EMERGENCY

[Tbremer]

My royal gramma is sick. I looked at him on staruday and noticed he had tiny white spots all over the front half of his body. I figured it was marine ich because he was "flashing" his body against the rocks and it appeared that he had very rapid breathing. I went and got some stuff to set up a hospital tank to begin a hypo-salinity treatment on sunday. Set it up and began mixing salt with RO-DI water. I didnt find him until today when i took a rock out of the water from the main tank so i could do a thorough look to see if he had died and was just stuck so he was completely out of the water for about 20- 30 seconds. He is in the hospital tank right now. However he is lying on his side on the bottom of the tank and has a very slow breathing rate and it looks like he is trying real hard to gasp for air.

I would appreciate any help. This is the first time i have had to try to save a fish and im pretty much shooting in the dark

Also his white spots are gone but he has some discoloration to the front half of his body and has a dark spot on the front of his dorsal fin

 

[lvsuckerfish]

It May be too late to save him sorry but, in the hosp. tank did you use new mixed water or water from the DT. New water will stress the fish out and will 99% chance of lossing the fish with water from the DT you have a chance I would saw 50/50 chance of survival. laying on his side gasping for air is Not a good sign. again sorry

 

[ac7av]

I just hate to see that kind of stuff. Lost my entire tank to that carp a couple of years ago. I hope Lee sees this soon to maybe help but I think if the fish is still heavily covered with the ick you may be able to remove them by doing a fresh water dip for 30 minutes then get him back into the tank and try to oxygenate the water as much a you can

 

[balogh03]

Doesn't, sound like there is much hope for this guy, sorry. But now that you have a QT setup I would hypo the rest of your fish so you don't have to worry about this again.

Good Luck

 

[returnofsid]

About all you can do, at this point, is give it the best water conditions possible and keep the water very well oxygenated.

 

[lvsuckerfish]

i smal cheap air pump I know there is a thread around here about setting up a Hosp. tank.... small cheap air pump and stone. and also a cheap hob filter walmart is a good place to get this cheap stuff if not already in your garage somewhere... and some small heaters with a Lee's foam filter

 

[Tbremer]

well my guy didnt make it i watched him for 2 hours before he died. But thanks for the support and tips for doing this. I've got a question though. I have three other fish in the tank and none of them show signs of ich should i quarantine all three of them together. I have a yellow watchmen, purple fire fish and a cherub angel fish. I only have a 10 gallon tank to do this in. I will be setting up a 75 gallon tank once im able to get some lights for it and was thinking about doing it then

 

[returnofsid]

You do now have Ich in your display tank. The only way to eradicate it from your display, will be to QT ALL fish, in a hyposalinity treatment, for a period of 6-8 weeks. During this same 6-8 week period, your display tank must remain fishless. Without fish, over this time period, all Ich in the display will starve and die.

 

[lvsuckerfish]

I would get garlic extreme and soak the food when you feed that will help. I have all kinds of blue tangs which imo the blue tangs are more prone to ICH then other tangs all were fat happy and never showed a sign of ich after feeding this way. used tangs as a point of fish who are known ich issues.

http://www.marinedepot.com/Seachem_...ves_Supplements-Seachem-SC4811-FIADAG-vi.html

 

[NC2WA]

No fish equals no host for the Ich to reproduce. It takes at least 30 days for the cycle to complete..so at minimum your display tank needs to be fish at least 4 wks. I would go at least 6, and if there are no corals in the display tank, you could increase your tank temp to 86 degrees which will speed up the reproduction cycle..again only do this if NO CORALS or INVERTS are in the tank, otherwise they will die too.

Kirk

 

[returnofsid]

Garlic, as an immune booster, in Marine Fish, is a myth. It does appear to enhance appetite, which could lead to a healthier fish, and it "might" mask the scent of the fish, from the parasites, making it more difficult for the Ich to parasitize the fish.

Here's a couple good articles, that dispel myth of Garlic being an immune booster, in Marine Fish.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/sp/index.php
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2004/mini4.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ichart2mar.htm

 

[lvsuckerfish]

Sid, I am not sure what it does or doesn't do I know it may or may not of helped my fish when I had a wild caught atlantic blue tang from the bag shipped to my door then to the qt tank for 2 weeks always showed signs of ich. the last week A buddy told me to feed with the garlic extreme or (simular product) after qt placed in my display with my 4 other tangs and never had a sign since. that could of been because I fed to keep happy and healthy or the help of a possible myth. I am not sure nor do I want to do a study on it lol I will keep to my plan as it works for me. fat fish means healthy fish IMO

those are good articals: I have read them time and time again

 

[xraymatt]

I was a big skeptic about garlic in the past, but jumped on the garlic bandwagon years ago and I've nothing but success with it. Is it because of the garlic? Who knows, but I don't want to risk not using it.
Just a side note: I use it for a couple weeks, then give them a break. Also, I put the garlic liquid (Kyolic brand) in only one of their daily feedings.
I've done this long enough to realize that what works for one person will not neccessarily work for another, but it's great to hear the variety of methods we use!
Good articles Sid.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Moderators, please move to Lee's Fish forum

 

[returnofsid]

Good call Mike!!

 

[Herefishyfishy]

A few observations:
1. a fat fish can be very diseased, overfed of wrong foods or bloated even though it is typically a good sign to have a well fleshed out fish.

2. Garlic does nothing outside of perhaps stimulating appetite

3. Ich has many stages, one is when it ALL falls off to reproduce and infect even harder afterwords.

4. A new and larger tank means the fish such as the tang, is now sleeping in a new spot with less infection ready to grab on at night.

5. Ich doesn't just go away any more than any other infestation. It can eventually die off from lack of genetic diversity after 1-2 years if no new introductions.

6. If untreated with a REAL cure, it will almost always kill a new fish and can spread like wildfire. Your best tool is education.
Read up on the life cycle of Ich, it's myths, and it's treatments.

7. There are no shortcuts to quarantine, and proper treatment.

 

[leebca]

Saw this post now for the first time. Sorry for the loss.

For future reference and for what to do now, I'd like you to read through this post AND all the other linked posts within that post: http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50933

In the above linked post AND the posts it links you to, you'll find all you need to do and know about Marine Ich.

If you properly diagnosed Marine Ich in the one fish, then all have it. All need curing. The above linked post will guide you through the process you now need to do (IF properly diagnosed).

Good luck!