:frustrat:I have a bad case of ICK in my 150 gallon saltwater tank. I have lost a yelloweyed cole tang and a powder brown tang. I started out last week using Seachem Metronidazole and then i was told to start using Cupramine for ICK and to use a copper test kit. When I used the Cupramine the cole tang died within 2 hours. the copper test reading shows at 0.50. I was also told to drop my salinaty down to 0.020 or 0.10. It is at 0.20 and water temp to about 84 degrees. Am i on the right track?
ICK in my Saltwater fish tank
- Thread starter jamesb
- Start date
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Metronidazole will not do anything against ich. Copper will, but some fish are very sensitive to copper, and if the fish is sick already, copper may stress it enough to kill it.
There are only two methods that kill ich -- copper treatment and hyposalinity. You really need to research hyposalinity before you try it. Dropping the salinity too quickly can also kill your fish. It must be done gradually over several days. I hope you mean you are dropping it down to 1.020 or 1.010. 0.020 or 0.010 is basically fresh water and will kill everything. Hyposalinity treatment should be done at around 1.009 or 1.010. Anything above that will not kill the parasite. You should be using a refractometer (not a hydrometer) to measure the salinity, as hydrometers are not accurate enough for the purposes of hyposalinity treatment.
I hope you did not add copper to your tank, or try lowering the salinity in your tank. If you did, you have killed everything in your tank -- inverts and bacteria cannot survive these treatments. Copper will get into the rocks and sand and destroy them. If you added copper to your tank, if you ever want to keep corals or inverts, you will have to throw away all your rock and sand and start over again. Copper does irreparable damage to rocks and sand. This is why, when you treat for ich, you must catch and remove every fish to a separate quarantine tank. And you have to treat every fish. Not just the ones that show symptoms. Any fish that is in the tank will be carrying the parasite. If you treat one fish, it will just catch it again from the others.
Raising your temperature to 84 isn't doing anything but stressing your fish further. 84 is not going to kill the parasite, and is not warm enough to speed up their life cycle. Keep your temperature normal, at what you usually keep it.
There are only two methods that kill ich -- copper treatment and hyposalinity. You really need to research hyposalinity before you try it. Dropping the salinity too quickly can also kill your fish. It must be done gradually over several days. I hope you mean you are dropping it down to 1.020 or 1.010. 0.020 or 0.010 is basically fresh water and will kill everything. Hyposalinity treatment should be done at around 1.009 or 1.010. Anything above that will not kill the parasite. You should be using a refractometer (not a hydrometer) to measure the salinity, as hydrometers are not accurate enough for the purposes of hyposalinity treatment.
I hope you did not add copper to your tank, or try lowering the salinity in your tank. If you did, you have killed everything in your tank -- inverts and bacteria cannot survive these treatments. Copper will get into the rocks and sand and destroy them. If you added copper to your tank, if you ever want to keep corals or inverts, you will have to throw away all your rock and sand and start over again. Copper does irreparable damage to rocks and sand. This is why, when you treat for ich, you must catch and remove every fish to a separate quarantine tank. And you have to treat every fish. Not just the ones that show symptoms. Any fish that is in the tank will be carrying the parasite. If you treat one fish, it will just catch it again from the others.
Raising your temperature to 84 isn't doing anything but stressing your fish further. 84 is not going to kill the parasite, and is not warm enough to speed up their life cycle. Keep your temperature normal, at what you usually keep it.
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Dana42078
Dana
That sucks! I hope you didn't f your whole setup, goodluck and sorr about your misfortune. Biff your so smart. =p
Zissou
What about my dynamite?
Like everyone else says, I hope you didn't pour it into a tank with live rock. Bye bye everything but your fish. (unless the ich finishes them all too).
cthegame
Reef enthusiast
+1 all of the above. Unfortunately, carbon wont do much fast enough to prevent damage. I hope all this was done in a QT.
OhNoNemo
i love triggers
Actually Biff ,dropping it should take no longer than 48 hrs,its the raising it back up ,that should take several days...when i did hypo,i raised it by .001 a day till it got back up...
