[luciafam]

Hello,

I have two fish that have been fighting off Ick for a while. I have switched between two treatments. First was Stop Parasite. I felt it was working, but I did not have a protein skimmer at the time and after removing the carbon from my filter, my water quality really went down. Talked to the owner of the company that makes the medicine and he had me lower the dosage to half strength based upon the fact that my tank is fairly new. They seemed to heal up. Then we had new rock added and a major water change done by a shop we go to. The guy who came filled the tank with sea water that he took from the back of his truck and the weather was really cold (well, for Southern California!). He did not wait for the water to warm up but just poured it into my tank. I had been so careful to match up temperature in the past. Following that, both the tang and the long nose butterfly became reinfested with the ick. They have done poorly since and I think I am losing them. I started a new medication, Kick Ick, with no results, bought a protein skimmer, and restarted the stop parasite medication. We are on day 4 of 5 days that treatment is recommended. I talked to the owner again yesterday of Stop Parasite and he recommended I get Melefix. I am going to get some today. The problem is, I cannot remove these two fish from my tank....they both hide under the rocks. So, I will have to treat the tank, and I don't know how safe this is. I have two other fish, a clown and a dartfish. Also some coral and 1 anemone. I also have seen Pimafix and am not sure if I should use that instead or in conjuction with the Melafix. The yellow longnose stopped eating last night and is just slowing swimming around and sometimes just floats around. His eyes look funny to me. He also had rapid breathing last night, but it seems a little better this morning. The Tang went through scabbing from the Ick and has never stopped eating the seawood. Today she is kind of jerking around. Not sure if it is because she itches from the scabbing or is having some type of neurological problem. She has been very skiddish since being sick. Her eyes also look cloudy and kind of popped out.

I hate losing fish. We get attached to them. My water has struggled through this due to having carbon out of filter during treatment. The protein skimmer has helped a lot. My water last night was good, with 0 nitrite, 0 ammonia, nitrate at 10 (we think due to a fish that died recently that we could not get too...crabs eventually took care of it, but I think it did effect our water) ph is good at 8.3 and salinity has been at .023.

I would like some input on what I should do next, and what medication I should use. I did a small water change yesterday, about 10%. Should I do another water change today? I was going to try and give the long nose a freshwater dip yesterday, but I couldn't catch him. The tang is absolutely impossible to remove. It's possible I might be able to get the long nose, but not sure.

I am going to try and get out this morning and buy both medications, the Melafix and Pimafix. It states on a site you can use them together, but still not sure about adding it to my tank. Even if I had a display tank set up, I could not catch these fish at this point to quarantine them. The stress of trying to chase them down would probably kill them anyway.

I really would like help, hopefully soon! Thanks.

[RyanG]

Try to remove the fish if you can, and set up a hospital tank. Then you can treat with copper which will knock ich out fast.

The other option is to add a UV filter to your setup which will kill any free floating ich in the water and prevent the spread of it to other fish, it will eventually remove ich.

[luciafam]

How can I quickly set up the hospital tank? Would I take water from my main tank (even though I may be removing parasites with it?) Do I need sand, etc, or can I just have a plain tank with a few hiding spots?

Also, do you have a recommendation on how to catch these sick fish. I was told not to net them due to their fins. It's impossible to catch with a container. I might be able to catch the long nose, as he is near the surface right now. But what about the tang that continues to go under a rock? I feel the only way I could catch her would be by taking all the rock out! My tank is full of live rock and she has a place UNDER a rock that she shares with our goby, who has dug out a cave for them. I fear smashing them if I start moving things around.

I will see what I can do about getting the long nose captured.

So, with the hospital tank, if I take water from my tank, then it should be ready to go right away? How long do you keep them in the hospital tank after the copper treatment? Also, would I need any other kind of medication, or would they heal so fast from the copper that the breathing problems, eye problems (infection?) would clear up fast?

