Ich

[alex8111]

Recently, one of my fish has been scratching on rocks. I read that this could be an early sign of ich.

Unfortunately, I have no knowledge on treating ich. I don’t have a quarantine tank (yet). I do have a sump.

Is it possible to use the sump as a QT tank? Also, I am not in favor of using chemical medications to treat the fish. It will also be nearly impossible to remove the fish from the main tank. Too many hiding places and the fish move in “supersonic” speed…

I have been reading a lot about feeding fish garlic with their food. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was a good prevention method as garlic really does work in mysterious ways. If everyone in the world knew how beneficial garlic is to our health, there wouldn’t be any garlic left. But a lot of people don’t believe in the power of garlic so more for me…

But I’m not sure if it will work on fish since I know nothing about fish diseases, etc.

Has anyone ever tried feeding garlic as a cheap and easy prevention method?

I know lowering salinity and dipping the fish in fresh water for about 5-10 mins. will cure the fish, but I assume those are for when the fish is already too deep in with the disease.

To simplify, I need to know these:

- Is feeding garlic every day a good prevention method?
- Can I use fresh chopped garlic or do I need to buy special treated garlic?
- Can I use the sump as quarantine?
- Are there any other treatments that I can apply without having to remove the fish from the tank. This would really be last option because it means taking out all the rocks, etc. A good day’s worth of work.

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Lorna]

What else do you have in your tank? One method of treating ich is hyposalinity where you gradually lower the salinity of the water and then keep it there for a period of time. This must be done outside of the main display which if it is ich will need to remain without any fish in it for a period of approx 6 weeks until the ich has run through it's cycle. This is a perfect scenario of why quarantining new fish is important. You will need to remove the infected fish into a hospital tank to treat it. You may just as well treat all the fish as they may very well have it also.

 

[alex8111]

Well I dont know if there is Ich - I'm mainly asking about prevention methods.

But if the tank does get Ich, is removing all the fish the only option? I dont have a quarantine tank but I will get one eventually when funds are available...

 

[TRe]

if it is in fact ick and you have corals or liverock the only way to safley treat the fish will be to completly remove them from the display...i feel garlic helps but i others may see it differant

 

[alex8111]

I guess if garlic doesn't cause any harm to the fish, why not feed it to them anyways...

Can i feed them fresh garlic or is there specific garlic i need to purchase for this purpose? Meanin specially treated for aquariums, etc...

 

[exhumed07]

I'm not a sw person, getting ready to try though, but I was reading the ingrediants to my tropical food and it has garlic in it. it's the new life spectrum optimum. so I would think feeding garlic plain would be fine. but I'm not sure if sw would be the same as fw.

 

[TRe]

i wouldnt add fresh garlic directly to yur tank but you can soke it in the garlic for like 10-15 mins

 

[Lotus]

To feed garlic to the fish, take a clove of garlic, smash it to release the juices, then soak it with the frozen foods for half an hour or so, then remove the garlic and feed to the fish. If you think you'll have trouble removing the garlic, put it in a fish net, then put the fish net in the container you're soaking the food in, so it's easy to remove the garlic.

It's great for fish, whether they're sick or not, and helps if you have picky eaters.

 

[alex8111]

Cool thanks for the advice everyone. I will make it a habit to feed them food soaked in garlic from now on...If it helps prevent disease its really worth that extra effort.

By the way, I have no corals or anything yet. Just 3 fish because my tank has been running for just about a month but I'm planning on adding a few more fish in the next few months and hopefully by then i will be more educated on keeping corals.

One more question about quarantine tanks - Can the sump tank be used as a QT tank? I know the water is the same but will ICH also travel down to the sump tank? or mainly sit on rocks & sand in the main tank? I know a separate QT is best with its own filers, etc. but that will end up costing me extra money which i dont have right now and my main tank still needs some supply which are more essential (like more powerheads because i dont think i have enough water movement), etc.

Im more of a DIY kind of guy so if there is anyway to combine sump & quarantine, i will do it myself. Its fun to build things...

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Ich will be in the water, as well as in the sand (for some of it's life stages).

 

[Lorna]

A quarantine tank can be something as simple as a cheapo 10g tank as you won't have any sand or live rock in it. You would need to have a hob filter such as an aquaclear or something like that. Place the sponge in your main tank for a week to get it coated in bacteria as your qt won't have gone through a cycle. Water changes are imperative to keep the quality up. Place some pvc pipe or pieces in the tank to add some interest for the fish and provide hiding places.....and away you go. Cheap and all new additions to your tank need to be quarantined for at least 3 weeks just to ensure you are not adding some pathogens to your main display tank. Quarantining is a good habit to get into and will pay off in the long run.