[rixxir]

Does ich attack work? I have a very small hippo tang..... he has ich. a few spots at first. I could catch him a week ago and freshwater bathe. He let me do it twice. Now I can't catch him, and I refuse to take down my live rock. Does Ich Attack work? He is now covered with ich, although he is eating like crazy and very active. My other fish have nothing. I don't want to kill my inverts. Help..................

[phi165]

I'm using ich attack right now for some green chromis i got from the lfs. i have them in a quarentine tank though. it supposedly safe for corals. but i don't know if i'd trust it or not. I think you would be better off trying to catch him again and treat him in a qt. Also freshwater dips are normally ineffective against ich because the irritation of the parasite causes the fish to excrete a slime that covers the ich and insulates it from the fresh water. Isolating all your fish and treating them all would be the best. ich can survive up to 30 days without a fish host in your main display tank and any fish present are susceptible to reinfection. hope this helps. ich is a pain thats for sure!

[sigsauer]

A UV sterilizer will help to kill the ich floating around in the tank looking for a host. The turbo twist is a good one to look into.

[rixxir]

catching him? out of the question....... He is covered with ich, but, good news is, he is eating like a horse, he goes crazy for food, so i've treated the food with kent garlic. I'm told that the ich life cycle is not too long, but hopefully the garlic will get them off.

[WILLIAM1]

your fish would probly love a cleaner shrimp to help clean him off. your fish will love you for it.

[Fishhead Junkie]

i just bought a blue hippo tang for the 2nd time. the 1st one got ich, i tried that KICK ICH stuff, rushed too much, decided to catch and place it in a quarantine tank instead of waiting for the KICK ICH to do its job...stressed out the hippo too much and he was dead by morning. my 2nd tang is doing well, noticed a coulple white spots on him, decided to go the cleaner shrimp route, looked for one at my LFS and found a nice one doing exactly what he was meant for..just picking and cleaning away at fish, and they were really loving it. i put him in my tank...took a day, but saw the hippo just hanging out with him while he just cleaned away. its actually really fun to watch..wish i had a cleaner shrimp about the size of a bulldog to clean me up.

ps..if you do get a cleaner shrimp, really really acclimate it. i let him float for almost and hour and a half while adding a lil water at a time every 10mins. the last time i tried cleaner shrimp...they died within 20mins after being added, put them in too quick.

steve

[Dara]

If you have ich in your tank, you may want to reconsider investing in that UV sterilizer. They will multiply faster than one cleaner shrimp can eat them.

[rixxir]

I have garlic xtreme from kent. I soak their food, I have now bought a cleaner shrimp and the little blue tang seems to be coming around. He eats like crazy, the other fish don't mind the garlic soaked food, I'm sure garlic is healthy for them and the cleaner shrimp is going to town. I still see lots of little spots, but I believe it is where the ich had done some damage before either falling off or eaten by the shrimp, thanks to all...............Rick

[walkerj14]

the other possibility is the purchase,, of a cleaner wassie,,,,, placed one in my tank and is keeping all the fish clean.....

[pogodzib]

The only two proven method sto treat ich are hyposalinity and copper, neither of which are reef safe. Garlic and other methods may help reduce ich due to getting it off the fish or boosting the fish's immune system, but it doesn't get it out of your tank. Here's a good link about marine ich and it's treatments.

ATJ's Marine Aquarium Site - Reference - Marine "Ich"