ick

[wud up]

I have a hippo tang, and i have had it for i am guessing around 5 to 6 weeks. It got the ick parasites that i am not shocked from hearing that the tangs are very ick prone. It had a good amount for about 2 weeks, then it went away. Now every once in a while it will get one or 2 white spots, then it will be fine. then a few days later it will have another. It keeps on doing this over and over. i was wondering is it normal for ick to last this long having only one or two spots go away and keep coming back? about how long does it usually
take for it to fully go away? im just wondering. thanks

[tashier]

This isn't my specialty but since I don't see any replies yet, I believe that ich can reside in your sandbeds and probably keep reappearing from there. I know it can be very beneficial to keep some cleaner shrimp in your tank to clean ich off your fish. I've seen mine do some maintenance work on my fish before. Other than that, you can search TRT for a lot of info already posted on ICH and possible treatments.

[Geoff]

there was a thread not to long discussing ich. i will see if i can hunt it down. it pointed to an article about the parasite. one thing to know is that the parasite has a life cycle which includes many stages. as the ich goes through these various stages you may see small outbreaks on the fish. as long as their are fish in the tank you will have ich.

G~

[kalel1976]

Crytocaryon Irritans or ich will come and go like you are seeing but it doesn't always mean that you are getting rid of it or your fish will not have another major outbreak. The original outbreak may have been caused if the fish was under more stress then normal thus weakening the immune system and allowing for a more intense outbreak. I am guessing that the mature parasites fell off into the sand bed and are reproducing. Each time that you do not see the ich on the fish it probably is going through the cyst/reproducing stages and when you do see the cysts they have hatched and are attacking the fish all over again. These lifecycles give hobbyists a false sense of comfort when in fact the ich just keeps breeding, feeding, and dying and the cycle is kept alive because you are not treating the problem and you may eventually have another major outbreak that kills all of your fish if you do not do anything about it.
Cleaner shrimp and fish like neon gobies may help but will not solve the problem long term. The best way to get rid of the ich is to remove all of your fish and place them in a QT tank. I prefer hyposalinity as apposed to medication but no matter what method you chose you also will need to keep your main tank w/o fish for 6-8 weeks so the existing ich will not have a host and eventually will die off.

[JAWS74]

Here is my take. I believe that if the fish is doing well and eating, then DON'T STRESS IT OUT ANY FURTHER. All Tanks have ICH. Nothing to be done about it. HYPO works for some fishes, not all, and not in some cases. If you have a cleaner shrimp or goby, then it will be fine. Keep your pH high, your temp around 80, and lower your salinity to 1.020 for two weeks, then go from there. Let the fishes immune system do the work for you. THe high temps speeds up the life cycle and the lower salinity limits their numbers. If you have a wet dry or sump filter then add a micron filter pad to collect the ich too. If the ich is more than just a few spots then and the fish is actng more than a little weird then it is time for drastic measures. If you can find it use Topical Science's Marine-Max. It works well as a preventative and for elimiating small ich problems. Good Luck!

[wud up]

thanks for the replies. ya the fish isnt broken out badly at all only 2 or 3 ick spots, i heard about the lowering salinity and some of those things. i think i will try that because it is out of the question of catching him to put in a quarantine tank. i am also feeding the fish garlic guard to boost the immune system, im wondering if that will help a little thanks everyone

[kalel1976]

Originally Posted by JAWS74

Here is my take. I believe that if the fish is doing well and eating, then DON'T STRESS IT OUT ANY FURTHER. All Tanks have ICH. Nothing to be done about it. HYPO works for some fishes, not all, and not in some cases. If you have a cleaner shrimp or goby, then it will be fine. Keep your pH high, your temp around 80, and lower your salinity to 1.020 for two weeks, then go from there. Let the fishes immune system do the work for you. THe high temps speeds up the life cycle and the lower salinity limits their numbers. If you have a wet dry or sump filter then add a micron filter pad to collect the ich too. If the ich is more than just a few spots then and the fish is actng more than a little weird then it is time for drastic measures. If you can find it use Topical Science's Marine-Max. It works well as a preventative and for elimiating small ich problems. Good Luck!

