ARGH!!!!! ICH!!!!!

[Norvin Ng]

My bi-colour angel kanna ich and it spread to my beauiful Powder Blue Tang. Started "western" medication (M Blue something, reef safe) and even chinese herbal concoction (OceanFree). Have been feeding my fishes with food with garlic juice. Its been coming to two weeks. The bi-colour appears ich free but my Powder Blue Tang is still having it but mostly on its side fins. Now my yellow tang also kanna... very xian!!!!! Anyone come across any other miracle cure lately? I really hate the thought of tearing down my tank at this moment!!!

[Achilles Tang]

ICH!!!!!

I would try to catch the sick fish and put it in a floating cage... so it's easy to take out and give it a 2 - 3 min freshwater soak (with or without Malachite green) a few times daily till the ich parasites are gone.

You are probably using Methylene Blue. I see you are also using food soaked in garlic juice... which is good.

Stress is also a major factor in ich attacks... your fish's defence systems are down... so they get infected.

So are your fishes feeling insecure or fighting? Try to rectify it.

[hongqixian]

My bi-colour angel kanna ich and it spread to my beauiful Powder Blue Tang. Started "western" medication (M Blue something, reef safe) and even chinese herbal concoction (OceanFree). Have been feeding my fishes with food with garlic juice. Its been coming to two weeks. The bi-colour appears ich free but my Powder Blue Tang is still having it but mostly on its side fins. Now my yellow tang also kanna... very xian!!!!! Anyone come across any other miracle cure lately? I really hate the thought of tearing down my tank at this moment!!!

Tangs are very susceptible to ich, but they recover easily if treated properly. IF your tank can support it, get a cleaner shrimp. Cleaner fish in Singapore don't seem to live long. Maybe you can try a reef-safe product called Kich-Ich By Ruby Reef available in large containers at Superstar Aquarium (downtown east, pasir ris). This may help.

[Norvin Ng]

Argh!!!!!! It seems to be spreading!!! I will continue the treatment but don't have too much hope..... thanks for the help guys.

[Achilles Tang]

Cleaner fish in Singapore don't seem to live long.

Cleaner fish are a species that are best left in the sea.

I kept one alive for as long as a few weeks... and then it died.

I must have killed several till I read that they are recognised as a species which do not thrive at all in the aquarium.

And taking them from reefs actually impact them as fish will move away from reefs without cleaners.

I don't think they are a recommended method to control ich outbreaks.

Please, everyone, don't buy cleaner fish and tell the LFS why not.

Thanks.

Achilles

[Norvin Ng]

Opps!! I just bought one during the weekend. But its brown and black stripes with a yellow tail. Got it from Hawaii Marine and they said that this variety is much more hardy. I have never seen this previously, not even from books. They have one in their main tank and I have bought the other. As of this morning, its still swimming very well in my tank and irritating the others as he tries to nib at parasites thats on my powder blue and yellow tank.

I definitely agree with you that the blue variety is very fragile... usually "disappears" after two or three days... happened to me 3 times already. I saw a big bunch of them at Pacific Marine two weeks ago and many of them look like their are "going"...

[hongqixian]

Opps!! I just bought one during the weekend. But its brown and black stripes with a yellow tail. Got it from Hawaii Marine and they said that this variety is much more hardy. I have never seen this previously, not even from books. They have one in their main tank and I have bought the other. As of this morning, its still swimming very well in my tank and irritating the others as he tries to nib at parasites thats on my powder blue and yellow tank.

I definitely agree with you that the blue variety is very fragile... usually "disappears" after two or three days... happened to me 3 times already. I saw a big bunch of them at Pacific Marine two weeks ago and many of them look like their are "going"...

I don't think that is a different colour form of the cleaner wrasse. It is probably just one of the dwarf wrasses like the sixline wrasse. These clean fish too but on a less regular basis. They are closely related.

Quite a few types of baby fish clean larger fish as well, typically those with black and white stripes, blue and white stripes and red and white stripes. These are the universal sign for cleaners in the sea. Some of these change colour when bigger and lose the cleaning habit.

