ICK on almost all of my fish

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Actually its kordon rapid cure and it has copper in it. It says not reef safe on the bottle.

Rapid Cure doesn't have copper in it, it is malachite green. Malachite green is just not very effective against marine ich, I know the bottle says it is, but a long history of trying malachite green has shown us it is not very effective. It does work well on costia and freshwater ich.

Jay

 

[jmichaelh7]

It’s unfortunate seems like we’re throwing random meds that are available to fix the issue. Definitely working backwards here.

Agree . moving forward be better prepared . If you take any losses it could have been prevented . We talk about to this issue a million times on this forum

 

[MnFish1]

I hope I can get out of this situation. But going forward will dose every fish but should I dose the new fish with copper or just plain saltwater?

First - Kordon Rapid Cure does not contain copper (as others have said) - it contains Triethylene Glycol, Polyvinylpyrrolidone K-29, and Malachite Green.
Second - all of your fish should to be treated.
Third - you will need to leave your display tank fallow for 45 or 76 days depending on what protocol you want to use.

 

[kenchilada]

Almost all seem to say this is useless but i feel they are getting mixed up with other kordon products.

Too bad you can't cure velvet with feelings. ;)

 

[harsha22]

First - Kordon Rapid Cure does not contain copper (as others have said) - it contains Triethylene Glycol, Polyvinylpyrrolidone K-29, and Malachite Green.
Second - all of your fish should to be treated.
Third - you will need to leave your display tank fallow for 45 or 76 days depending on what protocol you want to use.

Is it ok to add filter fleece piece in the wt to capture waste?

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

If it’s just pure filter fleece, yes. Make sure there is no carbon or anything that will absorb the medication. And change out the fleece every several days to prevent the waste from breaking down and adding to your bio load.

 

[harsha22]

Now that my fish are in qt with copper power, can I still dose my fish less main tank with polylab reef bio med pellets? Does it do any good in assisting the fallow period?

 

[harsha22]

+1 on seeing a short video under white light.

If you had ich in the tank with these fish before, it may never have gone away, and there is always a "tipping point" where if the fish go past, feeding well, using UV and reef safe medications will no longer work.

Jay

Q to all.
1. can I get ich or velvet with ammonia or nitrate spike or is it just from external sources?
2. Since ich can attach to anything wet, so any new coral and crab that I buy needs to be quarantined for a month in a non-copper qt or can the duration of qt be less for inverts?

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

1. Ich is a parasite. So unless the parasite is present you will not get ich. Poor water quality can decrease a fishs immunity making them more susceptible but the actual parasite must be present.

2. Anything wet can carry ich cysts (tomonts). Inverts and corals will die from copper. So to quarantine they need to be in a system without any fish for 76 days (some advocate a shorter time period).

 

[harsha22]

1. Ich is a parasite. So unless the parasite is present you will not get ich. Poor water quality can decrease a fishs immunity making them more susceptible but the actual parasite must be present.

2. Anything wet can carry ich cysts (tomonts). Inverts and corals will die from copper. So to quarantine they need to be in a system without any fish for 76 days (some advocate a shorter time period).

2. So, qt the inverts in a fishless tank without copper ofcourse. But since the qt is just a plain glass tank with no substrate, cant the ich die in a week?

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

2. So, qt the inverts in a fishless tank without copper ofcourse. But since the qt is just a plain glass tank with no substrate, cant the ich die in a week?

Unfortunately not.

 

[Cali Reef Life]

Raising temperature can decrease the life cycle time but still most will say 36 to 72 days 45 is +99.99% you have no ich 72 is 100% roughly on the %. Raise the tank to 81 degrees and should be fine after 6 weeks.

 

[harsha22]

Unfortunately not.

Do I dose copper power only once when I start the QT or do I add it whenever I do a 50% water change?

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

You add whenever you do any amount of water change.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Dose to the amount of water removed to avoid bringing the concentration too high.

 

[harsha22]

How effective is Ruby Reef rally against these parasites?

 

[harsha22]

How effective is Ruby Reef rally against these parasites?

Polyplab reef safe med or ruby reef rally, can I regularly dose them as a preventive measure for parasites?
Is ruby reef rally a good defense instead of qt with copper?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Polyplab reef safe med or ruby reef rally, can I regularly dose them as a preventive measure for parasites?
Is ruby reef rally a good defense instead of qt with copper?

Neither of those products are as effective as copper against advanced cases of ich. They do seem to have some benefit in instances where the ich parasite is just getting started (just a few spots on the fish). The basic problem is this: you need to poison the parasite without killing the fish host. Copper does that if you are VERY careful and dose it properly. All "reef safe" medications are much more mild, they have to be so that they don't kill the tank's invertebrates. The side effect of that is that they are also simply not as good at killing the ich parasite either.

Jay

 

[harsha22]

is 0.5 copper reading safe in the qt?

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Depends on which copper product your using. 0.5 is safe for all of them but only therapeutic for cupramine.