Help: New Butterfly with Ich. FML.

[Delphinus]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Do nothing. Feed it well, let it settle in. See what happens. Maybe add fresh garlic to some mysis. Thaw mysis, squish really well in paper towel to get out moisture, then smother with freshly crushed garlic. It's what I do, always works for me and I've never lost a fish to ich...

Brad do you let the crushed garlic go into the tank with the mysis or do you do anything to separate it before adding to the tank?

My guess here is the stress of the new tank is what brought it on, as long as the fish remains eating and nobody is picking on him it should go away. Some fish are more prone to ich than others. My lavender tang seems to have about a half dozen spots that come and go and it's been well over a year. I put some cleaner shrimp in and he's all too happy to let them work their magic on him so time will tell if that makes a difference down the road but for the most part managing ich is all about managing good water quality, peaceful tankmates and good food quality so that the fish's own immune response and slime coat become enough to repel the ich on the next go-round of the ich cycle. It's been a real mind-blow for me in this last year as previously in 12 years or whatever it's been now for me of running SW fish tanks I've been lucky in that ich went away on new arrivals within a week and now I'm adjusting myself to thinking that chronic ich seems less of a panic button item than other ailments.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Brad do you let the crushed garlic go into the tank with the mysis or do you do anything to separate it before adding to the tank?

I don't worry about chunks, in or out. Essentially I want the dry mysis to soak up as much oil as possible. Then the whole mix goes in. It's easier with tangs, since the nori acts like a sponge, I just crush the garlic on a sheet and wipe it around, then given the nori a shake to get rid of any bigger chunks.
My hippo woke up one morning with a masive outbreak just after getting her, and this is the approach I took. Today I have a very happy healthy hippo tang.

[George]

I don't think cleaner shrimps or cleaner wrasses can do anything to ich. They mainly pick up dead skin or left over food in the mouth of a fish.
Garlic may or may not help.
Sometime people reported that they added this and that and the ich went away. Well, ich just doesn't simply go away. Most likely they are still attaching to some fish but just don't cause an outbreak yet.
If you don't want to set up a hospital tank, then avoiding any stress on the fish is the best option. Feed it well, no aggressive fish. Stable parameters. Hopefully the fish can fight off the outbreak.

[ScubaSteve]

Frankly, I agree with you but I'm willing to try anything. The ich parasite is in my reef, simple as that. The only way I'm getting it out of there is by treating the whole tank or running fishless for quite a while, neither of which are really an option for me. So, just like that present BlazingArrow got from that "Lady of the night" in Tijauana, all I can do is find ways of minimizing the flair ups and helpin the fish fight it off. If only there was a Valtrax for marine ich...

[The Grizz]

Originally Posted by George

I don't think cleaner shrimps or cleaner wrasses can do anything to ich. They mainly pick up dead skin or left over food in the mouth of a fish.
Garlic may or may not help.
Sometime people reported that they added this and that and the ich went away. Well, ich just doesn't simply go away. Most likely they are still attaching to some fish but just don't cause an outbreak yet.
If you don't want to set up a hospital tank, then avoiding any stress on the fish is the best option. Feed it well, no aggressive fish. Stable parameters. Hopefully the fish can fight off the outbreak.

I beg to differ with you there, my cleaner wrasse took care a a case of ick on my Regal in one day. And garlic is a big help to keep all fish healthy.

[daniella3d]

yes maybe but you still have ich in your tank and if the situation get bad and the fish stressed, they will get ick again. Ick does not get away on its own. It's still on your fish gills and only waiting for the right moment to pop out.

Originally Posted by The Grizz

I beg to differ with you there, my cleaner wrasse took care a a case of ick on my Regal in one day. And garlic is a big help to keep all fish healthy.

[naesco]

Follow the advice of Grizz, Aquatrro and Delphius.
The idea is to get as much garlic into the Butterfly as possible and the other fish. Feed very often and only garlic soaked food.
A product called Garlic Extreme works best and you can avoid the fuss and smell of fresh garlic if you choose.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by naesco

Follow the advice of Grizz, Aquatrro and Delphius.
The idea is to get as much garlic into the Butterfly as possible and the other fish. Feed very often and only garlic soaked food.
A product called Garlic Extreme works best and you can avoid the fuss and smell of fresh garlic if you choose.

cant argue with this

[George]

Originally Posted by George

I don't think cleaner shrimps or cleaner wrasses can do anything to ich. They mainly pick up dead skin or left over food in the mouth of a fish.
Garlic may or may not help.
Sometime people reported that they added this and that and the ich went away. Well, ich just doesn't simply go away. Most likely they are still attaching to some fish but just don't cause an outbreak yet.
If you don't want to set up a hospital tank, then avoiding any stress on the fish is the best option. Feed it well, no aggressive fish. Stable parameters. Hopefully the fish can fight off the outbreak.

Originally Posted by The Grizz

I beg to differ with you there, my cleaner wrasse took care a a case of ick on my Regal in one day. And garlic is a big help to keep all fish healthy.

Well..the life cycle of marine ich is very well studied and understood. There are 3 stages to it, the first stage it bores under the skin or gills of a fish. The second stage it falls off the fish and turns into a cyst. The third stage it breaks out of the cyst and becomes a free swiming parasite. If it can't find a host in the 3rd stage within a few days, it dies.
In the first 2 stages, no current medicine can kill it because it is well protected. That's why I believe cleaner shrimps or clean wrasses can't do a damn thing about it either when ich is in those stages. They can't do anything about free swimming ich either.
If sign of ich goes away without using any medicine, kudos to you for keeping the fish stress free and avoiding another outbreak.

[ScubaSteve]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll give it all a try. George, you are correct about the life cycle of ich. Other than treating the entire tank the only I can do is just keep the fish healthy to fight it and prevent it from getting a foot hold. If the cleaners can remove the parasite before it burrows and the garlic can help prevent it from sticking around it may be possible to starve it out.

The tank is pretty low stress as only chilled out fish are allowed. There is only a mandarin (chill), goby (chill) and a blenny (a little yellow Buddha reincarnate). Whether or not the fish likes his new digs remains to be seen.