Jestersix

Battling Ich

So first I get monti eating nudis Now my new blue assessor brings the herpes of the sea with him, Ich. I noticed the white spot on the assessors lip the day after i put him in, the same day my clowns also had some. The clowns seem to be doing fine, the white spots are never in the same spots day to day, so either the anemone is helping, their constant fighting is removing some, they are getting partial immunity thanks to garlic, or they are letting the cleaner shrimp clean them (cleaner shrimp hangs out under the anemone). I've been feeding them rod's food since I got the assessor and it's heavy in garlic, smells nice when feeding! Should I move to quarantine ASAP or does the fact that the ich is always in new spots a good sign of them working it out on their own. They are black O's and I've noticed since the ich outbreak the middle of their tail fins are turning back to orange... kind of like an onyx clown. Also the assessors' back fin was kind of getting some holes in it, but today the holes are all healed up.
 
IME Assessors do best in a reef environment so I'm inclined to say leave it be for now but keep a close eye on it.
 
I've had my share of ich too and the best thing I probably did was to panic and leave the fishes alone. I just kept their stress level down (no meds, no fishnets, etc.), did frequent water changes, regular feedings, and garlic. Lucky me, I didn't lose a single fish.
 
Lots of people say that the No-Ich reef safe stuff doesn't work well, but it worked really well for me when I started the hobby and had one or two issues with ich. It is a bit expensive and you have to use a lot of it if you have a big reef tank, but luckily for me I was using it in a 14g at the time. I had some left over, but I did follow-up doses every few days until it and the ich was all gone.
 
i used the marine no-ich and after 3 days my kole and yellow look awesome and my blue looks better..... they all were introduced within weeks of each other and they are all swimming and eating and are back to there original selfs
 
Euphyllia said:
Lots of people say that the No-Ich reef safe stuff doesn't work well, but it worked really well for me when I started the hobby and had one or two issues with ich. It is a bit expensive and you have to use a lot of it if you have a big reef tank, but luckily for me I was using it in a 14g at the time. I had some left over, but I did follow-up doses every few days until it and the ich was all gone.

So because your Ich went away and you put said magic potion in the water it must be what caused it to go away?? You should have sat in on Rich's talk at BAYMAC ;)

I tested the stuff, and all other "reef safe" ich cures rather extensively in a large facility. It never did a drop of good, just a complete waste of money.
 
Gresham: cool! Do you have a write up for the testing you did? We run clinical trials at work and its hard to determine the impact of even with extensive and methodical testing. That's why FDA is a bitch of a hurdle ;-)
 
It's been many years and multiple computers since then. I will check my old HD's and see if we still have it. We ran the trial IIRC on 4 products + copper and a control tank with nothing.
 
The fish drug companies will have no problem with it... the products are drugs that are on the market :) Snake oil isn't a drug :lol:

I'll look but no guarantees I will find it. Not a hard test to redo and I know I can find a wholesaler willing to run them again.
 
Another ggod way of helping them is by either buying a sharknose goby (Gobiosoma Evelynae) or a neon goby ( Gobiosoma Oceanops) they will nip ich cysts of the fish. Also, unlike cleaner wrasse, they can be collected without hurtinng the reef.
 
nudibranch said:
Another ggod way of helping them is by either buying a sharknose goby (Gobiosoma Evelynae) or a neon goby ( Gobiosoma Oceanops) they will nip ich cysts of the fish. Also, unlike cleaner wrasse, they can be collected without hurtinng the reef.


Better yet buy them from ORA :)
 
the fish seem to be doing good with good food. still have ich but it's always 1 or 2 spots and they're always in different spots. Interestingly, they are losing their black coloring and returning to orange.
 
nudibranch said:
Another ggod way of helping them is by either buying a sharknose goby (Gobiosoma Evelynae) or a neon goby ( Gobiosoma Oceanops) they will nip ich cysts of the fish. Also, unlike cleaner wrasse, they can be collected without hurtinng the reef.


I don't believe any of these animals actually do anything for ich. The parasite really in the skin of the fish not of the surface where it can be eaten. Reports of it being eaten are most likely the same thing that most ich treatments are - the regular lifecycle of the parasite.
 
Gomer said:
Gresh, I think we need to market homeopathic ich treatments!


Thats what garlic is! No evidence that it actually does anything to the parasite, nor is there really evidence that it increases fish appetites. Its all post hoc. :D
 
GreshamH said:
Euphyllia said:
Lots of people say that the No-Ich reef safe stuff doesn't work well, but it worked really well for me when I started the hobby and had one or two issues with ich. It is a bit expensive and you have to use a lot of it if you have a big reef tank, but luckily for me I was using it in a 14g at the time. I had some left over, but I did follow-up doses every few days until it and the ich was all gone.

So because your Ich went away and you put said magic potion in the water it must be what caused it to go away?? You should have sat in on Rich's talk at BAYMAC ;)

None of the 'reef safe' ich treatments do anything at all - its been shown again and again. There are only two, possibly three, proven treatments for crypto - hyposalinity, copper and Chloroquine. If something else worked, food fish fisheries would be using it, and they aren't. :D People like to use them because the are 'easy to understand' and buying them makes you feel like you are doing something to help.

The talk Gresh mentions was born out of an article that will be in Manhattan Reefs reefs magazine due to publish on the web very soon. It goes over a lot of the faulty reasoning behind ich 'treatments'. If it isn't posted soon, and someone reminds me, I can post the text of it here if anyone is interested.
 
Thales said:
The talk Gresh mentions was born out of an article that will be in Manhattan Reefs reefs magazine due to publish on the web very soon. It goes over a lot of the faulty reasoning behind ich 'treatments'. If it isn't posted soon, and someone reminds me, I can post the text of it here if anyone is interested.

I would love to read it Rich. I was unable to make it into your talk.
 
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