Probably the best video i have seen so far on the subject. Your slowely earning my respect as a reefer, you seem like someone who may have some actual valuable experience compared to a plethora of other you tubers. In my experience owning a blue streak wrasse or also known as a common wrasse is a weapon that can be used against the parasite. I highly recommend one and visually observe what he does

you are absolutely right dude. my experiences with treating ick with medications suggested to me did more bad than good. I believe the medications, although says "safe" to fish is stressing the rest of the livestock in the tank and so I end up loosing most of my fish every single time. So, I have restarted over this last year and it has been months with no ick. Then just a few weeks ago I got me another blue tang "Dori"...darn fish always gets ick so easily. Anyway, I have decided to not treat it qith medication. I've noticed that the tang has been eating well and less and less ick on the body each day. I believe that the slime will take care of the ick so long as I keep up with good feeding and let things take care of itself. So far non of my other fish has gotten the ick from the tang. I assume it is because they are healthy and not stressed out from anything like medications.

Excellent points. I “have” ich in my mature sps packed 190 gal reef. It showed up many years ago on a purple tang. All fish are healthy and fed a varied diet. Occasionally I’ll see a spot on my foxface but no outbreaks. I also believe that sps polyps will consume the free swimming parasites as they are in the correct size range and corals eat what they can catch. I personally have never seen a mature reef tank that has an ich explosion. Just my thoughts

This is the only video that makes sense to me. I had my yellow tang in quarantine for a month with no signs of ich at all then I added him to my display, he got ich 2 days later. All my other fish in the main display were healthy. I think ich is a very opportunistic parasite, and it targets the fish when it's stressed. It will go away once the fish is fully acclimated to the tank. Of course it's still present in my tank but at least the fish can fight it off when they're healthy. The idea of completely eradicate ich is cool but it's impossible because we can't sterilize each drop of water or each grain of sand!

Glad everything turned out good for you. I continue to feed healthy and haven't seen any spots or sick fish in over a year.

I airways think of Ich as a cold. .people have thousands of cold remedies but there is no cure for the common cold. . In theory what you say is spot on. . Rest, food and good water quality plus time.

5:50 was the realest moment of this video.

Wow you make a great point! All of a sudden my coral beauty angel has ich. And here I am watching your video.

I have had the same situation as you it seems like you are reading a page out of my ich problems. Last time I had ich on my blue hippo tang. I said the hell with it. I have too much money invested in my corrals to tear it down. I did not treat my tank with any meds I just did a water change every 4 days and soaked my food in garlic and it went away by its self. And my tank went 1 1/2 year with out it so far so good. Some times trying to catch the fish to medicate it stresses it out even more and it ends up dying probably due to the added stress of getting chased around the tank.

I agree find out what stressing out the affected fish and eliminate the stress. That's how I've always treated my ick problem.

I happened to pause it at 5:51 and thought the fish in the front had a huge smile on its face lol

My ich strategy has been to use UV continuously when an outbreak is underway and for several months after that. Then I will cut back on the UV time during the day. This worked until recently when I had a spike in ‘tang drama and stress’. I needed to step up my game so I purchased a ‘whole house’ water filter with a 5 micron cartridge. I put a Jebao DCS-3000 pump on the input side of the filter and some stuff hoses on the output, fashioned a bracket so it would hang on the side of my 250 gal eurobraced tank. I primed it for an hour using food grade diatomaceous earth in a bucket of salt water. Then I transferred to my main tank. Unfortunately I did get a plume of silica in the tank but it cleared up quite quickly. Later on I further loaded more DE into the filter using a pipette. Almost immediate results and the ich outbreak is clearing up. I spent less than $100 on the filter and earth and I had the pump lying around already. I am going to plumb the DE filter into my main circulation pump when I have a moment. Oh and my water is super clear and all the fish seem much happier. I think that a DE filter should be one of the first go-to tools especially when there is an emergency. It can rapidly clear the water of the free-swimming form of ich and prevent your fishes natural defenses from being overwhelmed.

You make me feel better god bless you!! I hope your right

I agree with your entire video - 1. We should responsibly QT and avoid risking current and new fish 2. If the ich sneaked in, do NOT use medicines in main tank. Do NOT try t9 catch and hopital all fishes in small / new tanks. That will cause more damage. 3. Focus on feeding, water quality and minimal stress, ich will slowly diminish. I just had an outbreak 2 months back and ich is almost out ... i will wait for 2 more months before i think of any new addition to the tank. But all but 1 (anthias) current fishes made it. Of course i had a regrettable lost of 1 fish and I will be more careful next time A. I will QT with copper, if new fiah can take copper followed by General Cure. 2. Avoid bringing fish that has been with lfs for less than 1 week.

