My tangs have ICK what should i do?

Question

My naso and yellow tang seem to have ick, does a chemical called copper actually work

Answer 1

Yes copper treatments do work. However, in saltwater tanks you have to be very careful with the introduction of copper. Inverts are very sensitive to it so if you have crabs, shrimp, corals, etc you can't use copper. If you have another tank you can set up a hospital tank or quarantine tank. There you can do all your meds and such without harming the rest of your tank. I prefer a formalin dip if the infestation is bad enough. You have to follow the directions very closely though as it can be quite toxic. Freshwater dips are also effective at quickly reducing an outbreak. These can be stressful to the fish though so unless it's a bad outbreak it's usually better to use a quarantine tank or just let the fish fight it off on his own. Ick is almost always present in a tank and even if you kill it adding in anything that is wet from another tank can reintroduce it. It only shows up on fish when they are stressed. Keeping your fishes stress levels low and their immune systems high is a good way to keep them from getting reinfestations.

Tangs are very prone to ick. If you are going to use a copper treatment be very careful about using the proper dosage. Anything less than needed won't be effective and anything more can harm the fish. If you have a fish only tank and never want to keep corals and such copper is a great way to take care of ick.

Answer 2

Yes, although whether or not you should use it in your tank will depend on if you're keeping invertebrates - most will be killed by medications containing copper. Meds with both malachite green and formalin seem to be the most effective.

If you've got inverts, these will not get ich - only the fish. So it would be safe to leave them in the tank and move all fish to a hospital tank to treat them. This doesn't have to be anything fancy - just a tank big enough to hold them, a filter and heater. Some hiding places made of PVC sections can be provided if you want. You can do a freshwater dip prior to putting them into the tank - this often causes some of the parasites to release from the fish. You can also keep the water in the hospital tank at a lower salinity - 1.015-1.020 - which the fish will tolerate better than the parasite. As long as you keep fish out of the main tank for 2 months, the parasite should die on its own from a lack of a host. Raising the temperature in either tank will cause the parasite to speed up its life cycle, so death/treatment is effective quicker, but you'll need to consider the temperature tolerances of the organisms involved. A temperature around 90o is effective, but photosynthetic corals, anemones, and clams start to expel the zooanthellae around 85o, so you can't go as high with them.

Also beware of "cures" that sound too good to be true - there are several "medications" that are advertised, but the only good reviews seem to be those coming directly from the company. See this link for some medications to avoid: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/cryptnoncures.htm

See the sources below for more info on marine ich and freshwater dips in treating. If you use malachite green and formalin, be aware that both medications are carcinogenic and be careful when handling.

Answer 3

Ick away from wardley essentials contains green malachite which will turn your water a light green for a couple of days. Use 5 ml per every ten gallons and make sure that all the carbon is removed from the filtration system. and this stuff does stain pretty bad but it won't hurt the fish and will get rid of the ick

Answer 4

Buy some Ick Out at the pet store. I believe it has some copper in it

Answer 5

Go to the pet store and look into the mardel fish products. Follow instuctions and be careful with introduction of any copper.

Answer 6

all that they said....and, there has to be a reason for them getting ick.....
check your heater, make sure its saying constant.

Answer 7

Get some medications for your fish.