# Persistent Ich



## Emily (May 4, 2010)

I could really use some expertise and advice. The weekend of the VAHS monster auction, I brought home a fish that obviously had ich (he is a hatchetfish). The next day, he was covered in the little white spots. Because the tank containing the sick fish is made up of species who specifically like soft, acidic water and because it is a planted tank, I decided to go with Quick Cure instead of the high temperature/increased salt method. I picked up QC on the 20th or 21st (can't remember) and began dosing that day. I dosed the tank before turning the light off, and fell into the routine of completely covering the tank in blankets for darkness (apparently this is important for QC to work properly), removing cover and allowing lights to be on so I could observe fish for about 2 hours a day, then back to darkness and the next dose. During the two hours of light, I did a water change all but a few days that I was too busy. However, I was unable to gravel vacuum about half the tank because of manzanita branches and plants that made it too difficult, therefore I only vacuumed the places easily reachable. 

Anyway, I noticed the white spots disappearing to virtually nothing and thought I was almost in the clear. Yesterday when I turned the lights on, I noticed the fish looked very stressed and several were gasping at the surface of the water. I immediately did a 70% water change and noticed a marked improvement. Due to the condition of the fish, I did not dose last night in fear that their reaction was in part due to the medication. Today, after 7 days of straight treatment and one night off, the ich spots are back on the original fish and a couple on another hatchet now.

I am at a loss at what my next move should be. I don't want to use the salt method and kill my plants (and potentially fish), and starting QC all over again worries me because of the reaction my fish had yesterday. They all seem happy again today but those two fish have obvious symptoms and from what I have read it is only a matter of time before the rest of my fish come down with it... Help?


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## mdwflyer (Jan 11, 2011)

My 2cents, daily water changes, and take the wood out so you can gravel vac as much as possible. Would coppersafe work in your setup?

Good luck


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## JohnnyAppleSnail (May 30, 2010)

I've used Quick Cure a few times,I Myself never covered My Tanks,don't worry too much about Gravel Vacuming in Planted Tank (I had Planted didn't Vac.),But I did raise Temp to 88-90 for 2 weeks,added dosage in the late evening a couple hrs before lights out. The last Tank that had Ich had Rummynose,Cardinals,Rasbora's,Baby BNP's,and a few Cories. After treatment was done not one Fish loss,they tolerated High Temp fine,and I did Full Dose 1rst week and 1/2 dose 2nd week,even though they say 1/2 dose for Tetra's in My experience they had No problem with Full Dose,but if You still feel uncomfortable with that continue 1/2 dosage.
You should be ok starting regimen again,Coppersafe is excellent but is apparently not safe for Plants,I've used in Plantless Tanks with great results. I believe "High Heat" is important speeds up the Ich life cycle and helps in your Meds working faster,and I also didn't use Salt. This happened to Me just a couple months ago,but if caught early is reasonably easy to cure.
I would always recommend treating at least 2 weeks to completely eradicate the Ich,so if you've only treated a week you're fine to continue.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

I hate it when it happens, sorry to hear that.
I believe increasing temp is fine in your planted tank, but salt is bad for the plants.
If I were you, I would take the plants and woods out in my main tank, and treat the rest of the fish with high temp, and salt and malachite green. I will suck out as much as I can from my substrate, and clean the filter as well (disinfect media and such), and do lots of water changes, aerate to make sure I have enough oxygen, and increase my hardness a bit (not sure about QC but some ick medicines work better at a higher hardness), remove carbon in the filter. I would use bleach to disinfect my wood and to clean my plants as well, and leave them out until this is over.
No white dot on the fish could just mean that the ick has gone into free swimming stage.
I am very sorry to hear this, hope your fish make it.
You should keep the temp high in the tank as others have mentioned. 
I personally have found this article to be very helpful. Hope this helps.
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Ich.html
About seeing them gasping for air, I have taken out a little part of the article mentioned above for your reference.

