small ick problem

T

tshirtsbyjeff

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I have been noticing in the mornings my fish will have ick all over them but by mid-day is seems to be almost gone but just a few specks still remain oon the fish. I have a 115 gallon with a sailfin, powder blue, 6 line, blue damsel, and a firefish with corals. What is the best way to get rid of the ick or treat it so the fish will be ok. I am currently using garlic at every feeding to help their immune system and at every water change and every couple of feedings I use marine max. I do have a quite a bit of corals aswell so how ever I need to treat it needs to be reef safe. Please give me some suggestions on what to do. i test my water twice a week and everything seems fine. Also for more info I have 440 watts of light in 4 48in vhos. i keep my water temp at 78.
 
Best way is to QT the fish and treat for Ich for appr. 6 weeks by hyposalination. This is the time it will take for the Ich in the tank to die off. If you only QT the fish till the signs go away and reintroduce them to the main tank, they will only become reinfected. Treating the main tank with chemicals is not what I would recommend. Depending on the medication you use, (most contain copper) it could kill of your reef and destroy your bacteria bed. That and the added water-changes and testing can be brutally stressful not only on you, but all you livestock, fish, corals and inverts...IMO
 
Fishtender thank you for your reply. I do not have the means to setup a QT tank right now. Would it be benificial to run any carbon filtering at this point (will that hurt corals, good bacteria, inverts, or fish)? Will changing the salinity help the cause at all? If so what should I keep the salinity at?
 
Here are a couple lnks to some good reads on the subject.
http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=26171

I don't recommend changing the salinity for your display tank so dramatically. Hypo-salinity should be done in a hospital tank. It is my understanding that as long as the fish are in the same tank, the Ich will not die. It must go without a host (fish) for at least a month in order to completely die in the tank. I hate to sound like a Gloomy Gus, but if you continue to treat them in the same tank, you will be fighting a losing battle. Just when you think you have gotten it licked and have seen no signs for days or even weeks, you can wake up the next morning to another round of the evil monster.
 
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