Help- The dreaded ich!

I posted maybe about two weeks ago about an ich problem I was having. Well...today I am sad to say I have lost one of my Helfrichi Firefish. Correction, he is still alive- but for how long? He's gone.   I have been feeding with a couple of different garlic oils (Kent Extreme Garlic and an actual diced garlic my wife uses for cooking) All the fish eat great. However, the ich is still present. I posted a lot of details in another thread listing all my new fish  http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=43217  I couple other fish have ich present also. It seems to get better then reappears. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Let me know of any questions which may help recommendations.

Edited by DLindquist - October 24 2010 at 3:34pm

QT is the way to go if you can be successful. I've never setup a good QT tank. I tried when I first started and it didn't always work so I gave it up. It didn't always work because I set it up in haste when I already had the problem. It's best to have it ready and use it for all incoming livestock.

Are you using a Good UV?

UV for sure!

UV works wonders!

it depends on your uv unit but usually 500gph is about where it needs to be.

Just a heads up on the UV i learned the hard way.

I have to aplogize for the limited help I was when you called Sat night. I was very distracted and I do better when given some time to think.

At this point you have tried Kents and a prepared garlic used for cooking. I don't consider fresh garlic as useful as the prepared garlic oils. In my experience, the stinky garlic oil in gelcaps from the grocery store or health food store has been more reliable in a greater number of reef aquariums.

I definitely agree with the use of UV. I don't know how the slow flow does it since it only processes a small amount of water. I used to be a skeptic of this piece of equipment, but it definitely seems to do the job. I have a hunch that it does something to the water of the entire tank, making it unhealthy for water borne parasites. I arrived at this hunch after realizing that the natural UV in sunlight has a positive effect on my sunlit tanks, even though a lot of the UV is stopped by the window and the tanks get direct sunlight for only a portion of the day.

I often write about making our tanks more healthy and reducing stress. As was mentioned above, making sure there is plenty of a variety of foods especially more plant foods than hobbyists typically provide, is a big part of that. Overfeeding actually reduces aggression between competing fish. A few other things that help reduce stress are:

- aquascaping to provide plenty of hiding places
- good coral growth which helps filtration, parasite consumption and indicates good water quality
- ensuring live foods, both plant and animal are present and growing
- ensuring that water parameters are within range and relatively constant
- minimizing changes to the tank
- keeping kids from banging on the glass


Edited by Mark Peterson - October 25 2010 at 7:58am

Ich is such a pain! 14 years in SW and this is the 1st time I have had this problem (or any real problem I can remember). I will be looking into the UV sterilizer. If any one has a UV setup I could borrow for the time being, it would be greatly appreciated.

Mark, I believe your checklist accurately describes my tank. Besides over feeding (which sometimes I wonder if I already do) and the UV, I am not sure what else to do. I know I lost one of the Helfrichi Firefish and did not see the other one at all yesterday.

Edited by DLindquist - October 25 2010 at 8:59am

Update?