[kelstorm]

yes.. i dun advocate keeping those cleaner fishes.. they just dun survive in our tanks.. i had lost a couple of them.. one of them lasted 3 months.. they will feed on brine shrimps.. but after a while, they simply just die off..

however, the hawaiian or caribbean one is more hardy.. i seen one in at the LFS in balestier.. and it cost $40... a bit ex.. but it feeds on pellets and mysis shrimps.. and it goes ard doing the cleaning job as well..

as that is too ex.. i got something similar to that of Norvin.. and it was in my tank for the past yr.... and it got brave enuff to do some "cleaning" of my hands when i clean the tank..

however, on the whole, i advocate using cleaner shrimps....

[Blue Tang]

Hi Norvin,

From my experience, main cause of ICH is from degrading water quality. Of course, new live stock (fish or coral or live rock) can also introduce ICH. Take note that there are few types of ICH. Some respond well to copper, and some to Malachite green, some combination of both.

Firstly, check your KH. Most of the time, ICH breaks out in my tank when KH drops below 7. Slowly increase your KH over 2-3 days to 9-11 will help a lot.

Secondly check for nitrate (assuming nitrite and amonia is fine). Generally, "fish only" setup can tolerate quite high nitrate (50- even 120ppm in my case) unless its sensitive species like butterflies or angels.

Cheers!

William Mooi

[Phang]

"Quite a few types of baby fish clean larger fish as well, typically those with black and white stripes, blue and white stripes and red and white stripes. These are the universal sign for cleaners in the sea. Some of these change colour when bigger and lose the cleaning habit. "

Read from somewhere that there are fishes that impersonate these cleaner fishes through having the same body markings... I think they are known as Fang Blennies...

However they don't clean fishes, they take chunks of fin and flesh from them...Heehee.... saw a number of them recently in some LFS .

Phang

[hongqixian]

"Quite a few types of baby fish clean larger fish as well, typically those with black and white stripes, blue and white stripes and red and white stripes. These are the universal sign for cleaners in the sea. Some of these change colour when bigger and lose the cleaning habit. "

Read from somewhere that there are fishes that impersonate these cleaner fishes through having the same body markings... I think they are known as Fang Blennies...

However they don't clean fishes, they take chunks of fin and flesh from them...Heehee.... saw a number of them recently in some LFS .

Phang

The saber-toothed blenny?(Sounds like some prehistoric creature)

Those have mouths below their heads like sharks. There's also a pacific ocean species of fish(scientific name starts with P.) that impersonates the neon goby from the Caribbean.

[Achilles Tang]

I have never seen a neon goby in LFS....

[Norvin Ng]

Glad to see so much feedback and support here. I am going on leave tomorrow to take care of the ich problem - put all the fishes into a quaratine tank and "copper" them and let the ich parasite in my main tank goes through its natural cycle and dies off. It dies off, right?

[Achilles Tang]

Good luck!

Make sure the fish don't get overstressed... or the ich will take hold again.

[hongqixian]

Glad to see so much feedback and support here. I am going on leave tomorrow to take care of the ich problem - put all the fishes into a quaratine tank and "copper" them and let the ich parasite in my main tank goes through its natural cycle and dies off. It dies off, right?

Yep it dies off. Minimum 3-4 weeks of no fish in main tank. Why not try the hyposalinity treatment as well in the quarantine (but please do it slowly and observe the fish for signs of distress.

Achilles, I saw yellow striped neon gobies in the big display tank at Hong Leong last time. They must have gotten it from a Caribbean shipment.

[Norvin Ng]

Hi All

Bad news. I bought a medication called Crane Brand MarineCure (small blue box at S$3.50 each, 25 ml size) from PetMart and it stated 1 drop per 2 litres and safe for inverts.

My tank is at 250 litres so I squeezed in more than half the bottle and the whole tank turned dark blue!! The fishes don't seemed to be affected at first but in less than an hour, 7 died and the last 3 a few hours later!!!!

After 3 hours of 90% water change and 3 days later, my corals looks ok but has lost their former "glory".

