Hello;
Don't worry, the information i am going to show you will definitely help you and your fish, and hopefully get your fish back to good health.
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Saltwater ick, or Cryptocaryon irritans, is a protozoan parasite that attaches itself to the gills and skin of the fish. Ich is present in almost all environments at all times in low levels. Healthy fish with good immune systems can effectively fight off the parasites with little to no visual detection. Ich is a stressed induced disease either by another fish or your tanks stability. The best way is to,
1. Look at several of your saltwater fish to see if more than one has ick. It is not guaranteed that more than one will when you get the disease but chances are great since it spreads easily in the saltwater.
2. Buy ick medicine from any pet store that has saltwater fish. Some that just carry freshwater fish will have ick medicines for both kinds of tanks. Also buy enough medicine to add for up to 31 days. This is because ick hatches in 30-day cycles and if you only treat what is currently in your tank, in 31 days the eggs will have hatched and a new batch of the disease will infect your saltwater fish. Also if you have invertebrate you have to buy a special kind of ick medicine as the rest will kill your invertebrate.
3. Exchange a shell bed with a true sand one if you have a shell bed. This is because even with killing off the ick for 31 days, eggs can get into the shells and survive the medicine, causing a new outbreak 35 days or more after you have killed off the rest.
4. Dip your saltwater fish in a freshwater bath for one minute. This helps kill the ick by "popping" the white spot on the fish. It won't harm the fish for that short amount of time. Just make sure you use warm water.
Above all remember that Ick is a stress induced problem and a temperature fluctuation of no more than 2 - 3 degrees, or a agressive fish that may be needed to be removed.
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