[nicholash]

We have been treating our fish for a few days now.. We have givin then freshwater baths and have been treating them with KICK-ICH but now it just looks like they are getting worse, the number of white spots on them have nearly doubled.. is this usual.. do they have to get worse before they get better ? or is this a really bad sign that our treatment is not working.... Please help !!

[orestes19832003]

its not working it won't get better first. Kick-Ich in my eyes isn't very good. my advice is to get a hospital tank take the fish out and medicate the hospital tank do not use in the main tank use Cupramine in the hospital tank it will knock it out on the fish in a few weeks as for the main tank just leave it for a month without fish and it will cure ur problem. also a UV sterilizer will help.

[cplklegg]

Sorry to hear of y our travails. Agree with orestes, any "medication" that is reef safe is rubbish. Move to a hospital tank, dose with chaleated copper and let your display run fallow (no fish) for 6 to eight weeks. Good luck to you.

[pogodzib]

Yes, definately treat in a q-tank using either copper or hyposalinity treatment, depending on what types of fish you have. There isn't any good, reef-safe ich treatment. Feeding the fish food dosed with garlic may help by boosting the fishes immune system.

BTW - Ich runs in cycles of around one week in length, depending on the water temp. Only during part of its cycle is the white spots visible. During treatment, just because the white spots are gone does not mean the the fish is cured and the spots may show up again if you stop treatment too quickly. Make sure you follow the directions for the treatment method you use completely and don't cut it short.

Here's the best website that I know of that describes marine ich and its recommended treatments of either copper or hyposalinity ATJ's Marine Aquarium Site - Reference - Marine "Ich"

[Blackjacktang]

Im usig kick-ich for my blue tang. it works for me.

[cappy290]

Kick-ich worked in my tank also but I really had no choice b/c I dont have a QT tank and was pretty limited to what I could use.