Curing Fish of Marine Ich

[leebca]

Curing Fish of Marine Ich


Intro


There are several posts and threads in this Forum which describes the disease, choices for the cure, and the process to cure marine fishes of Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans). It seems like a lot to read and it can get confusing. So here’s a short procedure to follow that refers to those posts that have all the details you’ll need.

I'm writing this in blunt, easy to read English (I hope). It may sound 'stern' but I am being blunt, short, to the point AND I'm sure what it is you need to do.


Diagnosis


Before you start, you want to be as sure as you can be that you are dealing with Marine Ich. If you’re experienced, you probably know and can skip this part. If you are new to the hobby or have never come across this parasite before, you’ll want to search the Internet for photos of fish that are displaying this parasite.

If you have acquired a marine Tang of the Acanthurus sp. you'll want to go right to a treatment using Cupramine. This genus of fishes are being brought into the USA with such a high frequency of Marine Ich and Marine Velvet, that I recommend their treatment, right after being put into the quarantine tank (QT). In this case -- the only case -- a diagnosis isn't necessary. The choice of treatment is copper because only copper kills both Marine Ich and Marine Velvet.

Unfortunately, most of those photos you will find are of fishes with an advanced case of the disease, having many dozens to hundreds of spots. At the outset, your fish may only have a couple to a few. But those photos should give you an idea of what to look for. Marine Ich has many stages in its life cycle. The one we humans can see with our unaided eye is when the parasite is ready to leave the fish. The spot is white and about the size of a grain of salt or sugar. It can be found on fin or body of the fish. When severely infecting the gills (the parasite isn't seen, but. . .), the fish will flash (scratch) and/or breath rapidly (more than 100 swallows per minute).

So do the diagnostic step first.


Know Thy Enemy


I don’t care if you’re experienced or not, you must sort out the myths from the facts about this parasite. READ this: Marine Ich - Myths and Facts The better you know and understand what it is you’re dealing with, the better you will be at the cure and stopping future infections.

This part includes understanding that not only the fish you see with spots have been infected, but ALL THE FISH in the display system are infected and must be treated and cured at the same time.


Decision on Cure


You need to decide on the cure. There are two basic ones guaranteed to cure your fish: a copper treatment or a hyposalinity treatment. DON’T ask which one to use. Either works. Decide on which one you are most comfortable doing. Read about each cure so you can understand what each requires you to do. Choose the one you can handle best. In order to decide, read these two posts:
Copper - Treatment, Use, Problems
and
Hyposalinity Treatment

Some help on which one to choose:
If one or more fish is heavily infected with dozens or hundreds of spots, OR you have failed to help the fish during the past few weeks thinking it will get better on its own, then choose to do the copper treatment and use only Cupramine medication.

If one or more fish are having difficulty breathing, not eating and on the edge of death, do the Copper treatment (see above). HOWEVER, on the way to the quarantine tank you need to perform a freshwater dip. The dip does not cure the fish, but will help. Follow these guidelines for that dip: Freshwater Dip for Marine Fishes EXCEPT only dip the fish for 5 minutes.



No Shortcuts


Buy the things you need to do the cure. The quarantine tank(s), the medication and the test kit (for copper), the refractometer (for hyposalinity), etc. DON’T come up with your own procedure. The procedure has worked for more than the 40 years it’s been used. Don’t try to improve upon it or take any shortcuts.



Start The Quarantine Tank(s) (QT)


Read about setting a QT up and do it. If you have a lot of fish to treat, then you can choose a large QT or multiple smaller QTs. Your decision again. To begin with, you can use display tank water in the QT. Both it and the fish are ‘infected’ so it doesn’t matter. AFTER that though, all water changes will be done with new salt water. Read this: A Fish Quarantine Process



Starting Out


Move all fish (those with and those without spots) to a quarantine tank and begin their cure. (NOTE: During the move DON'T do any freshwater dip unless the infection is REALLY bad -- hundreds of spots and/or the fish isn't eating because it's breathing so fast; and/or the fish flashes every minute. If you read up on the enemy you'll know that a fresh water dip NEVER cures fish of Marine Ich.) If you need help in how to catch your fish, keep in mind two things: These fishes (unless tank bred) were caught by people in a whole ocean or sea (and all you need to do is catch them in a small box) and; you're smarter than a fish. In addition this thread gives you some ideas on how to go about doing this: How to Catch Fish -or- Goin' Fisin'.


