Ich!!!! Help

Do it right...go with the quarantine. However, a 20g is not sufficient for all those fish together.

In-tank treatments just reduce outbreaks and help control infestations. Out-of-tank treatments can eliminate the problem. Do you want to control the problem and deal with this as it crops back up, or do you want to never deal with this again?

Aloha Dan,

So sorry to read about your infested Moorish Idol. They are awesome fish.

By far the easiest thing to do immediately, if you haven't already started, is to feed Garlic Oil(GO). Better than 75% of the time, this helps clear the fish of Ich. It can't hurt. Here is the link on what GO from the grocery store works best and how to use it.

(not sure why the change in font size, sorry)

Best of luck with your MI. They were the first fish I saw and photographed when we first arrived in Hawaii back in 2010.

and a closer shot



Edited by Mark Peterson - May 11 2013 at 8:31am

Update well I found the idol dead
And the yellow and flame angel looks clean
Now is only the hippo with the spots I'm going to try feeding it foods with garlic so he can fight it off (again)

From what I know is that garlic helps their immune system so they can fight off infections and such. Also it stimulates them to eat.

Yeah I feed them at least 3 times a day. I have a pair of cleaner shrimps but they hide a lot and also a cleaner wrasse which the tangs love to get clean by him

I just cleared up ich on my powder brown tank in less than a week with garlic extreme. I put 5 drops in the food at night and 8 drops on the nori. I also turned up the temp. to 78 for 4 days. good luck.

There is no need for scientific study?!?! Are you joking?

I think you're quite confused...so I'm going to try to be nice. Scientists do not design cars, nor do they repair them. So no, there was no need for your dad to be a scientist to work on a car. However, for your dad to design said car, your dad would've needed rigorous education (whether formal or informal) to understand thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, etc. Sure, an uneducated person could design a car based on copying other people's work...or just by trying a bunch of things...but I can guarantee you that it won't be something you'd want to drive.

Scientific studies come about by people having a hypothesis (e.g. that garlic oil treats ich) and then objectively rigorously testing that hypothesis (with no biases or preconceived conclusions.) They then analyze the data with statistical methods to ensure their small amount of data and conclusion can be applied to most cases. The work is then peer-reviewed.    

So, with the garlic oil and ich example, the scientists would've had to study probably several hundred fish with various species of ich. They performed gill biopsies and studied the ich response to garlic under a microscope. They observed the ich response and documented it. Other groups of scientists repeated the studies and reviewed the work to make sure it was sound research. From what all I've read, garlic oil isn't really effective. If you have some research showing otherwise, I'd love to see it.    

This is comparison to you...one person...dosing garlic oil and saying that 90% of the time it works. This is without documented testing. Without gill biopsies. Without noting if there are differences in reaction with different species of ich. Without applying this same treatment to several hundred fish across several different aquarists (remember, you need to take out the human variable in treatment. Just because it works for you does not mean the same treatment will work with other people applying it.)

I'm glad you have a firm belief in something and choose to follow it yourself. But, you cannot ETHICALLY recommend someone act in a known unproven method as a responsible reefkeeper. If the person had tried everything proven with no results or was acting as a researcher, then by all means...recommend unconventional treatments. But you are KNOWINGLY providing a false sense of hope. This blatant act of ignoring scientific evidence is what gives the hobby a bad name.   

Edited by ReefdUp - May 12 2013 at 10:06am

ReefdUp wrote: Just to clarify my position... A healthy environment is essential, and garlic has a lot of beneficial properties. Garlic in conjunction with a healthy environment and food may be an effective control (but what constitutes a "healthy environment" will differ from person to person and is not easily defined.) It may help with the fish's immune system, encourage it to eat, or may help mask the fish for future infestations. However, that's about the extent of its efficacy. It does not kill Cryptocaryon irritans (it does kill the freshwater species though, which is where a lot of misinformation originated.) My problem is with the statements that "Hobbyist anecdotal evidence is as valid as scientific evidence", "There is no need for scientific study" and labeling garlic as a "miracle".

+1

Hey guys, thought i'd throw my experience with ich in here too... Really, nothing works but 100% quarantine. I've had ich in my tank and have tried reef safe chemicals, garlic, UV, cleaners, just about everything. In the end, I've found that your fish can live with ich if you keep them healthy! Running a UV sterilizer will help keep the floating parasites to a minimum, garlic will help keep you fish healthy (but will not affect ich directly), and a cleaner shrimp helps keep the fish less irritated when it has it. DO NOT use the "reef safe" chemicals. Simply doesn't not work and has side effects that I cant really pinpoint.

If you do decide to do a quarantine, do the full procedure. Do not cut it short because they look healthy. This can only complicate matters further by creating resistant parasites. This goes for all things treatable in the world though.