seamonkee

My fishes has no ich at the moment... since they are in quarantine tanks receiving cupramine (copper) treatment.... so it is hard to tell if it is really a cure or preventive measure. In any case, adding garlic or beta glucen when the ich already appears can be too late..... you should be adding garlic mix or beta glucen when the fishes are still well as a preventive measure. In any case, I have yet to find out the true effectiveness of beta glucan... now testing it.... but please dun expect it to be the cure for ich... it does not "kills" ich directly.. what it does is only stimulate the fishes into producing more T-cells and white-cells to combat parasites and diseases on its own. By the way, if you are really keen on getting pure beta glucan like me, I must say it is not soluble but in a powder form... you have to really mash it into your food mix to allow your fishes to get the most out of it...

Goldfish?!? My God, you must be desperate already.... Since it is chilly in there, why dun u do a nano marine of sort? Good luck to your exams... mine as well... Hey, btw, I got myself a new refractometer liao so no need for yours... you better keep yours and come back and restart your tank lah.... what a waster it will be to lose a reefing buddy like you... Cheerios! 10 more days to the big release! Yeah!!!

I do a 10% water change fornightly... that's 15 gallons of water. (Around 2 large pails). I use only tap water which I aged it (for one week) with seachem anti-chloramine/chlorine in a 2 feet tank with air pump. It really depends on livestocks you are keeping as well. In my case, I am only having leathers so it is not so bad to use aged treated tap water. Plus, I have a FR to combat any algae growth. In my own opinion lah.... My wife is already lamenting about the fishes having "air-con"... now I giving DI water and we drink tap water... I can't imagine her reaction.... I guess if you are keeping SPS and some of the higher demanding corals, then it is safer to stick to DI units or so to prevent algae bloom.... but if you can afford it, by all means go for it even if you have a FOWLR... Distilled water is voided of good elements so I dun use them... plus a bit siong on the pocket too... Juz my 2 cents worth.

Now feeding my fishes with beta glucan... Will keep all posted on the outcome.

Look what I got from GNC today! 30 capsules for $28.... I got the 10mg one rather than the 3mg one... It is in powder form in a capsule. I open some of the capsules and blend the powder into my fish food mix... (contains mysis, prawn roes, cyclopeeze, garlic and seaweed shreds) before keeping the mix into my freezer.... Today, I heard from an LFS that you can get ich from frozen food such as mysis (not sure if true or not)...

Henry will be able to help... However, how big is your tank first? It will cost you a hefty sum if you are going to try Myxazin on a huge volume of water.... I heard it is one of the more effective "main-tank" treatment however you need to get plenty of bottles to execute a full treatment over a few days.... So be prepared first....

Firstly, when you have an ich outbreak.... maintain a cool head first and plan out your strategy for eradicating them before putting it into action. Don't anyhow dose medications without FIRST reading the instructions... some medications (copper-based, malachite green, etc) can be toxic to your fishes if overdosed... some medications are not suitable for corals or inverterbrates... If you are dosing copper, I recommend Seachem Cupramine BUT do it in a separate tank without any carbon or calcerous stuff (e.g. liverocks, coral chips, sandbed) as they will absorb your copper. Do not pour any medication directly into your main tank. Honestly, I have tried many so-called reef-safe ich medication and none of them truly works.... As for Garlic, it is only a preventive measure rather than a cure.... pretty much like us humans taking garlic daily to protect ourselves from the common flu bug... would be too late to take garlic when you are already sick, right? Most importantly, read up more about ich and understand its life cycle first... ich don't just disappear over three days... it takes a full 8 weeks to completely eradicate ich from your tank. Lastly, as a preventive measure, please ensure you buy healthy livestocks from a reliable and reputable LFS if you cannot afford to set up a quarantine tank at home.... honestly, having your fishes and livestocks QT is a best measure against ich attacks. All it takes is one ich to reproduce into 200 daughter iches... many people are fooled into believing that they have "cured" ich when the tomonts (white spots) exit from the fish body... In reality, they have entered into another cycle to reproduce.... that's how scary it is if you are not patient, careful and conscientious in reading up about this hobby. Sorry to sound blunt but I am being honest and am trying to help as much as I can... My deepest apologies too for not being able to help hospitalise your fishes on your behalf cause my QT tanks are now occupied till 12 June.... Cheers!

New job starts on 27th June after my exams.... Fish releasing ceremony on 12th June... hahaha... So bro. terryansimon... which exam dates did you get? I got mine on the 14th and 20th June... Thank God it is one week apart.... I will never forget one semester when I had two modules back to back.... one paper in the morning and one paper in the afternoon....

New baby in the tank.... Ghost Arrow Spider Crab bought from Henry... now in my fallowed main tank (since inverts dun carry ich).... One more week or so and my fishes are ready to go into the tank... can't wait, man...

