i have noticed ich to be on my saltwater fish it seems to be in an early stage.?

Question

I have a foxface, Scopas Tang, yellow tailed damsel, and an engineer goby i've noticed some rubbing on things and a few dots on the fish i'm pretty sure its ich but i can't treat the tank because of inverts and live rock. i do have a small ten gallon tank that i could put them in to medicate. my local pet store told me he would loan me a filter that would take most the parasites out if i left it on for a couple hrs. but should i leave the fish in a seperate tank longer than that to medicate them also what should i medicate them with? and how long would it take them being left out of the tank for the parasites to starve off? from now on i will put new fish in the smaller tank first for a few weeks but for now i just need to know how to clean up this mess at hand.

Answer 1

Sounds like ich, yeah. Please note that saltwater fish are equipped to deal with parasites, and if they are in good, healthy, stress-free condition, they may overcome this on their own. However, try increasing the temps by a few degrees and decreasing salinity to 1.015 - apparently Ich stops reproducing at this salinity level.
If your fish are feeling very irritated, try a 2 minute freshwater dip to rid them of parasites on their gills.

Malachite green, formalin, quinine and methanidizole are commonly available as SW ich treatments - however, they may not be effective and you may find that the side-effects and worse than the treatment. Unfortunately Copper Sulfate is the most effective treatment and will, as you say, kill your inverts. Isolate your fish in a QT and treat with Copper Sulfate if it apears the Ich is getting the upper hand.

Use in conjunction with your friend's filter.

Answer 2

Ichthyophthirius multifiliis (ick...) is a species of ciliate protozoa which parasitizes freshwater fish. It cannot live in saltwater.

Marine ich is caused by an unrelated ciliate, Cryptocaryon.

Cryptocaryon irritans is a species of ciliate protozoa that parasitizes marine fish, and is one of the most common causes of disease in marine aquaria. The symptoms and life-cycle are generally similar to those of Ichthyophthirius in freshwater fish, including white spots, on account of which Cryptocaryon is usually called marine ich. However, Cryptocaryon can spend a much longer time encysted.

Infections can be extremely difficult to treat because of other creatures, such as corals and other invertebrates, which will not survive standard treatments. Ideally fish with Cryptocaryon are quarantined in a hospital tank, where they can be treated with a copper salt or using hyposalinity. The display tank needs to be kept clear of fish for 6-9 weeks, the longer the better. This gives time for the encysted tomonts to release infectious theronts, which die within 24-48 hours when they cannot find a host.

Cryptocaryon irritans was originally classified as Ichthyophthirius marinus, but it is not closely related to the other species. It belongs to the class Prostomatea, but beyond that its placement is still uncertain.

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/marineich.html

http://www.ichbegone.com/ich_reference

Answer 3

Do not use Melafix, this for mostly gram positive bacterial infections (and most aquatic infections are gram negative, especially in Marine Aquaria).
You are better off moving your fish to a quarantine aquarium with sponge filter that can be seeded from your established aquarium.
Change 25% water daily using water from your main aquarium, thus performing water changes there too. MAKE SURE NO equipment from your hospital aquariums makes contact with your main aquarium (you can soak in a copper solution, then rinse in scalding hot water).
Your medication options starting with the strongest are:
*Copper Sulfate kept at 25 ppm
*Medicated Wonder Shell (Marine version)
*Malachite Green
The copper sulfate is your best bet, but this cannot be used in your main aquarium.

A freshwater dip (pH adjusted to 8.2) combined with methylene blue for 3-5 minutes will also help.
Do not place your fish in your main aquarium for 3 weeks.

I would also suggest a PROPERLY installed UV Sterilizer in your main aquarium to help prevent further infections

Make sure to read this article about the facts and myths about UV Sterilization (I have spent Years testing UVs and researching them in my service business, and there is more miss-information about this subject and the aquarium Redox than just about anything else:
http://americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumUVSterilization.html

Answer 4

As far as what to medicate them with, I would go for something called melafix. It is a blue liquid and treats all kinds of fish dieases. My mom used to own a fish store, and Melafix is what she uses anytime she thinks her fish may be sick. It always seems to work. Good luck!

Answer 5

a cleaner shrim can be a non chemical way to get rid of saltwater ich.

Answer 6

just a real quick fresh water dip and they should be fine