meaganmason1 Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 I just got a new bio cube and set it up with sand rock and water from my established tank (to cut back on cycling time). All of my fish have been acting and eating fine,but I've noticed a few specals on a couple of fish. They seem to come and go as the day passes. I do have hosting anemones, crabs, snails, etc. How shold I. Treat them and with what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Do you have pictures? It's common for fish to get a spec here or there, I wouldn't treat unless its a real problem. The stress of catching them and moving them to a new tank can put them over the edge. If they are covered the easiest way to QT is to use a separate tank in order to protect your rock and inverts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woods Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 +1 for no treatment... I wouldn't treat it either especially if everything is eating well as that keeps their immune system up. My powder blue tang had ich very bad but was still eating well so I just overfed the tank some to make sure he was getting extra food. It took roughly 2 months but he is now ich free and going very strong... I try not to add extra chemicals to the tank if not necessary... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dshel1217 Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 dont treat. i had a naso with some ick on him but he was eating fine. but when I used a invert friendly ick remover I he got worsed and ended up dying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Don't medicate. Use proactive procedures to assist immune systems and reduce stress. A good proactive procedure is to soak all food to tank in garlic. It will often stimulate feeding responses in finicy fish. In all cases, garlic is an antioxidant and will help all animals imune systems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meaganmason1 Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 Thanks for the advice, everyone. It's nice to know, the garlic thing should help. I was scared to put anything in the tank. Hardly anything seems to be safe for inverts. I have 2 anenomes that have become 5. I really didn't want to mess them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don duncan Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 You can also add zoe to the food. It is a vitamin supplement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meaganmason1 Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 Ok i will try that to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Thanks for the advice, everyone. It's nice to know, the garlic thing should help. I was scared to put anything in the tank. Hardly anything seems to be safe for inverts. I have 2 anenomes that have become 5. I really didn't want to mess them up. People eat garlic worldwide. I am sure that your anenomes will enjoy the garlic. Just ask them. If the fingers extend and the colors start to glow you now have instant "color up", Us Cajun folk would be lost without it. Enjoy the hobby. Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 I sometimes get ich break outs in my tank, just as recently as 2 weeks ago actually. I QTed an anthias for 2 weeks, it was eating and getting fat but started fighting with another anthias in the same tank. I decided to go ahead and move the one anthias in the DT. Bad idea, I should have known better. It looked fine when I dropped it in but I guess the stress of the move allowed ich to take over. A fish that ate really well for 2 weeks wouldn't eat and actually died in 2 days....there was no way to catch it. This one small fish in 500 gallons of water caused an ich outbreak on my tangs. I can tell you even though I'm confident in my ich remidies it still makes me gringe to see my black tang with spots on him. I add garlic and zoe to frozen food and let it thaw out....stir it up...then let it set for 30 min at least. You can just put it in the fridge and let it set for hours. I overfeed and I also give a variety of diet when I do. NLS, nori, mysid, emerald entree, marine cuisine, and 3 different flakes. This is all advice others have given you but I have one more piece of artillery, a serious UV light that cycles the tank every 1.5 hrs. This recent ourbreak included my powder blue, black tang, purple tang, and mimic tang...all cleared up within days. I firmly believe in the power of UV. I've removed fish before but by then its usually to late, I've almost lost all fish that I've every had to QT for disease. Its so hard on the fish and the extra stress lets the disease or parasite take over. For me in tank treatments like I mentioned above are the best scenario. Keep in mind that you can always lower the stress level of your tank by cutting back lighting and even covering half the tank with a towel. The less stress the faster the fish will recover. Also I don't think anyone mentioned water changes, this will reduce the amount of free swimming parasites and it keeps the water quality high even though you are overfeeding. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
civais Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Thanks for the info on letting the garlic and zoe sit for 30 min+, I have only been letting my sit for 10 or until thawed. I recall reading something about lowering or raising the temperature to fight ick however I have never tried this for fear of stressing out my tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michae52 Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Back in the old days (late 70"s and early 80's) whenever I had an outbreak of Ich, as soon as I notice the signs of any parasites I would use a Vortex XL Diatom Filter and a 30 watt UV and start filtering the tank. Between the filter running at only 250-350 gal per hour thru diatomaceous power and the slow run thru the UV after the filter the problem would get solved. If you can get the fish to survive the first attack then you can get the parasite in the free swimming stage. Just my 2 cents worth. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Thanks for the info on letting the garlic and zoe sit for 30 min+, I have only been letting my sit for 10 or until thawed. I recall reading something about lowering or raising the temperature to fight ick however I have never tried this for fear of stressing out my tank. Raising the temperature will speed up the life cycle of the parasite. I'm not sure exactly what the value of this would be unless you were treating with medication in a QT tank. Most medications can only kill the free swimming stage, not what's attached to the fish or what lies dormant on the sand. So if you are medicating you would want to speed up the life cycle of the parasites so the medicine can work more quickly to eliminate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Back in the old days (late 70"s and early 80's) whenever I had an outbreak of Ich, as soon as I notice the signs of any parasites I would use a Vortex XL Diatom Filter and a 30 watt UV and start filtering the tank. Between the filter running at only 250-350 gal per hour thru diatomaceous power and the slow run thru the UV after the filter the problem would get solved. If you can get the fish to survive the first attack then you can get the parasite in the free swimming stage. Just my 2 cents worth. Ich has three stages in its lifecycle. The obvious visual sign of Ich are the incubation of the next generation. The parasite is immune to treatment in this stage and the fish is an obvious source to spread the infestation. When the larvae mature, they exit from the fish protective slim and enter the water column. At best you will reduce the population but never eliminate 100%. When the free swimming stage in the water column is complete, the parasite enters the sediment for the third stage in its lifecycle. It is immune to treatment in this stage. The idea is to break the life cycle at its most vulnerble stage, in the water column. I used to think that the only "bullet proof" way to do this was to remove all fish from the tank for two months. (A real pain in the ***.) I have now come to realize that there is no way to kill 100% of all populations of ich. After years with no ich and more than 6 months with no introductions to system, I had a system upset with a resulting infestation of ich. Nature has a way of survivial. After returning home from 4 years of military duty in 1970, I took off for four months of backpacking in the Canadian Rockies. At one point in an Alpin Lake at 10,00 feet above sea level, I had the worst night of my life camping out with the mositoes In talking with one of the park rangers, he informed me that for 4 months there was 30 feet of snow where I had camped. How can mositoes live in 30 feet of snow. Nature will survive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I agree, there is no way to get rid of ich compltetely and I'm sure the parasite lives in almost everyones tank. Its all about low stress levels and fish health to keep it under control. I think that without my UV I would have been in trouble more than a few times. I would never say that the UV will cure ich but it knocks a big dent in the free swimming population. If you don't have the right sized uv and the right flow rate though its not nearly as effective. I don't think people really consider that with UV's....flow it so slow you aren't using it at full potential....flow to high you aren't getting 100% kill rate. I bought an inline flow meter for my uv and I have a ball valve installed on the supply so that I can dial it in perfectly. Its a 5 gpm but I run it at 4.5 gpm so with bulb degradation considered I'm still getting 100% kill rate. And of course the bulbs need to be changed once a year, I use a sterilight brand that has a digital countdown to let me know when to change the bulb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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