You are right bro...good filter...good water N every time new fish coming we have to put them into the Quarantine Tank that contains copper...and that's it..all good. But I'm highly recommend to you all...if you want to have marine fish then just having fish so in case if the white spot come back all you have to do just add copper back into the water then when the white spot gone...then just change 20% of new water N all done.. But if you doing with corals. ..I have no comments. .coz it's a headache. Good luck to you all.

It might be the OCD, love the video, but the table tapping... LOL

I agree with you... Any of those treatments that claim to treat ich in the free floating stage are a waste of time and money.. either rip tank apart and QT everything or focus on healthy diet, Low stress and high water quality. I can say I have ether skipped the 3rd wave of ich in my tank or have finally reached the right ratio of low stress and water quality in my tank for it to not take out anymore of my fish... great video topic.. im sure you pissed some people off LOL...

I have torn down my 90 gallon and went fallow treating my fish with copper in a qt. I still maintain a empty tank with saltwater just in the event I get a new addition. Even with this I can still get it on a piece of coral or invert. It's just that you can take all the precautions and still get it..ugghh

I just noticed today that 2 of my Rummynose Tetras have ich. Thanks for the video.

I agree I’ve tried the medication didn’t work only stressed out my coral as as I couldn’t tear my tank down to quarantine. I’ve been feeding my fish a garlic enriched pellet and poof the ich is gone a month later !

Taking fish out is the hard part. What medication can be used during quarantine to rid ich?

Hey Scott, I love your videos my friend. I don't feel belittled with you and Steve, you are DOWN TO EARTH people who won't shun someone with an issue. I'm fairly new to the hobby, but I've done my homework and then some, for roughly a year now. I would like to discuss further with you about ich, and your tank/setup, as I have discovered my 8 inch Naso has intermittent ich, some days he/she has none or maybe a spot, and some days he/she has 10 spots, regardless, this Naso has an appetite ALWAYS, and this fish I love, it's my pride and joy! Like Steve and yourself, I am a HUGE tang fan, I currently have 5 tangs in a 180gal+40gal sump+30gal refugium. That is 250gal of water volume, and due to the large nature of this water volume, it's not easy just testing things apart and getting rid of ich! As I'm sure you know. Sorry for the long comment, I love the reef talk, I'm a huge follower, I love your tank my friend, it is amazing. I would like to hopefully discuss in much more detail about ich, if you can provide any additional information, or just chat in general, you and Steve won't bash me for adding 2 zebrasoma tangs in my 180gal unlike everyone else I've talked to. Please respond and please keep the videos coming! Hope to speak with you soon, hope the wife recovers as well, take care friend. -KevN-

I'm with you Scott. Always quarantine and use Copper in QT if fish develops ich. If Ich hits the main display I stay away from those so called magic treatments. I say feed well, I use Selcon for some extra vitamins, good water quality and keep my fingers crossed.

I think volume of water in your system has a lot to do with it too. Larger volume less chances for the parasite to afflict the same fish in short a cycle, giving the fish a chance to heal. Also I swear I had a noticeable absence of parasites after installing the biggest UV steriliser I could afford and changing the tubes regular.y. It appears to reduce the risk of a new cycle.

Man i feel you scott i have gd done everything by the book and just woke up today with ich on my scopas baby unicorn 2 chocolate tangs and a foxface....man back to square one...great video man 🍻

My tank had a round of ich 2 years ago and most of my fish made it, including my yellow tang. I think when I tried to QT them, it just stressed them out even more and thats how I lost a few. So, I stopped bothering trying to treat it and also focused on quality instead. Ever since then those fish hadn't gotten it again or at least anything noticeable. Now I just added two butterfly fish. They didn't appear to have ich when I got them but I am wondering if this ich was the same that hit my tank awhile ago. None of the other fish have it (again at least not noticeable), so I am guessing they have just developed a stronger slime coat. I am curious to see how to butterflies overcome it. They are plenty active and at least the one is munching away on food. Still building the confidence for my copperband. He is eating blackworms and pods, and every once in a while I've noticed him nibbling at brine. Once his confidence boosts more, I don't think I need to worry too much. Even when facing a challenge, these fish never seize to amaze me.

great video Scott. the way you address this subject was right on. taking an herbal approach with your parameters, ie: diet, water quality and such is a better way than to use a product that has no scientific data to back up what they say.

I feel the same way about the medication. I feel like the treatment actually kills the fish with the ammonia spike . Just lost my sailfin tang that was very healthy and 5 anthias that I had just added to the tank .

Good vid. I've been wondering as I too believe ich is in my 75 nonetheless the fish are doing well for the most part. I've come to the same conclusion. As I prepare to move to Tangs in a new 125 your advice is invaluable. Thanks. we all appreciate the help.

Hey Scott, I think it's worth mentioning that the ick parasite needs to attach to fish to complete its life cycle. While it can be present its encysted or free swimming state in water that you might bring home with coral or inverts. The parasite itself cannot attach to them to feed if there are no fish present the parasite will die within a few days. If you quarantine incoming fish in one tank and corals and inverts in another for 4 to 6 weeks (will be shorter for the coral invert quarantine tank) you will not introduce ick into your display. Quarantine is the key though, I know there's reefers that argue against it but there's not one public aquarium, or aquaculture research laboratory that doesn't quarantine incoming fish. That's enough proof for me.

What about anemones? It needs to be removed too?

Important...you have to let a tank be fallow for a lot longer than six weeks for Ich. Its about 60 days for Velvet and Ich is closer to 75 days...but I'd do 90 to be safe.

I got a white tail tang not long ago and after 3 days if broke out with velvet (atleast i believe it was) i also had a foxface and a bunch of other fish in there with it. After day 4 the tang passed away. The weird thing is the foxface and everyone else didnt catch it, and its been several weeks, everyones still good. What do you guys think I should do? Take everyone out, treat them, and leave the tank to be fish free for 6weeks, or go for another fish and dip it in a medicated bath for an hour, followed up by a freshwater dip and put it in the display?

dose with stress coat. It can replace some of the slime coat with aloe vera, (or well help it grow back by covering your fish in a slime).

Hyposalinity + quarantine will assure Ich free Tank

Iam currently trying this method as don't have another option.blue tang us the only fish showing signs ,so hopefully I'll get lucky and slim coat will come through for me

that's what I do. Keep my tangs, fish well fed and fat... they are happy and stress free

great points Scott!

I have it know an I am so so sucked I may loss my fish but this video is letting me feel less stressed about it Iam feeding a lot an using metro an focus an garlic in there food what do u think is that a good thing that I am doing thanks love the videos man I hope too meet u at rap in Chicago

Great video thanks...very interesting and informative.

Some meds don't work . If u keep your water cooler ick won't be a problem and if u vav Clean water change the bottom of the Aquarium that will pick up and ick or maybe bad live in the water

The reality sucks, thanks for posting.

I have a freshwater fish tank and I think the pet store give my environment Ich. Just curious instead of putting Malachite green into my fish tank I have actual malachite stones could I put those in and have them work the same instead of the medication?

I been fighting with ich for months now and now that I had to get rid of my bigger fish to make space for a QT I’m leaving my DT empty for 90days and have the batch of fish I’m gonna keep in my 20gal QT now

My fish always get white spots on pectoral fins (side fins ) and have lived with them for a long time just my powder tang and my clown trigger have noticeable spots . My clown trigger always gets them but eats well and now my powder tang has them on his pectoral fins, but he eat well too. I give them Vitachem vitamins they are healthy . I tend to overfeed. I'm worried how long can they survive like this or just a matter of time they die . I have fish only tank

Relatively ick resistant fish: 1. Ocellaris Clownfish 2. Wrasses / Hogfish 3. Hawkfish 4. Foxface / Rabbitfish 5. Cardinalfish 6. Damselfish 7. Some large angels 8. Zebrasoma Tangs (for Tangs) 9. Cethnochaetus Tangs (for Tangs) 10. Large Naso / Acanthurus Tangs (for Tangs)

Since you tank still has parasites, what is your process in adding new fish? Do you quarantine and pre treat them before adding in the DT? Or just add directly to DT?

Is impossible to remove all the fish in the Long Island’s 20,000 gallon reef tank whenever there is an ich outbreak and put all the fish a hospital tank. Long Island’s 20,000 gallon reef has been running successfully everyday for 20 years with fish.

so if remove all fishes from the tank, and leave the corals and rocks inside for 6 weeks will ich came back anyways ?

I read an article years ago that said after about 10 or 11 cycles the ich strain gets weak to the point it poses little threat to healthy fish. Unless we introduce new ich again of course. This if true would be great for some of us who's systems are large enough that it is not feasible to tear down.

I have a brand new 35 gallon tank with 2 clownfish and 20 hermit crabs. I haven't added any corals yet but I have noticed a tiny bit of ich on one of the two clownfish. Would it be worth it to do hyposalinity prior to adding anything else in for 6 weeks just to ensure the ich dies?

Great video.

Think i may have introduced it to my tank through a orange sponge. I turned temps up and doing daily water changes. Can tell by the behaviour of the fish, hopefully there itch free soon an happy again. I dont like bottled additives and remedies really, last resort. Thanks for great video

great video, wondering how has it been since this video a few years ago, have you had ich again, much or any fish loss you contribute to ich, ive got ich on a blue tang, been dosing reef medic and only ever seen 2-3 small spots on him usually on fins, so was thinking it was keeping them at bay at least, but runnig out of days til max usage soon, dont have a quarrantine tank i could put all my fish in, so hoping to go your method, shpuld i do something to help them have a better slime coat?

I have ich in my 210 gallon reef tank and it has a lot of rock structures so I may never get all my fish out, especially the little ones. I just bought a UV sterilizer because I wanted one eventually anyway. Do you know if it will help kill ich that's in the water. I know it won't help with the ones on the fish, but will it eventually kill it over time? Do I really have to quarantine? I guess I could just not buy any more fish and just wait for them all to die and then wait 82 days for the ich to die. I'm lost as of what to do. Please help. Do you ever just quarantine the ones that visually have ich? Sorry, lots of questions.

Going through our 1 first ich issue in our very first FOWLR, so insane! We have tried to be diligent about QT.... I mean everything got QT!!! Live rock, Anemone, snails, and fish! I am so stress i'm gonna get ich myself... lol I just don't buy into all this medication being safe for the fish. Thanks for the video! Still learning over here! :-)

Any updates on this? Thank you!

I wish you would have brought this to my attention two months ago because I just experienced a tank crash I did everything that you were saying and I still experience that tank crash all of my fish got it on them and all of my corals died and all of my starfish my clams and my sponges has passed away I only have 3 fish and my system now

I keep seeing comments about ginger but with no info on what ginger to use, how much or anything else.

i agree with the slime coat method...think about it, mandarin dragnets hardly ever get ich. that's because they have a really thick coat.

How long did your fish show white spots for. I am on week 2-1/2. But powder blue tang is still eating a lot.

ick can stay dormant for many months

You can just do the best we can that’s it

and by the way I would like to know what bulbs do you use for your metal headlight system I have a 150 watt metal headlight system and I have coral life 96 watt compact fluorescent bulbs is there any different colors that I can put in besides attending Blues

So true I didn't QT. Fish were healthy and happy and BAM! Ick came and wiped out 2 waves of fish :( but it could've been marine velvet which would've sucked more

Scott, Like you I have worked so hard to keep Ich out of my DT with quarantine etc. Well, unfortunately somewhere somehow Ich came in and like you it's next to impossible to break down my entire Reef to pull out every fish and run fallow. So I did my very best to keep everything stress free, variety diet, and over all water quality in the best conditions I could. My stock is Purple Tang, Yellow Eye Kole, 6-line wrasse, coral beauty, cleaner wrasse, and one clown fish. Of course the tangs got hammered. My purple tang for a few days looked like he wasn't going to make it, but he kept eating and kept swimming, and was always trying to get the cleaner wrasse to clean him. Well his case of visible ich has seemed to subside and his behavior has begun to be more normal. Unfortunately I lost my yellow eye kole. So right now I am doing what I've been doing, feeding well, water quality and stress reduction. My question is at what point did you feel comfortable enough being "visibly ich free" that you introduced new fish?

Like many of us I know there is ich in my tank. I lost a few fish to it. I agree with you healthy fish can resist ich. I do what I can to keep them feed well and stress free. The fish I have, have shown no signs in a few months, but I want just one more fish. If I can add it with as little stress as possible do you think he will be alright? I have no room for a qt sys, also my record with one is 0-3. But the fish store is very good and will qt it there. I am thinking something like a breeder box to keep separate until the others are used to it and he eats well.

Got outbreak when bringing in more clean up crew. Here we go. Let's see who makes it thru. Tang a gonner... maybe. Everyone else who made it thru outbreak 9 months ago seem great. Lets see who survives now. Hopefully yellow tang pull thru small battles. Ita gonna be very interesting to see who gets it. Who beats it.

I keep my reef very simple.. Sal.1.025 CA 430, MAG1310 DKH8.2, NF 7.25 PO .0705. For fish to prevent ick Quarantine fish Quarantine frags in frags' system feed spectrum ich shield and water change 10% per fish weekly.

I hear you brother. I have a new180g system with some chromesses anthyases and 6 tangs. Just got 4 fire shrimps and the next morning my bloue tang got ich. The question is I don't have corals right now can I treat the tank with copper?

I've had white spot on a powder blue and powder brown since adding them to my reef after no signs in QT for a 6 week period. I guess I live with ick too and the new additions contract it as they are added. I guess this will always be the case now. they are also improving with time, no meds either. I have a clown tang and blue eye tang in QT in copper as they are scratching. we will see if they get ick again in the reef ??

how is this wo med

what about puffer

Recently got 2 turbo snails and one of them had to have had Brooks. And my QT was not ready water wise, so I skipped it like an idiot. Anyways one of my clowns got brooks a few days after the snails was put in. Moved her to the QT and been treating it with Cupramine cooper. My question is I read something about Formlin( formaldehyde) dip. Which is better??? Is the formlin faster and just very toxic so you can only dip it for a few mins then put the fish in QT? Any information about that method I would welcome since I have access to some 37% formaldehyde.

by the way I have a lot of brown algae in my tank I did have red slime in there and a lot of green algae but since I got in the middle headlight it has gotten rid of a lot of the green algae in it turn brown and some of it is turning into hair algae I did have the Ecotech Radion but I just kept dropping them into water and I kept happening to the replace them so metal headlights has been my best thing even my carpet an enemy likes it a lot better than he did to radians

Why do you have to rip the tank apart? Doesn't just taking the fish out and letting the tank go fallow for 6 weeks allow it to die off? So the tank would be free of ich right. Ich and velvet can only survive on a fish host correct?

Awesome fish video! Thanks for sharing and very informative

Can you please tell me how to setup a QT tank ?? And what’s in it

Great video and everything is looking very healthy I'm thinking of moving my Xenia to the middle like yours it looks really good ... Been offered a Kole tang what do you think should I get it this will be the last fish I add and my nitrates are at 0ppm and all my fish are behaving them selves .... How's your wife doing

Hey Scott!! love your videos bud, how about an update has the ick reapered. I'm currently going through an ick outbreak myself and was curious on trying "Medic my polyplab"??

i went to summer frag show in Plymouth Michigan on Aug 7 2016 its on youtube if you want to watch it

I've had no sign of it in my system, I can't say I don't have it because although I dipped corals and scrubbed with a toothbrush I can only say I've not seen it. but I would love to know what recipe you feed your fish and how frequent you do.. thanks buddy. great video!

Hey guys I recently got a yellow tang and it got ich I put it in isolation and I don’t wanna treat it with any chemicals how can I go about doing this he’s been eating no problem with pe mysis shrimp and nori do you think if I just keep doing what I normally do it will just run its course

I agree steve.

Why do folks always have to take things to the next level. As long as you're happy with your system live and let live. .

how do you prevent marine velvet?

are flame angels good in reefs? it would look beautiful in your tank.

Man I hate ich so much and it's getting annoying and I've lost 3 tangs so far, I've got a fourth in my tank now and he has it but I don't have QT tank available atm:(

How can we get the fish outta the tank , the fish are gonna hide in the rocks right away

Will ich be on all the fish in the tank

So I know I have ich on my DT and my hippo, tang, yellow tang, and clarkii have developed immunity to it. I tried adding a clown tang not so long ago and it perished from ich. So my question is: since my 3 remaining fish are basically immune from ich, does that mean that ich will disappear and starve in 72 days since it cannot successfully host on my remaining fishes?

or even better... qt corals aswell as lettin ur tank sit fallow for ten weeks with ur sand and rock in it... qt each fish for same period. ur tank looks classy pal

Are you planning of getting more fish (tangs)

Can you do a update on the cowfish reef tank

I have a question is there anyway I can email you and talk to you about the ich problem I'm having right mow

This video gave me a little releaf, I just got ich from new fish, I lost 2 fish and now I see 2 more having ich! I'm using treatment (reef safe kind), I'll now focus on the water quality!

Add garlic to your reef a few times a week and marinate with the fish food and you will never get ick!

soak fish food with garlic ,just use home garlic

I am fuc...ed up. I have lost my 8 fish last night because of ich.

This }**#+**#^{^ effin Ich! It's been the bane of my reefing. My tank has crashed twice and lost a lot of fishes and corals from trying to save them and doing in between. Do I need to mention the painstaking process it took to tear down your tank and the $$ I spent that went down the drain. I feel sick to my stomach. I sure do hope you are right as this is gonna be my last resort if it happens again. 😢 crossing fingers*