Ich Relief!!!!

[glasscoffin]

Like alot of Hippo owners, I've had an ongoing ich problem. I had tried just about everything from QT, to garlic (don't believe in external chems, nor am I willing to risk losing an entire tank to battle on pest). Even tried a cleaner shrimp, with no luck. Long story short, my wife brought home a new fish last week...A Cleaner Wrasse!!! Not only is it an attractive little fish, but within 2 hours my tang was Ich free, and has been ever since. I've never seen this solution in any of the Ich threads, hope it helps!

[Loverotties]

Welcome to TRT.They are a neat fish and the hawwiian one is even cooler looking!Glad it helped you out!

[Isda]

That's nice to know. But are cleaner wrasse ick resistant?

[Geoff]

Welcome to TRT!!



they are very good at eating parasites off of fish. the problem is that this is pretty much all they eat. once the parasites are gone than they tend to starve. some are lucky enough to get one that will eat prepared foods. people with very large tanks with large populations of fish can usually keep one cleaner wrasse without to much problem.

G~

[tdwyatt]

Geoff's comments strike to the heart of the matter when considering cleaner wrasses for ich control. If you have issues with ich, it might be best to buy a cleaner with the intention of sharing it with several other folks in your area, however, good luck on catching a cleaner wrasse in most reef systems...

[jeannewojo]

I just got ich (not me, myself, but my Yellow Tang & Royal Gramma.) I have a 55 gallon tank with about 50 assorted hermit crabs & snails. As far as fish I have only the Tang, Gramma, and a scooter blenny. I am wondering about suggested treatments. I don't think I have enough fish or space in the tank to support the wrasse you were talking about.

What I have done is a 10% water change, removed the Tang and gramma. Raised the main tank to 82 degrees. I set up a 10 gallon tank with just a sponge filter & heater set at 82 degrees using water from my main tank. The gramma and Tang are in there & I treated them with Coppersafe and Maroxy as was recommended by the folks at my pet store.

What I am wondering is how long should the tang & gramma remain out of the main tank, won't they get ich again once I put them back in, and is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening again?

Any thoughts/advice is apprecieted!

[Casey]

I would leave the tank fish empty for 6 weeks so the ich can die out then put the fish back in.

[tdwyatt]

Originally Posted by jeannewojo

I just got ich (not me, myself, but my Yellow Tang & Royal Gramma.) I have a 55 gallon tank with about 50 assorted hermit crabs & snails. As far as fish I have only the Tang, Gramma, and a scooter blenny.


What I am wondering is how long should the tang & gramma remain out of the main tank, won't they get ich again once I put them back in, and is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening again?

The Tang, especially if a large one, is the primary culprit in the tank at 50 gallons. If there is rock in this small a tank, the fish will be a little too close to others for comfort. Look for a 75g system and use the 50 as a sump, that will resolve your ich problem.