Ich Question

[shafty]

one of my clowns seems to have ich, I have a product called NOX-ICH that says it is ok for saltwater, just wondering if it will be ok for the corals and inverts? Or is there a better way to treat this problem.

thanks!

 

[Lynden]

NOX-ICH contains malactite green, which is a dye. I'm not positive on the effects of the product on invertebrates, but my guess would be that it is not good.

I never recommend using (medicine) chemicals in a reef; the effect of these is unpredictable and usually destructive. The only things I recommend to treat marine "ich" (the genus name for this disease is either Cryptocaryon or Amyloodinium) are low nitrates, high oxygen and temperature, possibly hyposalinity, and lastly, freshwater baths. Freshwater baths are accomplished by filling a tub with RO water, and simply allowing the fish to swim around in there for up to five minutes. The ich will drop right off!

Prevention is always better than cure. For this I recommend spirulina and perhaps garlic (though the effectiveness of garlic has yet to be proved). Spirulina is in my opinion the best food, period. I myself started taking spirulina more than a year ago because of how healthy the fish were eating it. I did not get sick once until a year after I finished taking spirulina. Now that's results! Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, flu vaccine advocates!

Adding faculative (or de-obligated Labroides) cleaner species is also extremely effective at prevention and treatment. For this I would recommend Gobiosoma fishes and Lysmata shrimps, though I have no experience with the former genus. Several other Goby and Wrasse species will also do the job, as will many juvenile Angels and Butterflies, though those would probably only be effective in large setups with huge fish that needed cleaning.

-Lynden