for all my pets was sad when it and Pet land discounts closed what ever happened to the cat

 

[Sunny]

I used PraziPro in DT for ich.

Prazipro does nothing for ich. The only thing that kills ich is hypo or copper.

Ich is in every tank. It shows up when the fish are stressed. I have learned not to try and catch the sick fish and put in QT. That only stresses it more. If they are eating just let them fight it. Yes, floating form of ich is easiest to kill. That is why I will never run a tank without a UV. UV will not eradicate ich but will greatly decrease/control the spread.

Good Luck.

 

[diana a]

Here is some info on hypo. Sk8r is pretty knowledgeable Hyposalinity: how-to; when-to; how-long-to - Reef Central Online Community

 

[spsking]

Sunny is 100 percent correct. Prazi pro, expensive, and sometimes effective for flukes, is useless against ich.

It will always be in your tank, just not always visible or symptomatic.

Stress does lead it on, but that is nearly impossible to avoid, considering the fish is now living in a 4*2 glass box in most cases with other fish it would rather have nothing to do with.

Hope for the best, avoid fish such as the expensive and quick to perish Achilles tang, powder blue tang, and even the blue or hepatus tang (hippo)

Has caused many to leave the hobby, including myself. May be prevented , but that would meanmean have to quarantine anything wet, including algae, live rock, frags, frag pkugs, snails, literally everything. Even with all that quarantine equipment, there is no gaurantee that will do it.

This disease is what keeps lfs in business. Without it, people would only have to buy a fish once, not replace it 4/5 times to get a "good" one, and a lot less chemicals.

It's sorta the way a mechanic loves an unreliable car, keeps him in business