If you are doing hyposalinity.. do make sure you use a refractometer.... Swing-arm types hydrometers are highly inaccurate

Just take note bro.... from what I have intensively read about ich, garlic dun "kill" ich but only boost the immunity for the fishes and is only use as a preventive measure rather than a cure.... very much like when we take garlic pills to protect ourselves from the common flu. (Too late to take them when you are down with flu, rite?) The same goes for fishes. Technically, if you ask me, ich will exit from the tomont stage (parasite stage where it is a visible spot and stick itself to the fish) to another stage where it lies dormant on the substrate before exploding to another 200 baby iches.... So that's what usually fools the hobbyist into believing that the iches are no longer there since they are not visible on the fish... but actually the ich parasites has gone on to another stage and will come back in greater numbers. Believe me.... Just imagine.... 1 will give birth to 200. That's why I decided to take the longer route, took out all the fishes (one left actually) and put him on the quarantine tank. I left the tank fallow in 1.009 hyposalinity stage for 1 week (since I dun have coral) and suck the top of the substrate daily to remove any dormant iches ready to explode into babies... This greatly reduce the number... Likewise, I changed the UV light bulb for a more effective measure.... lastly, the patient wait for 8 weeks to kill off all remaining ich in the main tank before putting the fish back into the main tank. As for new fishes, 2 to 3 weeks of QT will be a must before releasing into main tank (depending on fish breed and size). I am interested to know the effectiveness of this measure myself (since I heard it is the common practice in the west to QT and successful results were achieved). Not to worry, I will keep all posted on the end results... I guess everyone is dying to know.... As an encouragement to you, studies have also shown that some fish species are able to develop a six month immunity to ich attack after initial expose to the parasite. But dun bet your luck on natural immunity... bottom line is still on choosing the right fish and proper quarantine practices....

Update on the Watanabeis... Initially, female had a little bit of fin rot on the top fin when first bought (no choice... she was the best of the worst remaining females left). Now, it is completely gone. Got along well with male watanabei.... Colour vibrancy... ok.... Feeding... currently feeding on mysis soaked in garlic.. Becoming like subject number 1 (a.k.a sailfin tang). Respond to my hand whenever my hand comes near the tank.... Fishes acclimitised to my fingers whenever I feed... Can feed from my fingers like luohan... That's the reward of quarantining your fishes... in a small tank and single devotion given, your fish can respond to you better... I hope to see this behaviour continuing when they are transferred to the main tank on June 12....

Of course! It is too late to feed garlic when your fishes are already covered in ich. Garlic is more of a preventive measure than cure. We take them regularly as a supplument ourselves to boost our immunity and prevent flu and other nasty viruses. So it applies to fishes as well....

Actually it is the same article (posted at the beginning of this thread) that is written by the same author Terry D. Bartelme... just that it is on different site...

I saw the date and I wondered why too.....

Remember the infamous Seamarine?

See! Buaya King means Buaya King... Can even reply with suave Buaya moves.... All you self-claimed buaya minions better learn from bwilly! Kowtow to the master!

She's the one who actually point out to me when watching TV....

When I saw her celebrating her kiddo's first month on TV.... my wife and I were "affixed" at her breasts.... gosh.... it kind of grew and with veins some more... That's the power of pregnancy and birth!

Thanks.... cost my wife an arm and leg.... The tank was a "dowry" from her for the new house....

Attestation of a "lao chiao" reefer.... Not by the number of postings alone... but by the number of coralline growth on the walls of his tank... Welcome back, bro bwilly....

Hahaaa Totally agreed.... these days if you are stuck up... people will go away even if you have the best stuff.... It's high time they learn competition is just a door away.... in their case, it's literally a door away....

It also depends on the coral requirements for light and current... Zoos, for example has lesser light requirements so most people place them at the bottom of the tank....

Nice to see the wolf back... still into reefing.... What about the gals?.... still into them?

Thanks... yup... the son is a bit parasitic at times... Keep bugging you to buy this and that (sometimes knowing jolly well some stuff dont match).... But he knows he cannot "disturb" me.... Once I told them off because I was asking for the price of one fish with the son... the son asked the father and the father was shouting loudly... "These people who ask for the price ask them to go I*****a to buy cheap fish lah.... what for come here!!!" I was pissed cause I have been buying from them regularly since day one of my hobby spending lots of $$$$$.... Best of all, they know me personally and have never bugged me..... Since that day I confronted them, they were much "kinder" .... even thought the father told me the remarks was meant for another customer, I was never convinced.... Personally, I still go to the father's brother.... he's probably the only genuine guy there... Also noticed that they are much nicer to customers these days... Probably because of Lim Han Tack's store opening next door.... Anyway, as for Henry's food... I must give it a try... heard so much good review about it....