The Display System (and Tank)


Leave the display tank and the entire display system go fishless for no less than 8 weeks. Some people don’t seem to understand what this means. This means you can leave every other living thing in the display system, except fish. Please don’t ask if it’s okay to leave ....?... in the tank. If it isn’t a fish, then it’s okay to leave it in the display system!

Some people want to take this opportunity to put into the display system additional clean up crew, corals, invertebrates of any kind, etc. It’s okay to do this, but the 8-week clock begins AFTER the last addition. Keep in mind this is only for Marine Ich. If you don’t routinely quarantine new marine life forms, you might be bringing any other kinds of fish diseases into the aquarium. BUT, with the 8-week fishless time, there won’t be any Marine Ich alive.

Sometimes it’s just better to tell the hobbyist DON’T add anything to the display system during this time. This is good advice.

What do do with the display system while it's going fishless: Keep feeding all other marine life. Add food to keep bacteria alive and working. Keep lights on as usual. Keep water quality up and continue with the usual maintenance. Keep water temperature at the high end of the range (about 78 to 80F). Keep all equipment going. Keep testing water for quality and maintain, maintain, maintain. This is a very good time to do substrate, rock, and decoration cleaning.



The Quarantine Tank


If the QT doesn’t have an active and working biological filter, you can still do either cure. You will need to start a biological filter going (see post on setting up the QT) and you will do water changes every time you detect ammonia and/or nitrites in the water. You will need to buy ammonia and nitrite test kits (not test strips) and test the water two or three times a day. Four if you feed often. You will need to remove all excess food and fish wastes. This you can do by siphon or by one of those sand cleaning pumps (manual) to pick up and filter out the debris.

NOTE: Even if you have an active and operating biological filter, still check the water for ammonia and nitrites. The fish might just be polluting too much and the filter has to catch up. So even with a biological filter running, CHECK the water daily for ammonia and nitrite and make a large water change if either or both are detected.

When you detect ammonia and/or nitrite you’ll need to do a large (over 80%) water change with new water. Since this will be a large water change, this post tells you the proper way of doing this: How to Make a Successful Water Change

You will need to control the water quality very well in the QT so the fish don’t ‘know’ any reduction in water quality during their cure. One part of that is pH. If you chose the hyposalinity treatment, it is easiest on the fish, but hardest on the hobbyist as is stated in that post. Controlling the pH will be a challenge since the water is so ‘thin’ that the chemicals/salts aren’t there to stabilize the pH.

Many recommend feeding the fish less during the cure so the water won’t be as polluted. I don’t go along with this approach. The fish needs good nutrition during this time – better than ever – not going on a diet or a reduction of food. The hobbyist has to compensate by doing more work on keeping the water quality high. Keep feeding the fish the best foods with vitamin and fat supplements in it. See this for nutritional info: Fish Health through Proper Nutrition

All this extra effort of making large water changes when ammonia and/or nitrites are there could be reduced if the hobbyist had a biological filter running in the display system or display sump as suggested in the quarantine linked post. The active biological filter would be ready to go into a QT with display tank water and everything moves forward faster. But not having a biological filter is NO REASON to not start the treatment.



VERIFY the Fish are Cured


Don’t mess up now! After the treatment (either one you choose), hold the fish in the QT for no less than 4 more weeks in normal salt water (normal specific gravity AND without any detectable copper) to SEE if the fish are cured. If any sign of Marine Ich shows itself first be sure you have the correct diagnosis. If it is Marine Ich, do not despair – the procedure was contaminated somewhere along the line. Fortunately the fish aren’t back in the display so you can perform another (more careful) treatment.



The End Game


Fish are verified to be cured (see above). Display system has been fishless for no less than 8 weeks. Time for the cured fish to go home. If there were many fish, put one fish back in weekly until all are in. If the fish are small (under 1") put more in at one time. If fish are large, put in one at a time in two week intervals.

You’re Done

Don’t let it happen again. Use the quarantine process to prevent Marine Ich from getting into your display system.

[berkdog]

awesome post! Thank you Leebca! I love the clear, summarized instructions.

[leebca]

You're welcome.