Help!! Ich!!

[SuperFudge]

Originally Posted by Beverly

As some people have pointed out, the use of LOTS of garlic soaked food has some positive effect on keeping the new on-the-fish ich off the fish. While I am not sure exactly why that works, my guess is that the garlic makes the fish reek of garlic and the ich will not attach to the stinky fish. I have used the garlic method with success and with failure as well.

You could look at it like the guy next to you who just ate a pile of garlic.....youd leave him alone too.

Actually i dont believe it does anything but stimulate appetite.

Alot of fish that get ich, dont die from ich, but die as a result from not eating during the illness, becoming even more suseptable to re-infection in following life cycles of the parasite.

Out of all the treatments ive tried in the past, none have been as successful as just making sure a good diet is maintained and varied.

Marc.

[trilinearmipmap]

OK to dig up an old thread, my Hippo Tang has a few spots of ich now, because I quarantined him for too short a time. He looks healthy aside from the spots of ich on him.

He is in a reef tank with a Yellow Tang and two ocellaris clowns, none of the other fish have any spots on them.

Anyway looking at everyone's advice I have elected to ride it out with attention to diet and water conditions. I could move all 4 fish into quarantine and treat them but this would be a tremendous hassle.

The worst case scenario is I lose all four fish and leave the tank fallow for two months after that.

I believe the folks who say that offering good conditions will enable the fish to fight off a mild to moderate case of ich.

[Bob I]

Now that we have had pages, and pages of theories, explanations and possible insults.(I really don't believe that), I would like to add more mystery to the equation. I have had a small cowfish for exactly TWO MONTHS. He has been by himself in a 15 gallon tank, which has been set up for many months. A few days ago I purchased a RBTA, and put it in that tank for a few days. A couple of days ago I noticed the fish had white spots all over including the eyes. For now I am not treating him, as he shows no discomfort. The anemone has now been moved to my larger tank. does anyone want to try an explanation , as this goes beyond anything I know about Ich.

[Beverly]

Sounds to me that there might have been free-swimming ich in the water the RBTA came in. Only explanation I can think of.

Sorry to hear about your ich

[yifan917]

IMO, get a neon goby.

[Bob I]

This is a follow up on my last post. The day after I made that post, I began a KickIck regimen. The fish was in a 15 gallon tank by itself, and some Peppermint shrimp. I removed the shrimp, and began treatment. I used the full dosage for a 25 gallon tank. I followed the instructions exactly by going the full course of treatment.
The fish is clear now, which is a week after the last treatment. So, although some people say the product is useless my findings are that it does work.

[bulletsworld]

Wait a couple more weeks after treatment is finished and you'll know exactly what everyone is talking about.

I had the same thing, worked for a bit. Which I think it helped control more than anything. But later it came right back.

Keep us updated.

[Bob I]

Alright Lee, I will watch it for a week or two, and see what happens. I have to say, however, that after watching this for awhile, I have some serious doubts about what the "experts" say about the life cycle of Ich. The whole idea of encysting, and then breaking out of the cysts a couple of days later goes against nature. The whole idea behind forming cysts is for long term survival. I have a horrible feeling that Ich cysts are in tanks for a long time (if not always)

[Bob I]

Originally Posted by bulletsworld

Wait a couple more weeks after treatment is finished and you'll know exactly what everyone is talking about.

I had the same thing, worked for a bit. Which I think it helped control more than anything. But later it came right back.

Keep us updated.

It has now been 2 1/2 weeks since the last treatment, and the fish is still ich free.

[Beverly]

Originally Posted by Bob_I

It has now been 2 1/2 weeks since the last treatment, and the fish is still ich free.

The real test will be that they will be ich-free after the new year.

And speaking about ich, I bought a chevron butterfly almost three weeks ago. Middle of last week, this fish came down with ich None of my other fish have it, but the butterfly was getting worse by the day. Two days into it having ich, I decided to step up the amount of Garlic Xtreme in the food by about 4 times normal . Also began feeding every two-three hours, so the butterfly would not be eating so freely from the flora and fauna in the tank and getting good strong doses of garlic instead. It's been three days now, and the fish has no signs of ich on its tail or pec fins where it was most visible.

Am going to continue feeding the extra, extra garlic food 3-4 times a day for the next few weeks to make sure any ich that may be lingering will not reinfest the fish. Hope this works. Will keep you updated.