I think...maybe my Yellow Tang has ich!

[Dmitry]

So, I think that my Yellow Tang might have ich. This morning I noticed him scratching himself on rocks a few times and as I looked closer at him I think I can see a couple of white dots. Now, I am a very paranoid person, so this could just be overactive imagination. On the other hand, maybe it isn't. I don't see any other fish doing this, at least not yet. What's the best course of action? I have a spare 5g tank for a stand-by hospital, which would be a tight fit. I have, like, an 8g bucket, but it's tall, not wide. Or should I just wait and see and feed everyone some serious garlic (which I've been doing occasionally anyway.) The Tang's been eating well, there's no aggression from anyone that I've seen from anyone. :irked: :banghead:

 

[NYPDFrogman]

grind up some ginger root soakit in some RO/DI water in a small contianer overnite.
take a couple of the drops of the water and mix it with food.
that will make the ich fall off.

you can also run a Diatom filter a couple of hours daily that traps the free loating ich also

or you can do nothing and let nature take it's corse.

i usually mix garlic extreme and vitiamin C with every feeding. if I feel that ich may be present I also add the ginger extract

JMO

 

[SlamaJama]

wow frank...luv that holistic aproach...im gonna use that! we should have a place for that stuff...The Home Remedy Forum...lol

 

[NYPDFrogman]

Tony at reef exotics turned me on to the ginger approach and the diatom filter.
not much you can do to a reef and easier than trying to catch the fish and Q/T it. thats more stressful to the fish too.

you should see Tony's 450 !!!
fish are fat and healthy and the corals are awesome!
he's got to be doing something right!

 

[Dmitry]

Sounds good, I'll try it! Thanks!

Does Tony have any holistic medicines for cyano? I'm having a massive outbreak and ordered Chemi-Clean from Drs., but if he's got other ideas...we all wanna hear them!

 

[ShaunW]

grind up some ginger root soakit in some RO/DI water in a small contianer overnite.
take a couple of the drops of the water and mix it with food.
that will make the ich fall off.

you can also run a Diatom filter a couple of hours daily that traps the free loating ich also

or you can do nothing and let nature take it's corse.

i usually mix garlic extreme and vitiamin C with every feeding. if I feel that ich may be present I also add the ginger extract

JMO

That's a great tip! Do the fish notice the ginger taste/smell or just eat it with abandon like everything else?
:cool3:

 

[nanoreefer22]

I soak my food in garlic and it makes them eat more . If its not soaked...they dont eat it..damn picky fish

 

[DEEPWATER]

I use garilc extreme every morning when i feed my fish and selling tanks ,this stuff is great ,Keeps my fish strong healthy ,and full of color ,,I also got rid of the ich magnet fish and keep calm cool fish in my tank now ,only 2 yellow tanks ,and the rest are small fish ,so i never ,knock on wood see ich ,,thk g-d ,
Frank ,,nice dip ,,i will try that as well ,sound really good ,since ginger is another good healing herb!!!

 

[inkblue]

hmmmm... are ginger and garLic found naturally in the sea? :scratchch

 

[samksy]

I soak my food in garlic and it makes them eat more . If its not soaked...they dont eat it..damn picky fish

How do you do that? Just grind some supermarket garlic and soak the fish food? Or are you using commercial garlic product? Thanks

 

[cali_reef]

Before everyone throw their entire spice rack in their tanks:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/sp/index.php

I use Kent garlic extreme in my fish food, can't say it cures ich but the fish does get better after a few days, however, they continuously get Ich when the temp swings too much in my system.

 

[ShaunW]

I use Kent garlic extreme in my fish food, can't say it cures ich but the fish does get better after a few days, however, they continuously get Ich when the temp swings too much in my system.

How long have you had the underlining ich in the tank?

 

[ShaunW]

In the past, I actually haven't bothered treating fish for ich. Their natural immune system seems to quench the infection from my observations. Has anybody ever had a fish actually die from ich?

The problems as I see it with ich is that it is an opportunistic infection. If water conditions are not optimum then ich flourishes, that is why you see it in every petco or petland out there. In a healthy reef tank sometimes the cure for ich is worst than the disease, and the best medicine is a pristine reef/aquarium.

 

[cali_reef]

How long have you had the underlining ich in the tank?

The second day after I set up my tank:lol:.

 

[Reefer420]

I read that article- they pretty much turn the garlic 'myth' on its head! I read about many reefers noticing a ton of benefits from adding it to their tanks though- there must be something that garlic does that didn't register on their tests!

 

[NYPDFrogman]

Garlic is a strong anti oxidant in humans, it also helps build the immune system
why wouldnt it be benificial to fish??

 

[Deanos]

why wouldnt it be benificial to fish??

Cause fish don't smoke, eat steak, do drugs, exercise, have jobs, take vacations, bungee jump, etc.

Just kidding, I use Garlic Guard. My fish go nuts whenever I put Garlic Guard-soaked food in the tank. My hermits go scurrying looking for tidbits. My Nassarius snails "rise" from the dead. I can't testify that garlic has "medicinal properties" with marine fish, but they do react differently to it. And an eating fish is USUALLY healthier than one that's not.

Dean

 

[Dmitry]

I've read articles, as official looking and sounding as that one, that garlic does help. So...who knows. I'm not a scientist! If it looks like it's working for somebody what's the harm in doing it.

 

[Dmitry]

So I've been watching the Tang. I haven't seen him scratching and he's been eating well, including algae sheets. The strange thing he's doing is he starts to flare his fins and rapidly swimming back and forth, shaking his whole body, breathing rapidly. He's doing all this right at the front glass of the tank. I sort of think perhaps he's seeing a reflection of himself in the glass and is trying to intimidate "the other fish." What do you think?? Then he'll take a break from doing this, take a few bites from the algae sheets, and start doing it again.

 

[inkblue]

I put in my yelloW tang last nite with my new rocks... BIG MISTAKE :bigeyes2: thank g0d i woKe up at 6am and saW him start to fLip over, and he started turning browN... i caught him and put him in the 2.5G tanK i was gonna tuRn into a nan0... used waTer from my 26 bow, and right away he sTarted to turn yeLLow {pHew} :sigh1: