Please! Someone answer in a few hours PLEASE!!! I have ick in my saltwater aquarium, and my clownfish is suffering He has it badly... My pet store opens at 11 am and it is 6:40 am and I am FREAKING OUT!!!!!!! Please help! Google can't even help!!!! Please, for me and my clownfish's sake. I also have a balloon molly, and juvenile engineer goby. There are no invertabrates, coral, etc. Please HELP!!!!!!!! (The times are in ET)

Right now I think the ick is in it's 2nd stage on the fish, acting like it's disappearing. I need a way to cure it WITHOUT medication, and FAST!!!! I BEG OF YOU GUYS!!!!!

I don't know a whole lot about saltwater, all I can think of is to raise your temp to I think 83f-86f, sorry I couldn't be more help, hope eveyones ok

__________________
10g- 2 hi-fin fm platys, 3 koi & red wag sword fry
40g Breeder- 6 danios, 4 female swords, 1 male swords
"I was born with nothin and I still got most of it left."- Seasick Steve

Also I read somewhere on here about hydrosalinity somthin or other where I guess you get your salinity levels down to 1.009 but read more into that before doing it

__________________
10g- 2 hi-fin fm platys, 3 koi & red wag sword fry
40g Breeder- 6 danios, 4 female swords, 1 male swords
"I was born with nothin and I still got most of it left."- Seasick Steve

Good choice.

__________________
http://s1050.photobucket.com/albums/...eefingMadness/

The other good choice. You hit them both onthe head. And the Salinity # is correct. 1.009. Doing this ina QT tank is best, unless your have a Fish Only With Live Rock tank. Good luck.

__________________
http://s1050.photobucket.com/albums/...eefingMadness/

Here is the info you will find interesting:
Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com


A pic of the fish would make it easier to Id the problem. Even the LFS can't give you a positive ID without a pic, he's guessing also.

__________________
http://s1050.photobucket.com/albums/...eefingMadness/

Thank you. I really appreciate you guys helping!!! One more question though, I've read about copper treatment? What exactly are the good and bad sides of that type of treatment? Do you recommend it at all?

If you use to much copper, dose it wrong, you can harm the fish. This also can't be done if you have inverts, live rock or coral in the tank. But, on the good side, copper sure does kill alot of bacteria and parasites. I would do the Hyposalinity first. It pops the parasites they can't hack the pressure difference in the water.
Copper treatment I would advise using a QT tank for sure.

__________________
http://s1050.photobucket.com/albums/...eefingMadness/

I am no mariner but I can say that even the lfs guy says stay away from the copper treatments. And I trust him! If you have inverts the cu would be deadly too. Do you have a qt tank setup?

__________________
When you pay that cash or swipe that card you are making a bond with that animal that you will treat it with love and respect, and its needs will be met, first and foremost (unless you have kids...) I don't care if you have to eat ramen noodles or nothing at all to feed your cat dog fish rat whatever. That's the bond you made! Life is precious!

Yea I read it from that guy lol, he'll be more help than I

__________________
10g- 2 hi-fin fm platys, 3 koi & red wag sword fry
40g Breeder- 6 danios, 4 female swords, 1 male swords
"I was born with nothin and I still got most of it left."- Seasick Steve

If you have Corals, Live Rock or invertebrates then the copper will nuke the tank, turning up the heat won't do anything as that only works on Freshwater Ich.

Hyposalinity, dropping the Salt Level down to 1.009 should really be done slowly and dropping it will make your water chemistry start to bounce about and hard to control.

You could do a freshwater dip but you will need to get the Ph to the proper amount, remember a sudden change in Ph can be deadly for the fish.

Setting up a quarntine tank is prob the best option, some set them up with brand new water others will set them up with water from the tank and use water changes to bring up the quality off water over a period of time as some say that the fish is ill so using the current tank water is the best option as the fish will be in the same environment as it just came from so it won't have as much stress, Ive seen folks dismiss this as they say that if you use current tank water then you are moving the problem over which is true but it doesn't really matter TBH as the Ich will be coming over with the fish anyway and you can start the treatment that is going to kill the Ich there anyhow.

By reading your post it looks to me as if the problem has just suddenly appeared and is hitting your fish hard, so determine that it is Ich you have and not Marine Velvet, which is worse than Ich, Marine Velvet can kill a fish in hours unlike Ich that can take days/weeks, both look the same but with Velvet the skin of the fish will look as if it is starting to peel and look like Velvet, hence the name Marine Velvet.

If you have Marine Velvet then lowering the salt won't make any difference as it can survive in low salt levels unlike Ich.

My advice would be for you to get a quarantine tank set up ASAP in a quiet room, put some sort of filter in like a bit of Live Rock or whatever filter you have, somewhere for the fish to sleep and hide, when the fish shop opens get a decent copper treatment and just nuke the Ich that way.

Hyposalinity is an option and does work but keeping the water stable can be hard which is why I always tell folks to go the copper treatment it is guaranteed to work and is easier to do, a Freshwater dip will kill the Ich also but any Ich that has buried its way into the skin will not be affected as it is is tucked away safely under the skin.

Here is some useful links to read over.

Marine Ich - Myths and Facts

ATJ's Marine Aquarium Site - Reference - Hyposalinity Treatment

Marine Velvet - Myths and Facts

If you go the copper route this will be useful for when you have finished
Tank Cleanup Procedures

Also leave your main tank with no fish for 8 weeks and a Quarantine tank does not need to be a small fish tank a large plastic container will even do, if you put a piece of Live Rock in it for a filter do not put the bit of rock back in your tank, keep it for any future Quarantine tanks or throw it in the bin.

How did you make out? I live not to far from you in New Straitsville if you need anything just let me know.

__________________
If It Is To Be It's Up To Me!!!
http://www.aquariumforum.com/vbgoogl...216796875&zoom