Cleaner fish

mccanei

Member
How affective are cleaner wrasse in treating ick? After a fish develops ick will it help to add a cleaner wrasse, or does it work better to prevent ick? Are there any cleaner fish large and hardy enough to add to live amongst 7" porcupine puffer and 4" clown trigger?
 

ophiura

Active Member
Originally Posted by mccanei
How affective are cleaner wrasse in treating ick? After a fish develops ick will it help to add a cleaner wrasse, or does it work better to prevent ick? Are there any cleaner fish large and hardy enough to add to live amongst 7" porcupine puffer and 4" clown trigger?

If you are having an ick outbreak, then a wrasse is not your solution. Y ou must find out what is going on. 1) wrasse have poor survival rates and 2) they can not beat out a severe outbreak of ick. If you have a problem in the tank, then you need to address the problem.
The only 100% proven treatments for ick are hyposalinity and copper.
What is going on in the tank?
How big is the tank?
Other inhabitants?
Water parameters (specific)
For example, I would first say that a clown trigger would be a possible source of stress in the tank and could be the culprit right there. So a complete review of the tank is the best treatment, not a cleaner wrasse.
 

mccanei

Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
If you are having an ick outbreak, then a wrasse is not your solution. Y ou must find out what is going on. 1) wrasse have poor survival rates and 2) they can not beat out a severe outbreak of ick. If you have a problem in the tank, then you need to address the problem.
The only 100% proven treatments for ick are hyposalinity and copper.
What is going on in the tank?
How big is the tank?
Other inhabitants?
Water parameters (specific)
For example, I would first say that a clown trigger would be a possible source of stress in the tank and could be the culprit right there. So a complete review of the tank is the best treatment, not a cleaner wrasse.

My problem is that I added to much fish at once and it sent my tank into a cycle. My ammonia shot up to .25. So my tank is cycling, fish got stressed and are infected with ick. Ph is 8.2. I ahve been unable to check nitrite because Iam out of tests. Na are 20. I want to let the tank cycle and simultaneously treat ick with freshwater dips unitl water is stable enough to treat tank. Do you think this is a good solution?
 

promisetbg

Active Member
You must set up a QT tank at least for the puffer. Puffers do not have scales and meds will kill them. I would not do FW dips...too stressfull and all that does is remove a few, once back in the tank..the fish now stressed even more and more slime coat lost will succomb to more of the parasites. A QT tank and doing hypo-salinity is your best option. Read up on it...there is a great article about it. A refractometer will be needed. The tank will have to be left without fish for 6 weeks for the ich to die off while you treat the fish with hypo.
 
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