HELP! Please Prove/Disprove this Marine Ich Inquiry!!

[AdamWest]

So I've spent an ungodly amount of money (to me) on a new 55 gallon ReefSavvy build with all the bells and whistles. As soon as I put fish in the tank I have Ich. Lucky me.

So I've read leebca's threads on Marine Ich. I'm prepared to move forward with his methods. But first, I need to know one thing. I was told by someone that's been reefing longer than I've been alive that if you maintain proper water perameters and keep the fish stress low, feed well etc, that they can "fight it off" on their own. Is this a crock of crap or is there validity to this? The two fish that are infected are eating well and show no signs of stress....Should I try this first????


Thanks to anyone with any input!!!!! This is a really big bummer for me as I've looked forward to setting this tank up for almost a year

 

[AdamWest]

Does anyone have any clue on this? I've read corroborating experiences on other forums, but I'm hoping I can find an expert that can provide a definitive answer.

Sorry to post another Ich thread guys...at least I researched a ton before posting.

Thanks in advance.

 

[DianaKay]

I'm fairly sure someone will come along and give you their opinion shortly. I've had to deal with lots of bad luck but so far, but never Ich. The thought of it makes me never want to add another fish. I'm at my fish limit for my tank anyway.
How long have you had your tank running and what fish have you put in it?

 

[SubRosa]

Well it's pretty simple if you think about it. Fish live in the ocean. Ich lives in the ocean. Why don't all the fish in the ocean die of ich, as so often happens in aquaria?

 

[AdamWest]

I'm fairly sure someone will come along and give you their opinion shortly. I've had to deal with lots of bad luck but so far, but never Ich. The thought of it makes me never want to add another fish. I'm at my fish limit for my tank anyway.
How long have you had your tank running and what fish have you put in it?

Thanks Diana! I've had it running about 6 weeks now. I have a Flame Angel, Ignitus Anthias and 2 small Maroon Clowns. I just noticed Today that the Anthias is now showing some white spots. Super bummed!

Well it's pretty simple if you think about it. Fish live in the ocean. Ich lives in the ocean. Why don't all the fish in the ocean die of ich, as so often happens in aquaria?

Thanks Rosa! That's kinda how I thought about it. Makes total sense...I would think there's gotta be some validity to this method. I'm inclined to let nature run it's course....I just hate the thoughts of these poor little guys being stressed or uncomfortable.

Thanks!!

 

[DaveK]

In my opinion, the only serious way to deal with ich is to remove all fish to a quarantine tank, and treat there with copper or hyposalinity. Period. Keep them there for at least 8 weeks (10 would be better) after you no longer see the disease, but you need not treat all this time. You need that long to let the parasite die off in the main display system.

Yes, I know this is a pain in the neck, and a tremendous amount of work, but it almost always works.

I consider the feeding, keeping stress low, proper water parameter method to be close to useless. Yes, the fish may fight off the disease, if your very lucky, but the tank will always have the disease. Kind of like Typhoid Mary. Any serious stress to the system, and the disease is back in force. Often new fish, in a weakened condition can start a new outbreak. Needless to say, I don't recommend this method. I do not consider this a valid treatment option.

I know what I recommend seems very hard line. It's from lots of experience dealing with the disease over the years.

 

[Oxylebius]

The problem with comparing ich in the wild to ich in a closed system like our tanks is that ich keeps re-infecting fish over and over again, which can result in severe infections. It isn't necessarily the ich that kills the fish. It is ich weakening the immune system which allows for all kinds of diseases and infections to occur compounding the problem and killing the fish.

It is best to try to eradicate so that you don't have reinfections pop up.

Here is a good read. It is a thread on this forum: Treating marine Ich in main tank