Ich or Velvet in My Reef Tank – Need Help!

[PanosDgs]

Good evening everyone, and nice to meet you!

Since I’m new to the group, I’d like to give a quick introduction to my aquarium.

I have a reef aquarium (with a few corals so far) of approximately 800 liters. It currently hosts the following fish:
• 2 Yellow Tangs
• 1 Purple Tang
• 1 Ctenochaetus flavicauda
• 1 Foxface
• 1 Veliferum
• 6 Clownfish (no conflicts, as they were introduced together as juveniles)
• 4 Wrasses
• 5 Anthias
• 3 shrimp and about 20 snails

All water parameters are within normal levels, and the aquarium has been running for 6 months (since September).

The system runs with a sump, which includes a skimmer, ReefMat, and UV sterilizer.

For the second time, Ich has appeared in my aquarium. The first time, unfortunately, I lost all my fish except one because I didn’t detect it in time. This time, I believe I have identified it at an early stage, as the symptoms are minimal.

Actions I have taken so far:​

• Increased temperature to 26.5°C
• Activated UV sterilizer with low flow
• Lights turned off
• Added vitamins, garlic, and amino acids
• Using PolyLab Reef Safe Medic at high dosage
• Scheduled water changes every two days with substrate vacuuming

Is there anything else I could do to increase my chances of success?
How likely is it that I won’t experience any losses, given the actions I’ve taken?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
I will also send a video in case I have misdiagnosed the issue.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Good evening everyone, and nice to meet you!

Since I’m new to the group, I’d like to give a quick introduction to my aquarium.

I have a reef aquarium (with a few corals so far) of approximately 800 liters. It currently hosts the following fish:
• 2 Yellow Tangs
• 1 Purple Tang
• 1 Ctenochaetus flavicauda
• 1 Foxface
• 1 Veliferum
• 6 Clownfish (no conflicts, as they were introduced together as juveniles)
• 4 Wrasses
• 5 Anthias
• 3 shrimp and about 20 snails

All water parameters are within normal levels, and the aquarium has been running for 6 months (since September).

The system runs with a sump, which includes a skimmer, ReefMat, and UV sterilizer.

For the second time, Ich has appeared in my aquarium. The first time, unfortunately, I lost all my fish except one because I didn’t detect it in time. This time, I believe I have identified it at an early stage, as the symptoms are minimal.

Actions I have taken so far:​

• Increased temperature to 26.5°C
• Activated UV sterilizer with low flow
• Lights turned off
• Added vitamins, garlic, and amino acids
• Using PolyLab Reef Safe Medic at high dosage
• Scheduled water changes every two days with substrate vacuuming

Is there anything else I could do to increase my chances of success?
How likely is it that I won’t experience any losses, given the actions I’ve taken?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
I will also send a video in case I have misdiagnosed the issue.

Thank you in advance!

Welcome to Reef2Reef!


Yes - that's a moderate case of ich, especially on the yellow tang. You may not be able to manage this.

Don't turn the lights off, that won't help at all. I read about that, but this is a relic of treating freshwater velvet, and has no benefit for marine fish diseases.

Increasing the water temperature is also an artifact of treating freshwater ich (a different species). Raising the water temperature for marine fish just speeds up their life cycle and the disease grows faster.

Vitamins, garlic, etc. don't treat external parasites.

You should do nightly water changes with a GOOD vacuuming of the substrate. This removes some of the resting ich tomonts before they can release the infective stage.

Here is my post on ich management:

"Ich Management"

Because this topic continues to come up, I wanted to create a sticky thread so that it is more easily referenced. Please understand that I am NOT presenting this as an optimum method for controlling marine ich, just putting it out there for people who want to try it. Also, do not pick and...

www.reef2reef.com