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Author Topic: Marine Ich? :( :( :(  (Read 7757 times)

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Offline Arcade_Guy

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Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« on: February 08, 2009, 22:26:11 »
So i noticed my royal gramma hiding quite a bit the past day or so, and he has white spots on his head. Also "scratches" against the overflow and live rock.....

So what's the best way to "cure" the gramma, and stop it from spreading to other fish???

I've read a couple websites, but i dont want to use copper. I dont have any other tanks (except 5 gallon buckets lol) for QT... hyposalinity seemed like the route i may try to go but i was wondering if any of y'all have any better ideas or advice on fixing this problem....

Thanks
55 Gallon Reef - Hamilton, OH 45013


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Offline lightningfront

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #1 on: February 08, 2009, 22:32:19 »
I'd get him out of the tank so it doesn't spread to the other fish, I'd hate to see your new 50 dollar each clowns go down form the 15 dollar gramma.
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Offline Riderc82

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #2 on: February 08, 2009, 22:33:56 »
I think the only cure is to put all the fish in a hospital tank (where they can be treated) for 11 weeks if I remember correctly until the virus dies from your display tank.

Offline Arcade_Guy

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #3 on: February 08, 2009, 22:37:41 »
man this seems like it's going to be a total pain....

I guess i'll try to track down a heater or somethin and use a 5 gallon bucket, i mean would that be ok? Or do i need to go buy a 10-20 gallon tank to use?

I know that if marine ich is present, there are free floating parasites in the water as well as in the gramma.. hopefully none of the other fish have it, tho i am very worried about the black clowns.

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Offline Riderc82

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #4 on: February 08, 2009, 22:43:16 »
I wouldn't use a 5 gallon bucket since it sounds like you have at least three fish your would want to treat.  If it's going to be a couple days until you get your setup ready you may want to try to soak you food in fresh garlic juice some people claim it helps but I wouldn't trust it as a cure.  Hopefully someone else will chime in.

Offline Logzor

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #5 on: February 08, 2009, 22:48:52 »
I recently had to treat my clownfish using a 37% formaldehyde solution. They came down with a nasty parasite known as Brooklynella. It came into my tank with some new additions and it effects clownfish the worst. It was a pretty nasty bug and killed my black clown 36 hours after first sign of symptoms. I was able to successfully treat my orange one and he is doing great.

I understand this treatment can be used on other parasite but it is a bit extreme and somewhat risky to do. Not to mention, hard to get a hold of. The thing is that it can wipe out the parasite with one treatment.

I believe I did something like 2.5ML per 5g of water.

Just another treatment option you may want to consider! Make sure you research this treatment carefully or it can toast the fish pretty quickly.

Offline Arcade_Guy

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #6 on: February 08, 2009, 22:49:57 »
I would probably treat them all, in a hospital tank just to be safe.. which would be 6 fish.

Is the garlic juice somethin you have to get from a fish store, or just from the grocery??

formaldehyde doesnt seem like something i'd want to dump in my tank, maybe as a last resort. Maybe between garlic soaked food and hyposalinity i could get it gone, unless someone else chimes in with a better idea than hyposalinity.....
« Last Edit: February 08, 2009, 22:54:05 by Arcade_Guy »
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Offline Riderc82

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #7 on: February 08, 2009, 22:53:07 »
I was just reading to make sure I wasn't leading Arcade_Guy in the wrong direction and I came across the formaldehyde solution but didn't read to much into it.  You can get fresh garlic and a garlic press or they sell some garlic products such as garlic extreme.

Offline lightningfront

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #8 on: February 08, 2009, 23:01:58 »
I have that 10 gallon quaratine tank under my 125 if you wanted to come get it I will evacuate that cichlid I have in there.
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http://www.ohioreef.com/index.php?topic=8341

Offline Arcade_Guy

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #9 on: February 08, 2009, 23:04:43 »
on a side note, i just added a protein skimmer friday and it is adding some microbubbles to the water (still trying to fix that)

he wouldnt scratch if it were just air bubbles stuck to him right?

my six line is also acting funny, i saw him do a couple of barrel rolls just a few minutes ago.

Either i'm freaking out over nothing or the white spot disease is spreading pretty quickly.

Everything was happy and fine up thru last night... no spots on the gramma till yesterday/today.

are there any other reasons the gramma would be scratching?

I might have to do that justin... i need to get you your RO/DI back anyways
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Offline lightningfront

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #10 on: February 08, 2009, 23:06:17 »
I'll be here, probably be up till around 3-4 if you want to come tonight, or tomorrow before work doesn't matter.
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http://www.ohioreef.com/index.php?topic=8341

Offline Arcade_Guy

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #11 on: February 08, 2009, 23:09:16 »
i'm going to have to go to the store and get some stuff to set it up anyways.. heater, light, stuff like that. So i might come tomorrow before work or if it's cool maybe after work. i'll bring your RO/DI with me either way.

i think i'm going to shut my skimmer off and see if the white spots go away... if not then tomorrow they will all be in a hospital tank...

55 Gallon Reef - Hamilton, OH 45013


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Offline lightningfront

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #12 on: February 08, 2009, 23:12:31 »
It's got all the stuff with it. Heater, hood with light, bio-wheel filter. Completely set-up all you would have to do is clean and fill with saltwater.
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http://www.ohioreef.com/index.php?topic=8341

Offline Logzor

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #13 on: February 08, 2009, 23:24:33 »
For the record the formaldehyde treatment must be done is a dedicated bucket or tank (it takes 30 minutes on healthy fish) and you can do a lower concentration for a longer period of time for fish that are in a worse condition. The chemical would probably nuke a reef tank in no time.

