Live rock ick med question

Question

if i added ick med to my live rock and say it all dies wont it eventually become live again doesnt batteria normally grow back?

Answer 1

Yes, it will become live again (but any corals, shrimp crabs, etc. on it will not), but the rock will have absorbed all the medication in the tank.  The same thing that makes the rock good at being live, its porosity, makes it a bad choice for a medicated tank-- if all the medication is locked up in the rock, none of it will reach the parasites.  I would strongly recommend treating the fish in a quarantine tank.

EDIT: Calcaerous material, like live rock, coral sand, etc., absolutely does absorb copper, and will have the same affect on formalin, malachite green, and quinine sulfate.

"Activated carbon and calcareous gravels both lead to copper loss and can either be avoided or used with the understanding that more copper will be needed." http://www.bestfish.com/copper.html

"Kick Ich" is nothing more than snake oil (the saltwater equivalent of Melafix, Pimafix, and Bettafix).  Because of this, it is harmless to just about everything-- the fish, the corals, the shrimp, AND the parasite.  I left some quotes from Wetwebmedia, a collection of actual experts with biological backgrounds to their credit, unlike Ruby Reef (the makers of Kick Ich).

"I medicated the tank with a reef safe treatment called "kick-ich"

<Worthless>" http://www.wetwebmedia.com/bestcryptfaqs...

"I have a 220 coral reef tank with about 54 fish ( 40 are Chromis ). All of the sudden they have all broken out with ICK. We were using Kick Ick but it seems to only have stopped it from getting slightly worse.

<I understand... not a cure, for sure... Hopefully you are availing yourself of the standard approaches in environmental manipulation (temp. elevation, lowered spg)... and appropriate cleaner organisms>

What is the medication in that product ? I think it starts with an M. I have some of that same medication and I am planning on mixing it in some frozen food and then re-freezing it. hopefully direct ingestion will help

<Capsicum, pepper sauce... a gimmick...joke... not a funny one.>" http://www.wetwebmedia.com/bestcryptfaqs...

"I was wondering if you had any experience with medication Kick-Ich?

<a dubious remedy at best>

It says it is safe for invertebrates, and reef safe.

<it always amazes me how such products claim to be able to kill invertebrate pathogens but not harm desirable invertebrates (microfauna, plankton, corals, etc.)>" http://www.wetwebmedia.com/cryptfaqs5.ht...

"I stumbled upon someone who highly recommended Kick Ich. Since, as I mentioned before, I'm "paranoid" on a GOOD day, I'm pretty skeptical of this "safe for all fish/corals/you name it" "miracle drug". Sooo... I spend a day ho-humming around reading & trying to decide if I'd rather lower the specific gravity or use this so-called "miracle cure".

<<Go for the standard methods - avoid the snake oil.>>" http://www.wetwebmedia.com/cryptfaqs6.ht...

"So, I bought a 20gallon hospital/quarantine tank and used my main tank's water.  Water seems to be ok and now my last two butterflies are in the tank.  I bought "REEF SAFE KICK-ICH" to treat it.

<IMO, this stuff is better used as salad dressing than a fish "medication"...and please don't use it in your main tank! It's really a "pepper sauce", intended to make the fish slough off body slime in the hope that the parasites go with it...Also- are you sure that ich is what you are dealing with? Please verify the illness (assuming it is an illness, not just an injury) before using any medication. Sometimes, administering the wrong medication can be worse than not medicating a fish at all.>" http://www.wetwebmedia.com/cryptfaqs7.ht...

"is this REEF SAFE KICK-ICH a good treatment???

<Umm...I don't really have anything nice to say about this stuff...>" http://www.wetwebmedia.com/cryptfaqs7.ht...

I stopped at page 7 of 27, but you get the picture.  If you're gonna treat, use a real medication.

Answer 2

Eventually the bacteria will reform, however any other inverts unless using ich meds like Kick Ich won't harm the inverts.  Your coralines and algae will not be affected either.

Live rock does not SUCK up the meds.  You need to turn off the protein skimmer and kick ich will cycle thru the tank.  You usually you need to treat for 21 days