Is there anything else I can DO?

[Yellowlab]

55 g fish/invert/live rock up and running well for past six month. Added a Flame Angel without the "Q" tank. You guessed it ICH!! With great difficulty, I was able to catch/return the angel from where purchased, but my tank still has a Merten's Butterfly, Royal Gramma, Coral Beauty, Foxface Rabbitfish, two clowns, and lg #'s of crabs and snails. A week after the Flame was removed, the Coral beauty and Rabbitfish started showing signs of ich. My war regimen has included the purchase of 4 cleaner shrimp, the addition of marine safe "No-Ich" (conflicting beliefs about this tx), Tetra's anti-parasit food (which was very hard to find), lowering of my S.G to about 1.020, increased tank temp to 79-81 (to increases the parasits maturation process and rid tank quicker), removal of Chemi-Pure from Eheim, 20% water change, and the protein skimmer has been off per No-Ich medication recommendation. So this is what has happened so far! First, the cleaner shrimp have set up cleaning stations, which the butterfly and angel use frequently (preaty neat to watch). Second, after a week of treatment the Ich had vanished and then returned only to inflict the rabbitfish and then vanish again (fingers crossed). I still have about 4 days left of the 2 week treatment with the No-Ich. Ultimately, I know that ich can be a persistant pest. Any other suggestions besides placing all the fish in the "Q" tank (to hard to catch and to sm 10 g), or the use of garlic?

[AquariumPro]

Hi:

You are experiencing a common problem in reef tanks. It sounds like you have done everything right. What you are seeing with the disappearance, then subsequent return of the parasites is due to the life cycle of Cryptocaryon.

You must continue treatment for a full 14 days so that you kill all the "batches" of free-swimming parasites as they breed. No medication will kill the parasites which are encysted on the bodies of the fish, they may only be killed in the free-swimming stage, which is also when they breed. An individual Cryptocaryon irritans lives between 10 and 14 days, so treating for 14 days should get almost all of them.

You may want to consider adding an ultraviolet sterilizer to your system if the problem persists. There are conflicting opinions on the use of UV for reef tanks, and for good reason. Read our article on the subject for more info. However, having one in-line on your system to be turned on when you are having pest problems has worked for our reef-tank clients quite well, and without any major damage to desirable micro-fauna populations.

[Yellowlab]

Thanks for the reply! This is my current situation, this is day 16 after the start of treament. I came home tonight to find my clown, butterfly, and royal gramma infected with Ich AGAIN! Each of them are eating well and there are only 1-3 spots on each. For now, the rabbitfish and coral beauty seem to be unifected! I forgot to mention above, that I'am already running a UV sterilizer. Tommorow I will asses the damage and most likely lower the SG to 1.018 and increase the temp to around 82. I have lost faith in the so called reef safe medication. The only thing the medication did was fade my corraline algea!) I've read that some marine fish can weather through the ich with proper water conditions and vitamin inriched diets? This looks like my next plan of action. I figure that if thing look real bad, as a last resort, I will use the fresh water dip method. One question, If my fish die off, can I continue to stock the tank with inverts and corals while I wait 1-2 months for the Ich die off before adding new fish?? I know 2 months is the safest wait time, but can inverts and corals harbor Ich?

Thanks for any replies,
Yellowlab :confused:

[Yellowlab]

Well, (with fingers crossed) NO MORE ICH!!?? Everything is looking great! I dont know which of the above methods worked, but the ich is gone and the fish/inverts are healthy. Now maybe I can enjoy the tank without the added stress??!!

Thanks!