You make some good point but you are also noting some of the misconceptions about C. Irritans. Don't worry, I use to believe the same thing until someone on another forum opened my eyes and educated me on the true lifecycle of ich.
http://www.marineaquariumadvice.com/...um_fish_1.html

[kyrie_eleison]

Has anyone ever tried No-Ich?

[betamed]

I've tried a lot of stuff. A 36W UV worked best for me because killed off most of the ick and did not bother any of the livestock.

[abigtroutt]

This is where I'm at.... I had an Ick outbreak after purchasing a Tang. I did the QT and a fresh water dip....and still a outbreak that killed all my fish! but now I'm wating 6 to 8 weeks befor I purchase anything.

Cryptocaryon irritans is an obligate parasite, meaning that it cannot complete its life cycle (at the trophont stage) without a host fish. Taking into account that the normal time frame in which tomonts will hatch ranges from 3 to 28 days, a fallow (without fish) period of 30 days to 6 weeks is recommended to eliminate this parasite from an aquarium. Removing all potential hosts from a system for this period of time should eradicate the pest from the aquarium. If the fish are removed from the display to another aquarium for treatment and an effective means of therapy (i.e. hyposalinity or copper treatments) is employed, then those fish will be clean of infection.

[abigtroutt]

Originally Posted by betamed

I've tried a lot of stuff. A 36W UV worked best for me because killed off most of the ick and did not bother any of the livestock.

A UV light is going to be a purchase befor I get more fish!

[BadOleRoss]

I have been down these roads a number of times and I am still not sure we know all we need to know about ich. I have fallowed tanks for 8 weeks and after returning fish that have been in Hypoed to the DT the ich still returns. I have had tanks ich free until I add the tang from the Qt and then the ich appears. I believe ich is always in the tank no matter what you do. Keeping the tank and fish healthy is the best defense against ich. Tangs seem to come with ich pre-installed. I cant recall a case of ich in my tank that has not involved a tang. Hypo and copper does work in bad cases but I have also had luck with kick-ich on minor cases. Of course, this is just my opinion.

[kyrie_eleison]

bad,

You know what? You're not alone. Because of A hippo tang (dory), I have lost a royal gramma, naso, ocellaris AND believe it or not...a dragonet (mandarin) along with a number of others. I tried the whole quarantine (to hyposality) bit, 6 months fallow, cleaner shrimps, No-ich, I even did the cupramine (copper treatment) and methaline blue (which IS the only effective method of destroying cryptocaryon)...which pretty much ruined a 20 gallon tank forever; ONLY to have another bout with the process repeating itself time and time again.

I got rid of the hippo tang once and for all. They are beautiful fish (expensive depending upon size) but aren't worth the headaches and stress. The only tangs I will ever keep from now on are zebrasomas. I will never again keep a hippo tang or naso. Their "skin" is too thin and they don't secrete enough body slime to protect them. True...they are built for speed just like the moorish idols but like you said, ich is built in to them.

[BadOleRoss]

I just moved my 90 reef into a 220 that was a FOWLR tank. In the process I had to relocate a hippo and a yellow tang and so far much to my surprise I have not seen any signs of ich......keeping fingers crossed!

[kyrie_eleison]

Originally Posted by BadOleRoss

I just moved my 90 reef into a 220 that was a FOWLR tank. In the process I had to relocate a hippo and a yellow tang and so far much to my surprise I have not seen any signs of ich......keeping fingers crossed!

You're a brave man. At one point, I was close to leaving the hobby forever because of that "Ich Problem". I know one guy who has both an adult Naso and an adult Achilles in the same tank and it was an on and off thing. If one got it; so did the other.