For severe infections (especially with sensitive fish such as Clown Loaches) I would recommend a bath in Methylene Blue for as many fish as I could capture (especially the really sick fish that tend die quicker from ich such as Clown Loaches again). This bath will also help with the main reason ich kills (at least in my experience), depletion of oxygen from damage to the gills (methylene blue is a hemoglobin transfer agent). To prepare this bath I use 1 teaspoon 2.303% solution per 5 gallons in a bath of aquarium water from the tank the fish you wish to treat came from, I usually use about a ½ gallon of water, however you may use less. I also recommend about one teaspoon of salt (Sodium Chloride) per gallon of dip water to aid further in aiding the fish via production of more mucous, and yes Clown Loaches CAN tolerate some salt, just not a lot. Please reference this article for research proving this: "Salt in Freshwater Aquariums").
Measurement of the Methylene Blue does not need to be precise as this bath should be used for about 30 minutes. Make sure you keep the water in a warm area, as in a cold room the water temperature can drop rapidly which would stress the fish. Do NOT pour this water back into your display aquarium when finished. This can be performed twice per day. After this bath I would also suggest a 3 minute dip for most dire of fish in a salt solution of about 1.012 specific gravity, this will rupture some of the Trophozoites on the fish.


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

its examine what may be stressing the hatchets. temp? fast water? not enough shade area? if its persistent, something is definitely stressing them and not the other fish. just my 1cent.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Because you didn't raise the temperature, the ich life cycle is too slow for you to treat effectively. You can only kill the organism when it's free-swimming, and not when it's encysted. I don't know what your temperature is, but you need to get it up to at least 84 F for Quick Cure to do its job fast enough. Do a water change and gravel vac where you can, raise the temperature and increase surface agitation by repositioning your filter outlets or lowering the water level and/or add and airstone. Start the full treatment again based on the instructions. I also don't worry about covering the tank, but do keep the lights off as much as possible as the active ingredients break down in light (that's why you need to add more each day, according to the instructions). Feed the fish lightly during this time or don't feed at all, as the waste levels will increase rapidly with the increased metabolism of everything in the tank and you can't do water changes.

Don't worry about the plants. They'll grow back, and 84 is not that high anyway. I've had my planted tanks at 88 in the summer without serious problems. As I said, the plants will grow back, but your sick fish won't, if you don't treat the ich properly.


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## mollyb (May 18, 2010)

The temperature thing should help, but I am with jobber about what is stressing out this guy. Check other params, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, how big is his school?, I had a damsel fish once that would be covered in ich (saltwater I know) and I would put him under a quarantine cage (upside down critter carrier type thing with vents right in the display tank and the ich was gone in 24 hours, then I released him back to 'general poulation' and ich back (only on him) within 24 hours, I repeated this cycle for a few times, definitiely stress induced/mediated. I figure it was another damsel bugging him when was in gen pop. Hatchets like a big school. They also like watrmer water, being top dwellers, in the amazon area.


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

When I've used Quick Cure in the past (tetra and plant happy tank), I would do a half dose in the morning and a half dose in the evening (leaving the lights on their normal photoperiod). I always medicate for 14 days straight to ensure hatched cysts are also killed.

Good luck with the eradication.

Best Regards,

Stuart


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

mollyb said:


> the ich was gone in 24 hours, then I released him back to 'general poulation' and ich back (only on him) within 24 hours, I repeated this cycle for a few times, definitiely stress induced/mediated.


I don't know if this was stressed induced, but your problem in that case was your treatment was too short. The free swimming stage alone is 2 days or more depending on water temperature. Your were risking an ich infestation by releasing the host fish back into the general population as the encysted stage is not easily treatable by meds. If you had been able to raise the temperature (not a saltie, so not sure how much you can raise temps for damselfish) you would have seen the manifestation continue in the QT tanks as more trophonts "hatch" and they swim around and reattach to a host. The link Fish Rookie posted explains it a bit, but this one is more technical on methods and the ich life cycle. Ich | The Skeptical Aquarist


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

jobber said:


> its examine what may be stressing the hatchets. temp? fast water? not enough shade area? if its persistent, something is definitely stressing them and not the other fish. just my 1cent.


