It's Ich Problem ...

[mAriNe_enthusiast]

Hi guys,

My butterfly fish has caught the bug...

I have read about lowering the specific gravity of the water but exactly how low shd it goes? I've read in another thread that it's abt 1.014.

Isn'y that a bit low and how long to expose my fish to this level?

ANother query is whether i can perform this in my main tank with other fishes in there as well as a sponge, button and tubeworms?

Thanks...Appreciate responses.

Regards

Benson

[Razo]

if i still remember.. 1.02~1.03 range....correct me if i'm wrg

[mAriNe_enthusiast]

if i still remember.. 1.02~1.03 range....correct me if i'm wrg

Do u mean 1.012-1.013?

But because i'm having invertebrate in my main tank, i will need to treat the fishes in a separate tank. I might need to get a quarantine tank I do not have 1 actually

Hope i'll be able to help my poor butterfly to get rid of the whitey stuffs and that it'll not spread too much to other tank mate.

My blue tank didn't show any sign of it yet thou...

[flubberina13]

I remembered reading somewhere about fortifying your fishes' immune system with food that is soaked in garlic or has garlic in it.

My fishes love the OCEAN NUTRITION Formula TWO Marine Pellet that is enhanced with Spirulina and Garlic and they have been healthy and lively with nice colours.

To digress, can someone teach me how to take pictures without a shiny spot in it using a digital cam?

[mAriNe_enthusiast]

Simply turn off the flash

[flubberina13]

Oh thanks...me so nimcumpoot...

[IcecruncherZ]

1.008, not lower than this. Cant instantly subject your fish to this low salinity, will not have any adverse effects on the fish. But please take care that the pH and temp is adjusted prior. Also please do not use hyposalinity in a reef tank. Inverts will not be able to take the shock.

Once the fish is free of ich, DO NOT subject the fish to normal salinity instantly. Do it very very slowly over hours or even days.

The fish will be stressed at suddenly requiring more energy to maintain the osmotic balance by expelling salt.

Hope the above info is accurate

[Razo]

I remembered reading somewhere about fortifying your fishes' immune system with food that is soaked in garlic or has garlic in it.

my blue tang have ich when i bought it... i gave raw garlic(cut it into fine pcs) and it ate it... 3 days later no more ich...

[Razo]

Simply turn off the flash

or tilt it at a different angle when shooting..take more pix n delete those "bad" 1

[IanJ]

Try 1.017 first

[scooter blenny]

will bathing the fish with fresh water for 1 minute helps? read it somewhere that it removes parasites from the fish

[mAriNe_enthusiast]

I do not think that freshwater dip helps because the ich actually tear the fish skin and feed on it.

It's firmly attached to the fish so the dip will not cause it to loosen up.

Read this from a book...

Anyway, hyposalinity is more efficient.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Another query is that whether ich comes on and off then on and off again in a matter of 2-3 days? That's the case for my butterfly fish. But my regal tang is still not showing any spots leh?

Any comments on this?

Thanks.

[Clownfish]

Dipping the fish inside fresh water helps onli if u do it the rite way... I tried it on my blue tang b4, it worked...

1). place the fish inside a quarantine/temp tank

2). dose suitable amt of copper treatment into the quarantine tank ( NEVER OVERDOSE )

3). catch the fish out everyday for a freshwater dip... be sure to give enough water / aerate the water... dip it for 2 ~3 mins.... 2.30 mins to be safe...

4). do this until the fish is healthy... then u put back into main aquarium.... normally this takes ard 4 to 5 days, if not longer... at the same time, see whether the fish is still eating

The principle behind it is that... the copper inhibit further growth of ICH.

The freshwater REMOVES the white spots on the fish skin directly due to osmosis.

This method is onli useful if there is 1 fish infected so that it is a targetted treatment... otherwise putting it back will let it catch ICH again...

Apart from these, it is better to dip food with garlic guard / multi-vitamins in the future, so that this improves their immune system n they will be more healthy n have vibrant colour too!

[Clownfish]

btw, rem to dechlorinate the freshwater!