Return Of The Ich

[lgarvey]

I posted not so long ago because I thought my fish had ich, but I couldn't quite tell. There were small white bits, but they were really hard to see, which wasn't helped by the fact the fish darts about the place like a maniac.

Now, however, there does appear to be obvious white bits on the clownfish. However it's really active and lively, eats well, and does not flash -- i have never seen it flash. So it isn't displaying any of the behavioural symptoms.

I have a separate 25L tank which I plan to quarantine the fish in for a few weeks if other fish develop ich. But it definitely has white specs which looks like grains of sugar.

Confusing.

The cleaner shrimp has been cleaning the firefish pretty regularly. It's actually funny to watch the shrimp appear to price the fishes mouth apart and check in side. But the clownfish are not interested in being cleaned. So I am thinking if things progress I may have to set-up an empty 25L I have as a quarantine tank.

Could the clownfish have something else? There was a level of nitrite in the tank yesterday (quite high) which I realised was due to a dying zoa colony (another post to come about that). Once I removed the colony, the nitrite dropped right off.

 

[milkton]

I posted not so long ago because I thought my fish had ich, but I couldn't quite tell. There were small white bits, but they were really hard to see, which wasn't helped by the fact the fish darts about the place like a maniac.

Now, however, there does appear to be obvious white bits on the clownfish. However it's really active and lively, eats well, and does not flash -- i have never seen it flash. So it isn't displaying any of the behavioural symptoms.

I have a separate 25L tank which I plan to quarantine the fish in for a few weeks if other fish develop ich. But it definitely has white specs which looks like grains of sugar.

Confusing.

The cleaner shrimp has been cleaning the firefish pretty regularly. It's actually funny to watch the shrimp appear to price the fishes mouth apart and check in side. But the clownfish are not interested in being cleaned. So I am thinking if things progress I may have to set-up an empty 25L I have as a quarantine tank.

Could the clownfish have something else? There was a level of nitrite in the tank yesterday (quite high) which I realised was due to a dying zoa colony (another post to come about that). Once I removed the colony, the nitrite dropped right off.

first i would like to say that this shouldnt be the answer to your question but may help.

regarding your first problem, my tank has ick too. But now i feed highly vitamin enriched foods. i recommend a vitamin food enhancer "zoe". obviously, what it can do is boost your fishes immune system so that they could naturally fight the parasite themselves. it has been about 1 month and a half now and no signs of ick has appeared on my fish ever since i used zoe. Of course this is just my fish and not all fish are the same, but some are. I would also like to state that when i add new fish, on the first few days they get ick, as i feed and they eat, oddly enough, they are actually strong enough to fight off the parasite themselves. i get them to eat using garlic extract, some LFS has them. Also to make things even better, in a book named "saltwater aquariums" from david e. boruchowitz, it said that fish develop an immunity against ick after being diagnosed and healing from it a few times. also try not to stress the fish in anyway cause that just leads to worse situations.

you could do what i do OR do what most people do. hyposalinty or OST (osmotic shock therapy).

hope this helps

 

[lgarvey]

Hey,

Thanks for your reply!

I think your post is very helpful and is probably a great starting point and maybe even a solution? As the tank is new, I have been feeding them only marine flake food (the best marine flake apparently). But it might not be as highly vitamin enriched as some foods.

What is Zoe? Where can I find it and how do I use it?

I have some vitamin/garlic enriched frozen food I will start to feed them too.

L

 

[milkton]

Hey,

Thanks for your reply!

I think your post is very helpful and is probably a great starting point and maybe even a solution? As the tank is new, I have been feeding them only marine flake food (the best marine flake apparently). But it might not be as highly vitamin enriched as some foods.

What is Zoe? Where can I find it and how do I use it?

I have some vitamin/garlic enriched frozen food I will start to feed them too.

L

Zoe is a liquid formula containing heavy amounts of green (spirulina and kelp). It is extremely important to fish that require a diet consisting of algae, eg. tangs. Regular soaks of this product will prevent nutritional imbalances of fishes OR invertebrates. If you want to target boosting the immune system, you should get Kent Marine-C. Which is a whole different enhancer but if you only want to target the immune system, that should work well.

I live in Canada and I believe you live in the UK? I can buy it at my LFS, but im not sure if it's popular or not, sorry. It is called Kent "Zoe" and the other one is called Kent Marine-C.

These vitamin enhancers can be put directly into the tank but letting frozen,live,staple food absorb the nutrients should be better. What i do is get a pippette or syringe and drip some on each frozen food cube and let it soak overnight, then I feed my fish with it.

If you would like more information on these products, try looking them up because im still pretty new to this .

GL on the tank!