The tank has a very low current, and the temperature sits at around 82 F. It's pretty well planted and has jungle val strands on the surface covering almost half the tank, so I can't imagine they would be stressed from lack of cover. I also have them in a school of 5, so while not a large number it shouldn't be low in enough to cause this much stress, imo. If there is something in my tank causing them stress and not simply the move to the new aquarium I really want to figure out what it is, but I am stumped 



mollyb said:


> The temperature thing should help, but I am with jobber about what is stressing out this guy. Check other params, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, how big is his school? Hatchets like a big school. They also like watrmer water, being top dwellers, in the amazon area.


I can bump up the temperature to 84 F, it is already at 82 though. All my water params come back normal, and he is in a school of 5. I would get more but I don't want to be dealing with 15 of them that now all have ich lol plus I don't feel it's fair to add more since my tank appears to currently be in ich crisis.



2wheelsx2 said:


> Because you didn't raise the temperature, the ich life cycle is too slow for you to treat effectively. You can only kill the organism when it's free-swimming, and not when it's encysted. I don't know what your temperature is, but you need to get it up to at least 84 F for Quick Cure to do its job fast enough. Do a water change and gravel vac where you can, raise the temperature and increase surface agitation by repositioning your filter outlets or lowering the water level and/or add and airstone. Start the full treatment again based on the instructions. I also don't worry about covering the tank, but do keep the lights off as much as possible as the active ingredients break down in light (that's why you need to add more each day, according to the instructions). Feed the fish lightly during this time or don't feed at all, as the waste levels will increase rapidly with the increased metabolism of everything in the tank and you can't do water changes.
> 
> Don't worry about the plants. They'll grow back, and 84 is not that high anyway. I've had my planted tanks at 88 in the summer without serious problems. As I said, the plants will grow back, but your sick fish won't, if you don't treat the ich properly.


My tank water was at 82, so I will bump it up to 84 F tomorrow once I get a new heater. Perhaps it was the low surface agitation and flow in addition to the medication that was causing low levels of O2 and that was why my fish were gasping?



CRS Fan said:


> When I've used Quick Cure in the past (tetra and plant happy tank), I would do a half dose in the morning and a half dose in the evening (leaving the lights on their normal photoperiod). I always medicate for 14 days straight to ensure hatched cysts are also killed).
> 
> Good luck with the eradication.
> 
> ...


Oh that's not a bad idea. Doing half doses at two points in the day wouldn't weaken the effect though, would it? Also, would you do the morning dose then turn the lights on? I am interested in hearing your opinion on whether you thought having the light on normally made the meds less effective.



Fish rookie said:


> If I were you, I would take the plants and woods out in my main tank, and treat the rest of the fish with high temp, and salt and malachite green.


Ideally I would do this, but I really have no where else for the plants and wood to go while I treat the tank. I think I will keep them in for now and give QC another shot but with the increased temperature. I like the bath idea though. It seems that only the hatchets are affected, so maybe if I treat the tank like I planned but gave them a bath in addition to the treatment that would be more effective?



mdwflyer said:


> My 2cents, daily water changes, and take the wood out so you can gravel vac as much as possible. Would coppersafe work in your setup?
> 
> Good luck


Apparently Coppersafe will kill my plants, so I would prefer not to use it. I thought about taking everything out but as I mentioned earlier, I really have no where to put the plants and driftwood.

Thanks so much everyone for chiming in. I want this stuff gone........ Ugh.


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

Good luck with some of the tips provided and do keep us updated on what transpires as it all helps us gain knowledge on this forum.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

You can just leave the plants and wood in a big bucket, they will be fine floating in water.
I dont think it is necessarily stress induced. 
Sounds to me the hatchet brought this ich thingy into the tank and it is the same guy who got it again.
Emily's tank is very nice (one of the nicest I have seen on this forum if I may add) and she obviously takes lots of pride in keeping it in mint condition, I have no doubt she knows how to keep her fish happy.
You never know what and where the fish came from when you got them from an auction, I would not say it is stress related.
If you increase your temp you have a higher chance of sorting it outsooner. If you have a smaller tank/bucket, I would put the hatchet in that tank and bump up the temp and add med and so on so at least when the ich become free swimming they will not be swimming all over the place in your nice 90g tank. I would treat both tanks but i would try to reduce the chance of the 90 gallon getting worst through another group of free swimming ich. If you increase the temp the ich will also lose their ability to reproduce (think it is 85F). The pencil fish you got from me should handle the high temp fine, same as the GBR. 85F should not be a problem for them.
Sometimes the ich could be in the gill and it is not easy to see.
I hope everything works out for your beautifiul fish tank at the end, very sorry to hear that you have to go through this.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Do not take anything out to treat or not treat. You are basically treating only part of the problem. You have to treat the whole tank including gravel, wood, plants, fish, etc...

