Marine Ich in the system

[Giggy]

LEE,

I have been reading information you posted two years back about marine ich and had a few questions that I could really use your help with. I'm getting a lot of conflicting advise on treating infected fish. Here's my situation:

120 gallon tank with refugium and live rock.

all small fish: angel, tangs, puffer, eel, cowfish, clown, mandarin dragonet
also cleaner shrimp, arrow crab

I have noticed ich on the cowfish. The other fish do not appear infected though there may be one or two small white spots on the yellow tang. The cowfish has had the ich for a couple weeks. He's still quite active and eats well. I fear that all other fish have been exposed to ich.

So how do I treat this? Do I remove all fish to a QT and treat with Cupramine? Or do I only remove the cowfish and just practice serious water changes on my display tank?

Your help is much appreciated.
Giggy

[leebca]

WELCOME TO REEFLAND!

I moved your post from the Saltwater aquarium forum to this, the Marine Fish Care Forum.

The most important thing is (maybe all not that obvious) being sure the spots are Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans). The proper diagnosis is the first step forward. Search the Internet for photos of fishes with this disease for comparison to what you're seeing, or take good photos for us to see.

IF it is in fact Marine Ich (MI) then all the fish have been infected, even if they are not displaying. Since all are infected, all have to be treated. Second is the fact that MI is throughout the system. Since it's an obligate parasite, it will die without having food (a host). So the fishless marine system is a way to kill off the parasite.

Almost all this and other information is in this post: Marine Ich - Myths and Facts

The post is long but covers much of the mis-information about this parasite and reports what facts are currently known about it.

There are two primary ways to treat the fish (outside of the system). There is a third, but not very good for fish nor hobbyist. These two posts outline the two methods of treatment:
Hyposalinity Treatment
or
Copper - Treatment, Use, Problems

Hyposalinity is easier on the fish and harder on the hobbyist. Copper treatment is harder on the fish but easier for the hobbyist. If you do choose to perform a copper treatment, use Cupramine for the copper medication, and a Salifert Copper Test kit. If you choose to use hyposalinity, you will need a refractometer to control the salinity. Read through the above two posts for an idea of what will be required.

Although the cure/fight is onerous and a bit daunting, once the parasite is conquered, it can be kept out of the system permanently through a quarantine process and diligence.