What is y’all’s opinion on best way to get rid of ick in a reef tank? I don’t really have a good tank to quarantine all my fish in for 70+ days like it says nor do I think I’ll get all the fish out with my rock work and corals. I tried the ground ginger because I heard really good things about it and it didn’t seem to help. I was doing Kick Ick and Rally but it’s really pissing my anemone and corals off even though it says it’s safe for them. Bunch of them are closed up and weren’t coming back out. I stopped doing it for a few days now after a water change and some seem to be coming back. I just am at a loss and looking for some advice.
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@BradMac5618
1y
UV is a great shout to reduce crypto but it won't fully cure. My favorite reef safe medication is polylabs Medic. Has worked wonders for me when I can't remove a fish from a display
@SassyTurtle12
1y
I’ve had success with Rally, but dosing at half dosage so it doesn’t irritate my corals. Obviously an actual sterilizer would be best, but I know some people who just buy cheap waterproof UV bulbs off amazon and then stick them in their sump
@BigCreamy
1y
Yeah I just redosed Kick Ick but not rally yesterday and my corals seem to be taking that a lot better. I know rally helps but it’s not needed so I might just do that and be on the look out for a cheap sterilizer
@BenTownsend593
1y
This could just be my opinion, but I have never done anything about ich when I see it in my tanks. I think all of this QTing and removing every possible disease is actually very harmful for a fish because it never actually builds up an immune system. I had an ich outbreak about 1yr ago in my reefer 350 and instead of dosing all sorts of stuff I increased feeding and made sure to feed quality foods and every single fish survived. Now whenever I get a new fish it always gets ich in the first couple days of being in the tank, but 9 times out of 10 it goes away in a few days. Just my opinion..
@BigCreamy
1y
So I started to soak my food in concentrated garlic bc I heard that helps their immune system. Other than that, do you have any recommendations? You can see on my profile the fish I have and I feed them mysis shrimp and marine cuisine soaked in garlic. I only feed once a day but I can try to start feeding twice and see if that helps
@BenTownsend593
1y
Garlic is great. I would start to feed twice maybe even three times a day (ramp up slowly so there’s not a huge nutrient spike) and I would recommend being very intentional with your feeding (ie making sure the sick fish get a little extra food) This isn’t something that works for everyone and there is a possibility your fish could die, but I think people heavily underestimate how sturdy our fish can be if we simply let nature run its course
@BigCreamy
1y
Yeah for sure. You’re not the only one I’ve heard this working for. I’ll try it out and cross my fingers lol
@BenTownsend593
1y
Also depends on how bad the case of ich is, I’ve had it work on pretty bad cases, but you’ll just want to monitor your fish daily and just kinda roll with the punches so to speak, hope this helps! And best of luck!
@BigCreamy
1y
Yeah it’s kinda made its way to almost all my fish but they don’t have sever cases. My tang definitely looks the worst but he’s still actively feeding on algae and comes out for food every night so. I’m hoping this helps. Thanks for the advice!
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Do you have UV? The kick ich and UV did the trick for me
I don’t. I looked into one when I first set up the tank but they seemed quite hefty on the wallet lmao
Totally agree! I got a great deal on a used one that had a bad bulb then ordered a new bulb and sleeve on sale. Still “pricey” but about half the cost of a new one and it’s basically brand new after the bulb and sleeve replacement.