I don't know what the problem is. But I can imagine the fish being in the auction without heat could stress the fish. The fish itself doesn't necessary carry the ich to get ich. It could be in your tank as well. Just because your fish doesn't get it only means your fish is strong and have healthy slime coat so ich doesn't easily get attached to them. If it is the case that ich only occur on this one fish only, I will do the heartless thing to just remove the fish. 

As like other have stated, you need to do a full 7 days treatment. I would do 14 days myself just in case.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Emily said:


> My tank water was at 82, so I will bump it up to 84 F tomorrow once I get a new heater. Perhaps it was the low surface agitation and flow in addition to the medication that was causing low levels of O2 and that was why my fish were gasping?


The higher you can get it, the faster you can make the life cycle to get to kill the free swimmers. When you raise the temp, the O2 content is lowered to begin with, and the ich will be in the gills which makes it double hard for the fish to breathe. You may have to reduce the CO2 injection if you're using it. Raising the temps really high, to 88 F will most likely stop the ability of the ich to reproduce, but I have read of heat resistant strain out there now (one case reported by Tom Barr, who had the temps up to 90 and not able to kill it). so I would still make sure to complete the treatment.

Another thing you can do, which I have gone to, in tanks prone to ich, is UV. Having a UV you can turn on when needed gives you extra peace of mind and can certainly deal with the ich issue. For a smaller tank (50 gallons or smaller), a 9 watt UV should do it and is not a super huge expense. Then you don't have to medicate anything.


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

I did it this way as some tetras are sensitive to Quick Cure (even though it only suggest a half dose once a day on the package).

Best Regards,

Stuart


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## mollyb (May 18, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> I don't know if this was stressed induced, but your problem in that case was your treatment was too short. The free swimming stage alone is 2 days or more depending on water temperature. Your were risking an ich infestation by releasing the host fish back into the general population as the encysted stage is not easily treatable by meds. If you had been able to raise the temperature (not a saltie, so not sure how much you can raise temps for damselfish) you would have seen the manifestation continue in the QT tanks as more trophonts "hatch" and they swim around and reattach to a host. The link Fish Rookie posted explains it a bit, but this one is more technical on methods and the ich life cycle. Ich | The Skeptical Aquarist


I guess it wasn't described well enough, there was no treatment, other than isolation of the affected fish right in the main tank with a cage over the coral head he liked, no meds, no nothing. It was cause and effect, cage down - no ich, no cage - ich. Very stress related. Simple.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

mollyb said:


> I guess it wasn't described well enough, there was no treatment, other than isolation of the affected fish right in the main tank with a cage over the coral head he liked, no meds, no nothing. It was cause and effect, cage down - no ich, no cage - ich. Very stress related. Simple.


I see. But if you didn't leave it in QT for more than 2 days, how do you demonstrate that the result is from your hypothesis. In other words, without a control of some sort, how do you know that the tank caused the stress and not the transport of the fish back and forth. If you had left the fish in QT for 14 days, or the full normal life cycle of ich and there was no relapse, and then you transported back to the tank, you still couldn't say that, because you could have ich resistant fish in the tank, or fish living with minor cases of it that you cannot see and the transport of the fish causes it to lose slime coat allowing the ich to establish easier.

Regardless, the OP is not using this mechanism and her description doesn't match the stress hypothesis, so I'll just dead end this discussion here, at least on my end.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

mollyb said:


> The temperature thing should help, but I am with jobber about what is stressing out this guy. Check other params, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, how big is his school?, I had a damsel fish once that would be covered in ich (saltwater I know) and I would put him under a quarantine cage (upside down critter carrier type thing with vents right in the display tank and the ich was gone in 24 hours, then I released him back to 'general poulation' and ich back (only on him) within 24 hours, I repeated this cycle for a few times, definitiely stress induced/mediated. I figure it was another damsel bugging him when was in gen pop. Hatchets like a big school. They also like watrmer water, being top dwellers, in the amazon area.


