Saltwater Ich Help Please!

[krupt1974]

I have a 30 gal saltwater tank that i have had for about 2 1/2 months. i now have 4 damsels, lawnmower, crab. I had purchased a Anemone and a lobster about 4 days ago. the lobster died in 2 days and then the next day my parot fish died also. i've had my parot fish for about a month. now i am seeing what appears to be ich on my fish. if anyone knows how to or cangive me any advice on how to get rid of this i would be thankful. i do not want to lose my fish. i use to have many freswater tanks in the past and i know there was a medicine you could add and it would go away. is it the same ? or what do i do? thank you for and help you can give me.

 

[WILDER]

You would be better posting this in the saltwater section.
Good luck.

 

[stargirly1208]

my roommate had this same problem. there are a couple of solutions:
1. purchase a cleaner wrasse- very cool fish that actually eat the parasites right off your fish!
2. depending on what you have in your tank (live rock, invertebrates) you have to be VERY careful to read the labels of any medication CAREFULLY. don't listen to the people at the fish store! my roommate lost her anemone to this! buy something that says it's specifically for saltwater and that it will not harm invertebrates. More than likely the medication that says it's organic will be the safest.

good luck with your ich!

 

[andywg]

my roommate had this same problem. there are a couple of solutions:
1. purchase a cleaner wrasse- very cool fish that actually eat the parasites right off your fish!

From an ethical point of view, cleaner wrasses should not be taken from the ocean. Very few survive any length of time in captivity, and they wrasse service many hundreds of fish in the wild, taking the wrasse leaves a big hole in the eco-system.

Furthermore, the ich parasite barely makes up 10% of the diet of cleaner wrasse (and probably less than that). Finally, what do you feed your wrasse on after it has eaten all the pathogens. A heft percentage will not come around to prepared foods and starve to death.

2. depending on what you have in your tank (live rock, invertebrates) you have to be VERY careful to read the labels of any medication CAREFULLY. don't listen to the people at the fish store! my roommate lost her anemone to this! buy something that says it's specifically for saltwater and that it will not harm invertebrates. More than likely the medication that says it's organic will be the safest.

I would recommend reading the below page and then trying to work out what will work best for you.

http/www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php