Help- The dreaded ich!

All my fish got ich after I added my snowflake and borbonious. I can hardly look at my fish under the moon lights because that's when the ich stands out the most, makes me sad and depressed.

I run a uv, ozone, and feed garlic flakes all the time.   I had an extra uv that I just started running with my other uv and have started to feed with garlic extreme as well.   The ich isn't getting any worse but doesn't look much better.   I've had ich in my swim tank lots of times but this is the first time any of my reef fish other than my powder blue has had it.

Someone here probably could loan you a UV Sterilizer. Just post the request.

I don't know exactly why just a little tank water flowing through UV radiation can stop Ich, but it does. A little water flowing through a skimmer with Ozone also does the job, although these methods are still not 100% effective. It's physically impossible for most of the parasites to be drawn through the UV Sterilizeror or Skimmer and the Ich on the fish does not go through. Perhaps it works because the change to just a small amount of water changes some part of the water chemistry of the entire tank enough to irritate the parasite. It is my understanding that UV actually produces some Ozone.

From what I have seen and what I know of body functions, Garlic Oil does not enhance the fishes immune system. Technically, when we talk about the immune system we are talking about antibodies; living microscopic cells produced by the body and put into the blood for the purpose of mass attacking with the intent to kill the microscopic cells called bacteria and virus.

Ich is neither of these. It is a little bug; a tiny parasite that lives in the "skin" of the fish. In most tanks, the introduction of Garlic Oil into the body of the fish seems to bother the parasite, causing it to leave the fish. Some hobbyists report that Garlic Oil in the water surrounding the fish can cause the parasite to leave. Unfortunately, Garlic Oil, like other natural remedies, is not so potent that it can kill, like a chemical or medication would, it just repels... like mosquito repellent. This means that in some situations, conditions in the tank are such that the Garlic Oil seems to have little effect, or as Dave reported, it had only a temporary effect on an infestation that was already way out of control.

Hope this helps.
Personally, with all due respect, I believe that adding 10 new fish in 2 months is asking for trouble, even if Garlic Oil had been used and was previously effective. This is why LFS have special procedures and setups to minimize death due to parasites and disease.


Edited by Mark Peterson - October 30 2010 at 10:46am

UV will not kill all of the ich parasite, it will only kill them if they come in contact with UV, before this ich will already have found a host to be in. Unless the whole tank is in UV than ich will be present Copper treatment will eradicate it or even dip FW with copper will help along with UV and garlic treatment and no stressful life they will thrive

Honestly.. I dont believe in the garlic. I think it makes things worse.. JMO... Science wise... the UV sterilizer is the only treatment... It will kill the ich as they pass through it.. remember ich is a parasite.. all the garlic in the world into your tank isnt going to stop their life cycle... I think it just stresses out fish more and in turn causes them to shed their slime coats... Get a UV ... they are very cheap on ebay.. We got two large ones for under 100 bux i believe and run both on our large system

I'm sorry to hear about your firefish.  I'm curious about your garlic treatments though.  Were the firefish consuming the garlic marinated foods?  How long had they been eating this food before they perished?  Were you feeding any garlic proactively - as a preventative measure?  Do you think the garlic has helped in any way?

Edited by Shane H - October 29 2010 at 10:04am

Update?

Ich is such a pain! 14 years in SW and this is the 1st time I have had this problem (or any real problem I can remember). I will be looking into the UV sterilizer. If any one has a UV setup I could borrow for the time being, it would be greatly appreciated.

Mark, I believe your checklist accurately describes my tank. Besides over feeding (which sometimes I wonder if I already do) and the UV, I am not sure what else to do. I know I lost one of the Helfrichi Firefish and did not see the other one at all yesterday.

Edited by DLindquist - October 25 2010 at 8:59am

I have to aplogize for the limited help I was when you called Sat night. I was very distracted and I do better when given some time to think.

At this point you have tried Kents and a prepared garlic used for cooking. I don't consider fresh garlic as useful as the prepared garlic oils. In my experience, the stinky garlic oil in gelcaps from the grocery store or health food store has been more reliable in a greater number of reef aquariums.

I definitely agree with the use of UV. I don't know how the slow flow does it since it only processes a small amount of water. I used to be a skeptic of this piece of equipment, but it definitely seems to do the job. I have a hunch that it does something to the water of the entire tank, making it unhealthy for water borne parasites. I arrived at this hunch after realizing that the natural UV in sunlight has a positive effect on my sunlit tanks, even though a lot of the UV is stopped by the window and the tanks get direct sunlight for only a portion of the day.

I often write about making our tanks more healthy and reducing stress. As was mentioned above, making sure there is plenty of a variety of foods especially more plant foods than hobbyists typically provide, is a big part of that. Overfeeding actually reduces aggression between competing fish. A few other things that help reduce stress are:

- aquascaping to provide plenty of hiding places
- good coral growth which helps filtration, parasite consumption and indicates good water quality
- ensuring live foods, both plant and animal are present and growing
- ensuring that water parameters are within range and relatively constant
- minimizing changes to the tank
- keeping kids from banging on the glass


Edited by Mark Peterson - October 25 2010 at 7:58am

Just a heads up on the UV i learned the hard way.

it depends on your uv unit but usually 500gph is about where it needs to be.