Stress can weaken the immune system of a fish making it more suspendable to all forms of illness. Totally agree with you there.
With all due respect I just want to point out that as far as I know, salt water ich is different from fresh water ich. Salt water ich can stay dormant in your tank for a longer period but fresh water ich does not behave that way despite popular belief. Lots of control experiments have been conducted to proof that ich is not present in all fresh water tank.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Fish rookie said:


> Stress can weaken the immune system of a fish making it more suspendable to all forms of illness. Totally agree with you there.
> With all due respect I just want to point out that as far as I know, salt water ich is different from fresh water ich. Salt water ich can stay dormant in your tank for a longer period but fresh water ich does not behave that way despite popular belief. Lots of control experiments have been conducted to proof that ich is not present in all fresh water tank.


this is a yes and no point about ich will be ever present in fresh water. There could be a small amount living or attaching un-detacted in a fish. All it takes is one un-healthy fish to show mass of them.


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## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

Hi there, I can only relay to you my experience with ich and my marble hatchets:

Right after I got them they developed ich (I added too many fish at once, ...), also was having ph swings (didn't notice thanks to my test kit being faulty), and temp swings of 76-85deg F (was during this weird summer).

I used quick cure and maracyn (also had a cyanobacteria outbreak at the same time), used for 12 days of treatment, water change every 2-3 days (with every treatment) (replaced water then added treatment after), managed to stabilize the temp around 84degF +- 2deg for the duration. 

My tank was overstocked (still is) with both fish (scaled & scale-less) and shrimps and plants - I did not use salt, and I have not seen the ich return since. (or the cyanobacteria), did not lose any livestock or plants, everyone grew very quickly afterwards 

Hope this helps somewhat.


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

I just wanted to thank everyone again for their advice and supportive comments. I got a lot of good info out of this thread and feel much more confident about moving forward with a treatment plan. I am going to continue aggressively treating and hopefully I will notice results.

Also, as an aside, the fish actually came from a fish store. I got 3 hatchets at the auction but decided to pick up a few more that night as I was near a store anyway and I knew hatchets like big groups. Before I got home, one of the fish had died so I went back to the store the next day (total pain, the store is far from me) for a replacement and all the fish in that tank had full-blown case of itch, which was not visible the previous day I bought them. Sure enough, I went home and examined the few I had bought and that's when I noticed the first few spots. This leads me to believe that they picked it up at/before the store, and were stressed before I even bought them, since all the other hatchets in the sale tank ended up with itch too the next day.


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

Fish rookie said:


> Emily's tank is very nice (one of the nicest I have seen on this forum if I may add) and she obviously takes lots of pride in keeping it in mint condition, I have no doubt she knows how to keep her fish happy.


Aww, how flattering! Thanks for the compliment, I like to think I do everything I can to keep the fish happy. I figure if I buy the animal it's my responsibility to give it a good life and exhaust all options before considering it a lost cause.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Emily, try a UV. It is very good investment for peace of mind.


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

Ok so update - I lost two fish (a cory and a pencilfish) but it is now day 5 of no symptoms and the first day that I did not dose. Here's to hoping it is gone for good......


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

The ich came back yesterday, so I dosed QC that night and this morning my L200 and one of my tapajos had kicked the bucket. I am biting the bullet and finally buying a UV sterilizer to kill it but I just wanted to vent about my sad news to people who would understand the frustration and sadness of losing nice fish  lol.

To think, I have lost almost $100 worth of livestock all from one sick $4 fish.... Ugh.