This is how the fishless tank look right now...... A lesson for all..... be very sure what you put in your tank!!!!!

[Achilles Tang]

OMG! What were you trying to treat???! Ick in the main tank??

I think most of the medication is for quarantine tank use only... no telling how the medication may kill the useful bacteria in the tank.. causing an oxygen drop... suffocating your fish...

The worst advice I ever got from a reputable LFS was to drop in Malachite Green in my tank until the water is slightly blue... all my corals shrank... and some died.... I had to do massive water changes... sigh!

Lessons to learn here folks...

[X_Japan]

well.............sorry ah

back to the topic of the cleaner fish.............I do know that most books do not advocate keeping cleaner rasses in their tanks............but they can be kept.........I am no pro here.....I just started keeping them about 5 yrs ago.....I kept mine for about 9mths, just feeding them with tubifex and brine shrimp.

I bought that fish in Kwang's aquarium that time and he told me that they cleaner fish in his tank had been there for 2 mths already .....and it looked perfectly healthy~~

so i just purchased it and kept it

but it has since died due to an electric shock which killed all my lifestock.......

haiz...........

but i more into keeping exotic fishes which can't really be kept like moorish idols........having slight success here though

will have to see how long they still can survive............been in there 3 mths already~~~

[Achilles Tang]

Yeah but how many have we all tried? And how many have survived?

Just imagine.. they import at least a few hundred or even a thousand cleaner wrasses a year and how many live a long long life like other fish do eg. 8 years and above?

Buying hard-to-survive livestock will increase demand. Stop buying them and they stop catching them.

Why fuel the market? These fish are better left in the sea, where their role in the ecosystem is very important. Reefs where cleaner fish are absent will see less fish visiting it and thus affecting the balance. It's a proven fact.

Not condemning you but I hope you will understand what conscientious reef-keeping is all about.

It's difficult and takes a lot of self-control to say no. But it can be done. And must start with you and I.

[hongqixian]

I never add meds in my tank unless I know what the chemical composition is. Did you find out?

[Norvin Ng]

Nope. Got the medication from PetMart as it was recommended by them. The label indicated that its invert safe. I must have overdosed. My nano tank fishes kanna ich a one week ago and after a week of 2 drops per day with the same medication, they are now clear.

Overall advise as most of the experienced keepers would offer - patience!! Will definitely remember this for a long time.

[hongqixian]

Yep... Patience! Actually for non-antibiotic meds and supplements, you can use them at 1/2 dosage. Safer. There's a product on the market called Greenex to cure ich and things like that. I read from a forum that the dosage stated on the label is much more than the actual dosage you need and it kills brittle stars and certain starfish. It is the chemical like meth blue but not blue, the green one(I forgot the name)

Just a warning! and btw, nice tank you've got there, even without fish and the corals supposed to be less healthy than before.

[Norvin Ng]

Yeap, my corals not quite the same as before, especially the one that looks like half a ball (couldn't find out the name so far but its a common coral) when the soft tentacles are retracted. The tentacles used to stretch to about 2" or more but now hardly an inch.

My experience is that once they are "hit", chances are they will not recover.

I am now using two additives by Marc Weiss (bought at Aquamart and quite ex - S$38 and S$48 respectively for about one month supply) and hope that it will help in their recovery. Will share the results in a few weeks time. One of them suppose to help grow coraline algae and the other is a tonic for fish and corals. Let's see...

[yellowfin tuna]

hi guys,,,

so at the end of the day ,,,, wat is the best way to cure ich???

new advise on a few stuff...

put new fishes in quarantine..... for how long???

if there is ich,,,, do we add the ich medication in or add garlic to food...??

when we do water dip.... is it safe???and the frequency of the dip??

[cityofangels]

When my Powder Blue Tang had ich, I added garlic to frozen mysis shrimps. I grinded garlic to get its juices and soaked the defrosted mysis in the garlic juice for about 10-15 minutes.

After feeding my PBT for about 2 weeks on this food, it's ich is finally gone.

Just a recommendation.