[sarha]

is ther any way to rid a reef tank of ick completely ? is ther any medication reef safe that works well? I took the fish out to a hospital tank treated fish moved to a quarintien tank then cycled one gallon or so into the display tank for the better part of three weeks put healthy fish back in. ick was still there. any suggestions.

[jvharding]

What fish are you treating? Ich is all way's in a tank or certain breeds of fish carry it with them and only becomes a problem when the fish are stressed. I use Garlic in my normal feeding routine. Kent Extreme Garlic few drops on a sheet of dried seaweed. Sometimes lowering the salinity helps along with raising the temp this speeds up the life cycle while you are treating the tank 82 to 85 degrees depending on what you have in the tank. My exenia did not fair 85 degrees that well and never recovered!



Kent RX P and Melafix with Garlic in the Diet!

[sarha]

mainly my powder brown tang [a. japonicus] a new be to the system, my cleener srimp cleen the rest of my fish but the tang has been left out of the loop and doesn't recieve any much needed atention. I also have been using garlic gard with food for a while now but haven't used melefix along with it. what is kent rx p and is it reef safe? are uv starilizers useful with deeling with ick and are they worth the money? keep in mind i live 50 miles from the end of the earth and shipping costs can be hefty

[jvharding]

I have 2 UV lights and use them both they are good for keeping the water clear of algae and parasites they work well depending on the flow rate. I also use Ozone and still have problems from time to time! I feel that it is worth while investment but that is just my opinion. Some believe that they kill to much even good stuff in your tank. It really depends on the setup I guess. Kent RX P is a reef safe ICH cure Used with Care. Tangs prefer lots of current it seems to keep them happy how big is your tank and how much water is being turned over an hour? Hope this info helps some.

[sarha]

my tank is 150, three 300 gph power heads on a wave timer i might try turning it up some
do you run your uv sterilizers constantly or at certian times? what would be a good brand to purchace?

[rlcline76]

I doubt you can get rid of ich completely. I haven't knowingly lost a fish from ich yet. I have only had to use a copper treatment once. I had been using the freshwater bath system and that is a decent method, but a lot of work to net the fish who needs treatment. I also have Stop Parasite by Chem-Marin as a preventative, but not a cure. I also use the garlic juice. You can use Melafix, but I have only used it when I thought that there was a good chance the fish would die, because I heard it could be a little too potent. The fish survived. It is easier to control the situations that make ich ideal. A fish dies in the aquarium, fish get ich; an aggressive fish bullies a more private fish, fish get ich; look at your fish cross-eyed, fish get ich. Good luck finding a method that will work the best for your tank!

[sarha]

thanks it's just frustrating, we can put a man on the moon but cant irradicate ick!

[jvharding]

Never use copper in a Reef Tank! Fish only tanks it can be used even then i would not recommend it. I would use formaldehyde or formalin.

[rlcline76]

Oh yeah, don't use copper in a reef tank, it will wipe out your invertabrates and maybe a fish or 2. That is why I have a hospital tank.