My wrasse is eating Ich!

[reefwithareefer]

Ok, I am not sure if this means anything or not. It may be known already, but I recently bought a Lubbocks Fairy Wrasse from my FS along with a Hippo Tang and some others.
About a week later, I noticed the Hippo had Ich. Not going to discuss where the Ich may have come from, because what interests me is that the Lubbock started to chase the tang. At first I thought it was being aggressive towards the Hippo. It seemed to be nipping at the Tang etc. Then after watching it for an hour or so, I noticed the tang not swimming away. Then the tang started to let it nibble at him and that is when I saw that it was actually biting the Ich. It was plain to see.

Within a day or two, the Tang had no more Ich. I am not saying the Lubbocks ate/killed it. The Ich could just be cycling or maybe the Lubbocks removed it from the tang but did not actully kill it...

All I know is that the Tang and the Lubbock do not have any visible Ich at this point. It has been approx 3 weeks since I first noticed the Lubbock doing this.

Has anyone seen this happen? Is it possible this fish will destroy Ich or at least take it off another fish?

[mark]

didn't know a Lubbock would act as a cleaner, but look up "cleaner wrasse" and you'll see people will buy wrasse for going after ich

[George]

The white spots you see on a fish are not marine ich itself. They are merely one of the symptoms of marine ich, kind of like body wounds caused by marine ich. Marine ich is hiding under the skin or inside the gills where a "cleaner" can't get to easily.

[Dearth]

My first lubbocks wrasse ate dead skin off most of my fish till it carpet surfed my new one is still feeling out the tank see what it does eventually

[reefwithareefer]

The scientific name for this nuisance is Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, or “ich/ick” for short. It is the largest known ciliated protozoan found on fishes. It appears on the body and fins as tiny white dots resembling grains of salt; hence the other nickname, “white spot disease.” These white spots may join together to form white patches. Other signs of infestation can include excessive flashing (rubbing against the substrate or decorations), labored breathing, clamped fins, loss of appetite, lethargic and/or reclusive behavior, and hovering near filter returns. Keep in mind, however, that all of these symptoms are common with fish in distress and do not point directly to Ich. As a matter of fact, flashing often occurs after routine water changes due simply to a fluctuation in general hardness.


I have heard about cleaner wrasse, but was surprised that the Lubbock cleaned the Ich. I will have to update as time goes by.

[asylumdown]

The scientific name for this nuisance is Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, or “ich/ick” for short. It is the largest known ciliated protozoan found on fishes. It appears on the body and fins as tiny white dots resembling grains of salt; hence the other nickname, “white spot disease.” These white spots may join together to form white patches. Other signs of infestation can include excessive flashing (rubbing against the substrate or decorations), labored breathing, clamped fins, loss of appetite, lethargic and/or reclusive behavior, and hovering near filter returns. Keep in mind, however, that all of these symptoms are common with fish in distress and do not point directly to Ich. As a matter of fact, flashing often occurs after routine water changes due simply to a fluctuation in general hardness.


I have heard about cleaner wrasse, but was surprised that the Lubbock cleaned the Ich. I will have to update as time goes by.

nope. That's fresh water ich. Marine ich is Cryptocaryon irritans, and what you've just described (flashing due to fluctuations in hardness, etc.) are more descriptions of freshwater systems in general.

Marine ich is only related to freshwater ich in that they're both protozoans. Beyond that there's no relation, with a most recent common ancestor likely measured in the hundreds of millions of years BP. It looks like you're doing research though, which is good, so I'd advise to re-focus on C. irritans, as if you follow any of the advice for I. multifiliis, you'll experience at best no results, or at worse a total tank melt down - for example, raising the temperature in a reef is a potentially fatal course of action. It's also completely ineffective against C. irritans, but standard procedure for I. multifiliis.

Also, there isn't a cleaning organism that can be considered an effective control method for marine ich. As others mentioned, the actual parasite is burrowed underneath the skin of the fish, the white spots you see are like little pimples - they're the fish's immune response to the infestation. A cleaner organism might pick at them, but they're not actually eating the parasite, and they won't contribute to its control in a tank in any meaningful way. If you do see a reduction in the number of spots in a few days, the chances are overwhelmingly likely that the wrasse had nothing to do with it, and that you're just witnessing the normal ebb and flow of the visible stage of a highly cyclic parasite.

[MitchM]

The white spots you see on a fish are not marine ich itself. They are merely one of the symptoms of marine ich, kind of like body wounds caused by marine ich. Marine ich is hiding under the skin or inside the gills where a "cleaner" can't get to easily.

I did not know that before.
Thanks George.

[reefwithareefer]

Neither did I. I need to research further. The title was "marine Ich" for that !!! I know you have to be careful what you read on the net, but if that info is incorrect , it is ridiculous information for marine Ich.