How I Saved My Fish From Marine Ich

When I first started my salt water fish tank, I was thrilled to start this new wonderful hobby. But what I always feared, was for my fish to get Ich, as we all do. Unfortunately, I had a bad experience from the beginning. My first fish was the beautiful Long Nose Yellow Butterfly. I loved this fish for it’s eccentric behavior. Even though he was eating good, I remember he had tiny spots on his fin and he would occasionally scratch on the rocks. I lost him after about a month.

I then added a Maroon Clown, but from the beginning he had the symptoms of Ich. He did not have a good appetite and did not swim actively like they should. He then had a very noticeable white spot on the front of his face. So I tried doing some research to find out any treatments that would help, but most Ich products I read about said that you could not add to the tank directly. You would have to use the treatment in a quarantine tank. I know it is highly recommended to have a quarantine tank always prepared, but catching fish can be difficult, and if not done correctly they can go into shock. For example the water parameters need to match the Temperature and PH when moved to the Quarantine Tank. So I was hoping I could find an alternative solution. But unfortunately, the Maroon Clown died in less than a week. At this point I wanted to just give up and shut down the whole tank. But of course I loved this hobby and I did not want to give up just yet.

This time I decided to get a Niger Trigger which I had read was also very hardy.  Everything was going great; he was eating good and appeared healthy.  I then decided to add a Tomato Clown, Sebae Clown, and two Blue Damsels. After a couple of weeks, I was feeling more confident so I decided to add a fish that I always wanted to have, the Yellow Tang. I really thought that I had overcome the Ich problem, but after about a month I came home and noticed that my Niger Trigger was laying on the bottom of the tank.  I thought he was dead! But when I turned on the light to get a closer look he and started moving like he was on his last hour of his life. I then notice he had white spots on his body. The two clown fish seemed okay but I did notice that they too had some white spots and of course so did the Yellow Tang. Surprisingly, the only ones that were not affected were the Blue Damsels.

 

I really did not have much expectation for the Niger Trigger due to my previous experience. This time I took a different approach, I decided to go to one of the local fish store to see if they could recommend anything. Much to my surprise the owner of  the store recommended me to use Metronidazole from Seachem. But the best part of it all was that I could treat the fish directly in the tank. I was very skeptical, but I had no other choice. I was glad to see the label mentioned that Metronidazole is an effective and safe treatment for protozoan and anaerobic bacteria such as ich and does not adversely affect the filter bed and could be easily removed with carbon. I carefully read the instructions on how to use the medication and started to feed the fish with the medication.

• Added 1 scoop of the medication with food pellets in a cup.
• Added 1 drop of Garlic Extreme from Kent Marine
• Refrigerate  about 15-20 min to allow the medication to soak in the pellets.

As for the trigger fish, I had to make a quick decision since he was not eating. He was barely moving and just laid on the sand most of the time. I  decided to give him the fresh water dip only because he was not eating. Keep in mind, when preparing the  fresh water dip you have to check the pH and water temperature so that it matches the tank parameters, that way the fish does not go into shock. So I put him in the fresh water for about 2 or 3 minutes but then removed him because he started to struggle a lot. If you decide to do the fresh water dip make sure you have the following:

• Distilled water
• PH  Test
• Thermometer
• PH Buffer
• Bucket or container for fish

The next day  I feared the worst, expecting them all to be dead. Guess what! The Niger Trigger was actually swimming better and I was actually able to feed him with the medication. Although they all still had white spots,  I continued to feed the medication every other day with Garlic Extreme from Kent Marine to open their appetite. The following day when I got home I noticed that the white spots on the Niger Trigger were gone! The other fish still had some white spots so I continued to feed the medication with the food. After a couple of weeks I started to notice that they had less spots as time passed. With a lot of patience and persistence, the Ich was completely gone from all of my fish and the tank. I truly believe if I had not treated them with this medication, none of my fish would have survived. It is a year now since this incident and all my fish are doing great!! Even my Yellow Tang!!  I only wish I had known sooner. I wish you the best with your fish and I really hope my experience can help. If following these methods helped save your fish,  your feedback will be greatly appreciated. 

 Have a look at my 55 Gallon Aquarium video. Enjoy!