1geo
Reefing newb
If one of your fish have Ich, ALL of your fish have Ich even if they exhibit now symptoms. Below is a writeup on Marine Parasites.
Ich, Marine Velvet, Brooklynella are all marine parasites. Ich has a life cycle with includes eggs. The eggs can lay dormant in the substrata of a tank for up to 8 weeks. Once they hatch they only have hours to find a host fish or die. So to get rid of Ich you have to leave the tank fallow, fishless, for 8 weeks. Marine Velvet even though different, is in the same category as Ich and is treated the same. Your Invertebrates are not affected by either disease. Brooklynella, which is common among wild Clownfish, is a parasite that divides by cell division. The new cell becomes a swimmer and can persist in the tank as a swimmer for up to 4 weeks. If it does not find a host in that time then it dies. So unless you know specifically which parasite you have, you have to leave the tank fallow for 8 weeks. You can leave everything else in the tank except fish. Fish that have Ich and Marine Velvet are treated in a hospital tank with copper (the treatment of choice) or Formalin. Brook can only be treated with Formalin 37%. Since Formalin treats BOTH Ich and Brook and is quicker then copper, I recommend it first. Formalin is mixed with water to form a bath and the fish are given a bath for 45 to 60 minutes; the longer the better. Formalin does not accumulate in water, in fact, it has been written that in two hours it dissipates and the water is reef safe so for each bath it has to be mixed fresh and used immediately. Formalin has a short shelf live so use fresh stock. Your best bet for fresh stock is to buy from high volume dealers off the internet. Just make sure you buy 37% Formalin. Hope this helps, 1geo
Ich, Marine Velvet, Brooklynella are all marine parasites. Ich has a life cycle with includes eggs. The eggs can lay dormant in the substrata of a tank for up to 8 weeks. Once they hatch they only have hours to find a host fish or die. So to get rid of Ich you have to leave the tank fallow, fishless, for 8 weeks. Marine Velvet even though different, is in the same category as Ich and is treated the same. Your Invertebrates are not affected by either disease. Brooklynella, which is common among wild Clownfish, is a parasite that divides by cell division. The new cell becomes a swimmer and can persist in the tank as a swimmer for up to 4 weeks. If it does not find a host in that time then it dies. So unless you know specifically which parasite you have, you have to leave the tank fallow for 8 weeks. You can leave everything else in the tank except fish. Fish that have Ich and Marine Velvet are treated in a hospital tank with copper (the treatment of choice) or Formalin. Brook can only be treated with Formalin 37%. Since Formalin treats BOTH Ich and Brook and is quicker then copper, I recommend it first. Formalin is mixed with water to form a bath and the fish are given a bath for 45 to 60 minutes; the longer the better. Formalin does not accumulate in water, in fact, it has been written that in two hours it dissipates and the water is reef safe so for each bath it has to be mixed fresh and used immediately. Formalin has a short shelf live so use fresh stock. Your best bet for fresh stock is to buy from high volume dealers off the internet. Just make sure you buy 37% Formalin. Hope this helps, 1geo