Thank you for your quick response. I am going to head out soon and try and buy a small set up and get the medication.

Bev

[RyanG]

Yes you would take your water from you main display tank.
You keep them in the hospital tank for at least two weeks, or until things fully clear up. Follow the instructions on the cooper treatment (whichever you decide to buy)

My tang and clown fish both had ich when I bought them. And I used the coper treatment on them. They are fine today!

Ich is caused from overfreeding, lack of good water flow and stress. Have any of these been a factor in your tank? If they are, it might be a good idea to make sure this does not happen again by either investing in a UV filter, or making sure you do not overfeed.

-Ryan

[luciafam]

I now have a tank set up to receive the sick fish, but as I figured, they have gone into hiding. I will wait until things settle in the main tank and see if I can get them cornered when they come back out. Also, the store I went to did not have the copper, so I will need to get to another store that most likely has it later today. The guy helping me out at the pet store (and as it was a general pet store, Petco, not sure how good his info is) said that I should not over medicate and since infection was more serious then the initial ick, that I should treat for that first. So, I have the Maracyn and also the Melafix and Pimafix. Could someone tell me what medications I should be using at this time. I have the Stop Parasite that had been working until I needed to stop it and get a protein skimmer first. As I stated, I then switched to Kick Ick while waiting to receive my protein skimmer. I think the fish did not respond to the Kick Ick and got worse in that time. Anyhow, without copper as an option at this moment, and with the medicines I do have as mentioned above, and also taking into consideration I can't catch my fish right now, what do I do next? Does anyone know if any of the above products would be safe to use in my main tank? Thanks......I will be anxiously waiting for a response!!

Bev

[luciafam]

Is Coppersafe the same as Copper? That is all the store had and I did not think that was correct. It does say that the coppersafe can be used with the Maracyn. Should I get that if I cannot find the copper?

[charles.vaughan]

Have you tried garlic? Mix your food with garlic juice? I've been reefing for over 10 years. Started using garlic juice in my food 7 years ago (during a serious Ich outbreak). Ich went away...no ich since (even with the addition of other animals).

[luciafam]

Hi,

I have been using the garlic juice in my food since we first saw the Ick. I will continue to use it. Thanks.

Bev

[chappers]

if you are still having problems i personally use 2 different things mela mix for a bacterial infection, or if you are unsure of exactly what the fish has i use mixazin this covers just about everything you can think of, spot, bacterial, pop eye, and is invert safe i have just used it too clear an infection dont have a clue what it was.

[fox121]

Originally Posted by charles.vaughan

Have you tried garlic? Mix your food with garlic juice? I've been reefing for over 10 years. Started using garlic juice in my food 7 years ago (during a serious Ich outbreak). Ich went away...no ich since (even with the addition of other animals).

How much galic juice do you use and can I use garlic powder?

[luciafam]

I have tried to find the mixazin, but have had no luck. Did you mean pimafix?

Bev

[charles.vaughan]

Originally Posted by fox121

How much galic juice do you use and can I use garlic powder?

I mix my own food. Usually add about a capful of liquid garlic to a 3 month supply of food. Has worked very well for me. No ich in over 7 years.

[DEWAYNE]

I have a 110 gallon tank, how much garlic juice would I need to use. I have five fish that have got pop eye, these guy's are very exspensive inmates. I have a Queen Angel, a Purple Tang, a Flame Angel, and two Volitan Lion fish that have pop eye.

[DEWAYNE]

How long will it take for the symptoms to clear up?

[baycity20]

Dont put all you aquarium water in the hospital tank do about half new half old becaus the old will have infections in it but the new is not very good water and the fish will not be used to it and die. Get both Pima and Mela fix because for bacterial infection one is primary(melafix0 and the secondary(Pimafix) they are very fast working and for ick get Mardel Copper safe. Oh that cloudy eye your fish has is popeye treat that as a bacterial infection with Mela fisx then secondary Pima fix good luck.