James ,hopefully not all is lost and you can recover from this...if it were me i would do hypo over copper:twocents:.....good luck
Rcpilot
Reef enthusiast
Biffs right. If you put copper in the main tank - you can kiss any corals and inverts g'bye. Also, the sand and live rock is ruined - you'll have to throw it all out and start over AFTER you spend about 3 days cleaning the living shit outta the empty tank. Copper sticks to glass and the silicone seals will absorb it and turn blueish green. It takes a whole lotta elbow grease and vinegar to get copper out of a tank. Most people don't even bother - just use it for fresh water or throw it in the trash. Any tank that's had copper in it is usually not considered reef safe anymore.
You should be using a QT (quarantine tank) to treat ich.
You need to decide if you want to use hyposalinity or copper. You CANNOT use both methods at the same time. Lowering the salinity to 1.009 - 1.010 AND using copper at the same time WILL DEFINITELY kill the fish. Don't do both at the same time and DON'T use copper at salinity BELOW 1.020
Either lower the salinity to 1.009 OR keep the salinity the same as normal (1.020- 1.025) and use the copper.
Good luck. It sounds like it's pretty bad. :cry:
You should be using a QT (quarantine tank) to treat ich.
You need to decide if you want to use hyposalinity or copper. You CANNOT use both methods at the same time. Lowering the salinity to 1.009 - 1.010 AND using copper at the same time WILL DEFINITELY kill the fish. Don't do both at the same time and DON'T use copper at salinity BELOW 1.020
Either lower the salinity to 1.009 OR keep the salinity the same as normal (1.020- 1.025) and use the copper.
Good luck. It sounds like it's pretty bad. :cry:
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I just lost an Emperor Angel and a Tomato Clown and it looks like i will lose my two Bluethroat Triggers as well. I have a Yellowtail Damsel,Scopas Tang, and a Niger Trigger left. The ICK seems to be gone from all but the Scopas. Dah! if I put that poison in there then its doing its job I guess;but it sounds like i will have to start from scratch. I will either have to stick with the advice of one lfs or do more of my own research.
OhNoNemo
i love triggers
Or QT every fish so ich never gets in the DT in the first place(when 1st starting out)....not trying to be rude about it,but thats the way it is....when you add fish that haven't been QT'ed,thats the risk you take...sorry you lost all those beautiful fish:ugh:
Bifferwine
I am a girl
LFS are known to not give accurate advice. At the end of the day, they are a business and they are trying to sell you something.
Carbon will not remove copper. Copper soaks into the rocks and sand... You still haven't said whether you added it to your main tank. If you did, that was a huge mistake, and your LFS should have told you not to do that. That's rule #1 when using copper. Your hunch to start listening to a different LFS, or even better, do your own research, is correct... It's your tank, your animals, your money. Why not do your own research and be in control?
Carbon will not remove copper. Copper soaks into the rocks and sand... You still haven't said whether you added it to your main tank. If you did, that was a huge mistake, and your LFS should have told you not to do that. That's rule #1 when using copper. Your hunch to start listening to a different LFS, or even better, do your own research, is correct... It's your tank, your animals, your money. Why not do your own research and be in control?
chrisx420
Reefing newb
use ick-x its reef safe and it works great i got rid of it in my tank in 36-48 hours
Bifferwine
I am a girl
It actually doesn't. It doesn't kill the ich. Your ich will be back unless you use hyposalinity or copper. The reef safe meds may help your fish overcome the ich on their own, but it's not going to get rid of the ich.
OhNoNemo
i love triggers
Yep,as you stated early ,there are only 2 proven ways to get rid of ich
dcantucson
Reef pro
Actually three. Of course the third way involves NO FISH. :lol: :mrgreen:
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Well the main problem with the "reef-safe" ich meds is that they only kill one stage of the ich life form. The ich parasite goes through many different stages in its life, and if you only kill one stage, all the parasites that are in other life stages eventually hatch, grow up, etc.
chrisx420
Reefing newb
so obviusly i cant add copper to my tank so is thier a way to kill it without taking the fish out of the main tank and not killing any invertabrates or other live stock ?
OhNoNemo
i love triggers
Unfortunately , No
chrisx420
Reefing newb
dam if it comes back id have to take apart all my LR to cetch them i just spent 5 hours last night re aquascaping my tank i took out all the LR and redid it FML
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Most of us just live with ich. My fish have had it here and there. If your fish are eating and otherwise healthy, then it can be managed in place. I've never quarantined my fish, and I've never treated them for ich when they've come down with it (usually when I add a new fish to the tank). Ich doesn't have to be a death sentence.
