Ways to treat ich without copper?

[lamarlover52]

I’m pretty sure my firefish has ich, he’s the only fish in my 20 gallon and I’d rather play it safe so I’m going to put him in a nice 5 gallon quarantine. Except I want to use the 5 gallon as just like a cool GSP display tank (no fish) or something after I’m done but I’ve heard that copper can leach out of live rock after. So what other options do I have?

 

[edsbeaker]

I’m not sure how successful these would be, but I’ve only heard of two other ways to cure ich without copper, hyposalinity and tank transfer method.
Hopefully some one else will post some other alternatives.

 

[Tamberav]

I’m pretty sure my firefish has ich, he’s the only fish in my 20 gallon and I’d rather play it safe so I’m going to put him in a nice 5 gallon quarantine. Except I want to use the 5 gallon as just like a cool GSP display tank (no fish) or something after I’m done but I’ve heard that copper can leach out of live rock after. So what other options do I have?

hypo salinity 1.009 for 30 days, clock starts when symptoms disappear. 35 days treats flukes as well so best to do at least 35 and knock out both just in case.

 

[KrisReef]

Folks recommend meds, or UV, or prayer and feasting to help deal with Ich.

Without an image of the fish the diagnosis and any prognosis are not going to be very specific to this problem.

I learned on here that sand substrate can be identified (incorrectly) as Ich, and many other concerns.

A picture is minimal without a more adamant ( and correct) description of the concern .

Edit: I forgot about Hypo-

 

[kevgib67]

I agree that copper is the best treatment but I’ll share what I did since I was unable to set up a qt. I went the ich management route. I used Polyp Lab medic, installed a uv ( as mentioned above) and fed heavily soak all food in Selcon, Vitachem and garlic extreme. That was over three years ago, I didn’t lose a single fish and ich has not reared its ugly head since ( I think the fish built up an immunity).

 

[Fish Fan]

Folks recommend meds, or UV, or prayer and feasting to help deal with Ich.

Without an image of the fish the diagnosis and any prognosis are not going to be very specific to this problem.

I learned on here that sand substrate can be identified (incorrectly) as Ich, and many other concerns.

A picture is minimal without a more adamant ( and correct) description of the concern .

Edit: I forgot about Hypo-

^100% this.

I would encourage you to post a clear pic of the fish under your whitest lights (turn all your blues off) and ask the (#)fishmedic crew to take a look. Don't just assume it's Ich, it could be a lot of other things.

Good luck!

 

[lamarlover52]

hypo salinity 1.009 for 30 days, clock starts when symptoms disappear. 35 days treats flukes as well so best to do at least 35 and knock out both just in case.

Thank you, I’ve decided to do this in my display tank because I don’t have very much coral or inverts yet. I would remove them and put them in a small tank for the 30 days but how can I disinfect them so I don’t reintroduce the ich when I add them back? Like would dipping the corals and freshwater dipping the crabs and snails work?

 

[lamarlover52]

Folks recommend meds, or UV, or prayer and feasting to help deal with Ich.

Without an image of the fish the diagnosis and any prognosis are not going to be very specific to this problem.

I learned on here that sand substrate can be identified (incorrectly) as Ich, and many other concerns.

A picture is minimal without a more adamant ( and correct) description of the concern .

Edit: I forgot about Hypo-

Sorry he’s a new firefish so he’s super skittish, he has very very small white dots on mostly his fins but some on his body. There’s not very much maybe 15 in total, he’s behaving normal although I am quite confident it’s ich.

 

[slingfox]

Why don’t you just take out all rock you intend to use in the future from the 5 gallon? Usually quarantine tanks use no sand or rock but instead use pieces of PVC (cheap at local hardware store) to provide hiding spots for the fish.

 

[Tamberav]

Thank you, I’ve decided to do this in my display tank because I don’t have very much coral or inverts yet. I would remove them and put them in a small tank for the 30 days but how can I disinfect them so I don’t reintroduce the ich when I add them back? Like would dipping the corals and freshwater dipping the crabs and snails work?

No, you just keep them in a tank at 81 degrees for 45 days with no cross contamination so the cysts can run their cycle and die out with no fish.

 

[slingfox]

No, you just keep them in a tank at 81 degrees for 45 days with no cross contamination so the cysts can run their cycle and die out with no fish.

If you have one fish, put it in your 5 gallon quarantine tank and leave the display tank fallow (ie, zero fish) as described in the post above. Note that it is somewhat annoying to run a 5 gallon quarantine but I assume it can be done. I run 10 gallon quarantine. The larger tank size means more stability and longer time periods between water changes.

 

[lamarlover52]

Thank you, I’ve decided to do this in my display tank because I don’t have very much coral or inverts yet. I would remove them and put them in a small tank for the 30 days but how can I disinfect them so I don’t reintroduce the ich when I add them back? Like would dipping the corals and freshwater dipping the crabs and snails work? I also have macro algae I would like to keep.

 

[fish_collector]

IMO, ich is the least thing I worry about because it is so easy to treat.

 

[Fish Fan]

IMO, ich is the least thing I worry about because it is so easy to treat.

Please share your sage advice for the rest of the community ;-)

 

[fish_collector]

Please share your sage advice for the rest of the community ;-)

Well there's not much to say, copper is easy to administer. I have not had to deal with it for a long time now, in a healthy system with healthy fish ich will not be an issue. I've got no secrets.

 

[Fish Fan]

Well there's not much to say, copper is easy to administer. I have not had to deal with it for a long time now, in a healthy system with healthy fish ich will not be an issue. I've got no secrets.

What you are describing is Ich management, described here:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ich-management-protocol.1007630/post-11741576
That's not the same as Ich eradication, which I personally strive for and recommend.

EDIT: And you're assuming Ich is the only parasite here, there are many more I try to keep out of my tanks ;-)

 

[fish_collector]

What you are describing is Ich management, described here:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ich-management-protocol.1007630/post-11741576
That's not the same as Ich eradication, which I personally strive for and recommend.

EDIT: And you're assuming Ich is the only parasite here, there are many more I try to keep out of my tanks ;-)

No argument there sir, I wasn't assuming anything, hence the reason I said >>ich<< is the least thing I worry about. It's very easy to treat, it's Fishkeeping 101.

 

[Fish Fan]

No argument there sir, I wasn't assuming anything, hence the reason I said >>ich<< is the least thing I worry about. It's very easy to treat, it's Fishkeeping 101.

Yes, reefkeeping 101.