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## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

Sorry to hear that 
I am using paraguard right now (not treating for ich), it does say it is a good alternative to formalin based meds, doesn't alter pH and filter safe. I've seen no ill effects in the fish from the medication after a few days (using to treat the shrimps)
I would recommend it, I will be using it instead of quick cure the next time I see ich. 
Hope all goes well


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

Sploosh said:


> Sorry to hear that
> I am using paraguard right now (not treating for ich), it does say it is a good alternative to formalin based meds, doesn't alter pH and filter safe. I've seen no ill effects in the fish from the medication after a few days (using to treat the shrimps)
> I would recommend it, I will be using it instead of quick cure the next time I see ich.
> Hope all goes well


Thanks for the heads up. If the UV thing doesn't work I will definitely keep that in mind. After having such bad luck with the QC I am loathe to use it again.......


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

UV will definitely work. I haven't had ich in any of my tanks in 2 years....but you have size it right for your flow rate. Try one of Charles' units. They're pretty cheap and probably just as effective as the Coralife ones. If you want something better made, try the TMC, but you'll have to buy it online and it'll be more money.


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> UV will definitely work. I haven't had ich in any of my tanks in 2 years....but you have size it right for your flow rate. Try one of Charles' units. They're pretty cheap and probably just as effective as the Coralife ones. If you want something better made, try the TMC, but you'll have to buy it online and it'll be more money.


I am glad to hear that it has worked for you, I am very hopeful that it will be gone after I manage to install it... I suck at putting things together though so hopefully it's not too complex! I am getting mine from Charles tomorrow


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

2wheelsx2 said:


> UV will definitely work. I haven't had ich in any of my tanks in 2 years....but you have size it right for your flow rate. Try one of Charles' units. They're pretty cheap and probably just as effective as the Coralife ones. If you want something better made, try the TMC, but you'll have to buy it online and it'll be more money.


The best part is the whole unit from Charles is almost the same price as replacement bulb from coralife... I wish I had looked around before buying mine =)


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## April (Apr 21, 2010)

I'd try super ick. 
Quick cure is going to kill your biological filter.
I'd also crank the heat. 
I've
Always had great results with super ick. I treat two or three days in a row and done. Remember the ones you see on the fish have to wear off. It doesn't mean you haven't killed the rest free swimming ones. 
If your not careful your
Going to wipe your tank out with quick cure.


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## mdwflyer (Jan 11, 2011)

UV works, probably some of the best money you will spend on your fish. I replaced my old Laguna UV with the 18w that Charles has this week. Very happy with it.


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

April said:


> I'd try super ick.
> Quick cure is going to kill your biological filter.
> I'd also crank the heat.
> I've
> ...


Thanks, I will keep that product in mind if I don't have luck with the sterilizer. I lost several fish last time I dosed with QC and after one dose this time I have lost another two, so needless to say the QC is pretty much the last thing I want to use right now.



mdwflyer said:


> UV works, probably some of the best money you will spend on your fish. I replaced my old Laguna UV with the 18w that Charles has this week. Very happy with it.


Yay, I am very happy to hear that. To be honest, until I decided on the UV sterilizer I was pretty much of the mindset that I just wouldn't be keeping hatchetfish anymore. I loved them but they were just too sensitive and I hated losing fish by having to treat them for ich. I am hopeful that this clears up the problem and that they can stay a fixture in the tank, as I do think they are very cool looking fish and I like having the movement at the top of the tank.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

I've never had a problem with ich from hatchetfish. I thought they were pretty tough buggers when I had them. The problem I had was no matter how tight I lid I put on the tank, one of them would find a way to "fly" out of the tang through the opening for heaters and filter tubes and be dried up on the floor. Eventually I lost every single one that way.


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> I've never had a problem with ich from hatchetfish. I thought they were pretty tough buggers when I had them. The problem I had was no matter how tight I lid I put on the tank, one of them would find a way to "fly" out of the tang through the opening for heaters and filter tubes and be dried up on the floor. Eventually I lost every single one that way.


That's funny, because I have had no issues with jumping but obviously lots of problems with ich. I have heard from quite a few people that they are very prone to it, so I don't think it's just me but they must have been very happy in your tank


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

They couldn't have been that happy if they wanted to escape all the time. 

The UV should take care of your problem and you'll never have to worry about it again if you maintain it. You may want to consider a quarantine tank though. That would prevent any of your long pets from getting affected from any new additions.


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