Offline Arcade_Guy

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #14 on: February 08, 2009, 23:25:12 »
wow... ok.

i'm thinking about coming down there tonight then, being all ready to go.

apparently i need to slowly raise the temp and drop specific gravity... at least thats what i gather from multiple articles online. along with putting all the fish in QT.

i'll let you know if i'm going to head down tonight man...
55 Gallon Reef - Hamilton, OH 45013


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Offline lightningfront

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #15 on: February 08, 2009, 23:31:12 »
Cool give me a call and I'll chuck the hybrid cichlid outta there into my main tank since its empty now except for catfish.
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My tank thread
http://www.ohioreef.com/index.php?topic=8341

Offline Arcade_Guy

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #16 on: February 09, 2009, 00:10:19 »
It just seems like 6 fish in a 10 gallon tank would be over crowded for sure... and if i'm going to QT the gramma, the parasites still in the water would eventually get to the other fish...

I think I should just go get a larger tank more suitable for housing that many fish.

I'll probably also do a freshwater bath on them before they go to QT tank, then 3 or 4 weeks there, then another freshwater bath and back into the display. Hopefully that solves it.

So i'll pass on grabbing that 10g, it would be great for just a couple fish but i couldnt keep them all in there.
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Offline Logzor

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #17 on: February 09, 2009, 00:14:47 »
You may want to be aware that most fish carry the plain 'ich' parasite forever and never fully get rid of it. It is usually brought out by stress and other factors. I had small break outs on my tang in my old tank. I just made sure to feed him well and the spots would go away. I never treated with anything.

QT'ing the fish is a good idea, though. Ich only becomes a major problem when tangs get a really bad case - other fish are pretty resilient. The spots could literally be gone in a day or two. If it were me I would do water changes, feed the fish well, and watch it disappear in a few days. Ever situation is different though!

How are your water parameters and what are you using is measure salinity? I found that high nitrates and out of whack salinity (I was using a swing arm, which are horribly inaccurate) brought out the ich in my tang.  

What size tank do you have and what fish are in it? That ich came out for some reason or another.

Offline Arcade_Guy

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #18 on: February 09, 2009, 00:33:39 »
You may want to be aware that most fish carry the plain 'ich' parasite forever and never fully get rid of it. It is usually brought out by stress and other factors. I had small break outs on my tang in my old tank. I just made sure to feed him well and the spots would go away. I never treated with anything.

QT'ing the fish is a good idea, though. Ich only becomes a major problem when tangs get a really bad case - other fish are pretty resilient. The spots could literally be gone in a day or two. If it were me I would do water changes, feed the fish well, and watch it disappear in a few days. Ever situation is different though!

How are your water parameters and what are you using is measure salinity? I found that high nitrates and out of whack salinity (I was using a swing arm, which are horribly inaccurate) brought out the ich in my tang.  

What size tank do you have and what fish are in it? That ich came out for some reason or another.

55 gallon, i have a pair of black clowns, a pearly jawfish, 6 line wrasse, dragon goby, and the royal gramma.

I use a swing arm deal too, and i run my salinity a little high (about 1.026 or 1.027, just inbetween)

I've only ever tested my water twice, the 2nd time being not even a week ago. pH was good, no nitrates or nitrites...

I just did a water change saturday, added a skimmer friday. I noticed when i was putting the pump for the skimmer in the gramma was freaking more than the other fish, can it pop up that quick?

All of my fish eat very well also.

Good info anyways, hopefully its just an outbreak only in the gramma due to the stress of me movin around rocks and puttin that pump in there and not an immanent fish holocaust.....
55 Gallon Reef - Hamilton, OH 45013


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Offline Logzor

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #19 on: February 09, 2009, 00:35:38 »
What brand swing arm? You could very well be running 1.031-1.032 and not even know it.

I was using the "deep-six" one and it was off by this much when compared with a refractometer. Other can be even more off in the higher or lower range.

The higher salinity could stress out fish and bring out ich. Sounds like your set up is running pretty well otherwise. Unless you have a bunch of algae growth your nitrates are probably still low. I have never really tested them - algae growth is enough of a test for me.
« Last Edit: February 09, 2009, 00:39:02 by Logzor »

Offline Arcade_Guy

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #20 on: February 09, 2009, 00:38:17 »
coralife deep six...

55 Gallon Reef - Hamilton, OH 45013


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Offline Logzor

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #21 on: February 09, 2009, 00:40:05 »
Sorry I was editing my post right as you posted and mentioned that my deep six was also off by a lot. Find someone with a refractometer and get an accurate salinity measurement.

I can almost guarantee you that is off by several major points.  I would bet money on it.

Offline Arcade_Guy

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #22 on: February 09, 2009, 00:47:08 »
interesting...

if they werent 80 bucks id just go buy one ASAP. Seems like the next thing to buy anyways if the deep six is really that much of a piece...

Yeah after the water change yesterday i felt quite proud.. everything is growing, looking happy and healthy, till the gramma broke out.

Thanks a lot for the info & advice.. seems more like an isolated stress related thing and not that my water is carrying an army of crypt just waiting to kill everything. I'm geeking out a little less at least lol

55 Gallon Reef - Hamilton, OH 45013


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Offline lightningfront

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Re: Marine Ich? :( :( :(
« Reply #23 on: February 09, 2009, 00:49:44 »
I have a deep six and a red sea hydrometer. The red sea always reads .001 lower than the deep six so I keep the red sea at 1.024 and the deep six at 1.025

Bring your hydrometer over when you dropoff the RO/DI and we'll see what it reads compared to mine.
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My tank thread
http://www.ohioreef.com/index.php?topic=8341


 

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