Six line wrasse eats ich off other fish????

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by wickedfrags.com

Give this a read if you are interested in ick. I found it to be a good read about 6 months ago and just re-read it myself. Aside from the life-cycle stuff, enjoy the info about dispelling the myths about ick, specially No. 10 below (not my words!).

http://www.txinstall.com/ich/ich.htm

No. 10 The parasite burrows into the fish, below the mucous layer and into the skin. (This is why cleaner fish/shrimp can’t get to it in order to remove them from the fish). The second dumbest thing an aquarist can think: I'll get some cleaner fish or cleaner shrimp to remove/eat the parasite. THESE MARINE LIFE DO NOT EAT THE PARASITE NOR WILL FISH OR SHRIMP REMOVE THE PARASITE FROM THE INFECTED FISHES.

As I stated before in this thread, I know that I will still have the ich parasite in my tank until I do the proper QT hyposalinity rote. Which I will do if I notice my fish getting stressed out or acting really sick from the ich.

Since none of my fish seem to be bothered by the ich at all (other then the white spots on the Lavender tang which don't even seem to bug her) I thought I'd get a cleaner wrasse to help remove the white cysts that the ich leaves on the fish.

I realize the cleaner wrasse is not a cure. I was just hoping that he might better enable the fish to fight off some of the ich parasite by themselves, or at least help the fish feel more comfortable.

*Edit*

After reading though the link (great link BTW) #16 stands out for me

16. Spots are MI. Untrue. Probably one of the most problematic causes for rumors and myth-information in the hobby is assuming the spot is Marine Ich when it may be one of another few dozen other parasites or conditions (e.g., pimple-like reaction to infection) that look like Marine Ich. The mis-diagnosis is often the cause for claims of what cured MI, when the fish didn't have MI to start with.

I have been wondering if it's really ich or if it's something else. The fish has had the spots for over 4 months now and everyone seems fine. If it's really ich wouldn't the fish be showing signs of not being fine?

Anyone know what the few dozen other parasites or conditions that look like ich but aren't ich are? Thanks Laurie

[wickedfrags]

As the fish are in a reef (I believe) best to just keep them fat and hope for the best IMO. Also try and keep your temp as stable as possible to reduce stress as much as possible.

Originally Posted by fishoholic

As I stated before in this thread, I know that I will still have the ich parasite in my tank until I do the proper QT hyposalinity rote. Which I will do if I notice my fish getting stressed out or acting really sick from the ich.

Since none of my fish seem to be bothered by the ich at all (other then the white spots on the Lavender tang which don't even seem to bug her) I thought I'd get a cleaner wrasse to help remove the white cysts that the ich leaves on the fish.

I realize the cleaner wrasse is not a cure. I was just hoping that he might better enable the fish to fight off some of the ich parasite by themselves, or at least help the fish feel more comfortable.

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by wickedfrags.com

As the fish are in a reef (I believe) best to just keep them fat and hope for the best IMO. Also try and keep your temp as stable as possible to reduce stress as much as possible.

Hey, did you read my edit, do you happen to know what looks like ich but might not be ich?

All my fish are in a reef tank, and they are fat and eating very well, they don't act like they have a parasite (that's why I didn't want to try to QT them and end up stressing them out when they don't seem stressed right now) I do try to keep my temp as close to 80 as possible, but I do know that it sometimes goes up or down a degree. Thanks for your help.