I'm an Idiot

[marie]

This is a Doofus, ich is very obvious on him

Ich is present in every tank that has not practiced rigorous quarantining. Everyone is agreed that ich needs fish to survive so if a tank has been fallow (no fish, nothing new added)) for at least 8 weeks then it would stand to reason the ich would die out. Then if every fish has gone through hyposalinity or copper treatment before being added to tank......where exactly could the ich come from? it doesn't manufacture itself from thin air/water
My tank has gone through that and for 5 1/2 yrs Doofus has never had a single white spot on him

Originally Posted by doch

First of all, I'm pretty sure that in my readings I had found that ich is present in every tank, but a healthy fish is able to fight them off. I'm going to have to agree with Marko (except for the gallon of ich in a tank part), but unfortunately I won't be able to back it up.

Second, what about a neon goby and/or cleaner wrase (preferably the goby as the wrasses don't have great track records)? Cleaner shrimp? My regal tang ends up with ich on occassion and when he's got it, he spends a lot of time with me neon goby... and then he's fine. Just a suggestion.

Also, out of curiosity, what kind of fish is Doofus?

[lastlight]

Few things I've read (don't know if they're true but hey I read them on the internet)

- Ich disappearing has nothing to do with it going away. Is no reason to really celebrate as it's just gone to a new stage in its life cycle

- cleaners and shrimp don't really do much for the ich itself (myth) besides itch the spot and pick off loose scales.