Cleaner shrimp and ick

[casey]

Will cleaner shrimps eat the ick off my fish?

 

[slick]

They should.

 

[gregzbobo]

They are known to do so, but if I were you, I'd not expect them to do so. You would probably be better off in attempting to catch all the fish in your tank and utilizing one of the ich treatments you can find described within this board. Even if the cleaner DOES get all the ich off, the life cycle of the parasite will not be broken. The tank has to be free of fish for a period of about 2-3 days I believe to break the life cycle of the ich parasite.

 

[yosemite sam]

My cleaner shrimp was trying to clean my fish during an outbreak, but one fish ended up dying anyway. I eventually took out all the fish and put them in a hospital tank. The sucess of the shrimp probably depends on how bad the infestation is and what size tank you have. If you have small tank with a bad outbreak, the shrimp probably won't be able to keep up.

 

[reef fool]

My cleaners picked ich off my tangs continuously. The tangs actually went to them for a cleaning. I had a swim through fish wash going under one of my rocks. They didn't cure the ich, a 30 watt UV and 10 days of Ich Attack did, but they get an "A" for effort! 6 weeks later and still ich free. Knock on wood!! Note: I did lose a pair of Bangii's and a gramma in the outbreak.

 

[jferrier]

I'm going to tend to disagree w/ the last post. Catching your fish and stressing them even more could cause a more severe outbreak of ick. I've had very good luck w/ cleaner shrimp and everyone I've purchased was always more than willing to pick off the ick. So much so I've sworn off owning any large fish w/ out my cleaners to keep them ick free. I'd try a couple of those before I tore the tank apart trying to catch the fish. You also might try feeding them a little more and using a good food supplement.
Just my opinion.

 

[j21kickster]

There is nothing wrong with catching a fish with ick and moving it into quarentine- That is one of the first things that should be done when the disease it first noticed. That is, if medication or hyposalinity can not be done in the display tank- It might stress them, yes, but they are being moved into an enviroment where the disease is going to be terminated- so your fish being overran with ich in a matter of moments before being medicated- wont happen

 

[azonic]

My cleaner won't touch a fish to clean it....He hangs from a rock in the back of the tank....comes out only when I feed the fish....kinda odd....my cleaner shrimps favorite meal is brine shrimp.

 

[causeidm]

IME, Most of the time an outbreak with ICK is usually caused from stressing out the fish in the first place and have given up trying medications. I have found after having a FO tank before I went reef that the best cure for ICK is good water quality and cleaner shrimp. I've come out of ICK outbreaks many times without loosing a single fish because of this.

 

[azonic]

I have to disagree that good water quality and a cleaner shrimp are the best cure for ich. Yes water quality is important, maybe the most important aspect of a fish tank but the best treatment for ich is hyposalinity. Having good water quality isn't a cure for ich...it helps prevent it sure but if a fish is stressed by something, it will get ich regardless of how good the water is...and there is no guarantee that a cleaner shrimp can keep up with a large outbreak..plus the cleaner only eats it when it is visible on the fish...it is still in the fishes bloodstream...it does not cure the disease.

 

[sebae0]

i cured ich in my tank with a cleaner wrasse, and havent had a outbreak since going on 2 years. the cleaner wrasse has even adapted to brine shrimp so i still have him to. i do beleive in severe outbreaks hypo is the best way to go but if you can get rid of it another way like cleaners it is probably less stressful. jmo

 

[causeidm]

I didn't mean that the good water quality would get rid of ICH, I just ment it probably would help ease the stress on the fish so that with the help of the cleaner shrimp it could pull through without using meds on your tank. This is just whats helped in my experience. No hard feelings for disagreeing

 

[herkemer]

We have two cleaner shrimp who are always looking for business but the fish don't go near them. Even when the tang had ich he didn't go to the cleaner shrimp to be cleaned.

 

[casey]

Thanks for all your help. I have tried to catch my powderblue tang but it is impossible it just hides in the rocks. How do I catch it.

 

[jferrier]

IT IS NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE TO ERRADICATE ICK! You would have to catch every fish in your tank and move them into quarantine, and for at least 30 days so the parasites in the tank will all completely starve out. And sure enough as soon as you introduce a new fish or even liverock from a tank w/ affected fish you'll be stuck w/ the same problem. Ich is almost always present. It may not always be a visible infestation on your fish but you can bet that its highly likely that it is there. Unless you have a good trap and a very non timid fish, catching it may be impossible w/out removing all the lr. Good water quality and proper feeding coupled w NATURAL ocean cleaners like shrimp or wrasses are your best bet.

 

[herkemer]

We are presently fighting an ich breakout. I moved one of our Perks to the quarentine tank because he is easy to catch and I left the rest of them in the reef. We are using a product called "Ich Kick" to help with the ich and are having good success with it. It seems to be helping the ich problem and not hurting anything in the tank. Good Luck

 

[j21kickster]

Jferrier- that is why you quarentine EVERYTHING from day one- in the 5 different tanks i have done and the ones i have now and dozens of fish- i have never had an ich outbreak- and ich can be wiped out- all fish must go into quarentine- without a host the ich dies; meanwhile your fish are being medicated and cured- Quarentine is the pest anwser here

 

[dpittman]

I am dealing with this same situation - I moved all my fish into quarantine - left the tank fishless for 35 days - meanwhile I used cupramine on the fish with great success. Moved the fish back home and all was well - however 3 months later I bought some turbo snails and a large BTA for my maroon clowns. And now the ich is back. No fish were introduced.
The only place it could have come from is the snails or the bubble-tip. So how do you quarantine a coral or an anemone? I doubt very few have metal halides over their quarantine tank. However after reducing my fish load I am starting to get hold of the ich. Some of the fish occasionally have a spot or two on there eyes but that is about it. However it is quite frustrating because it will leave their eyes slightly cloudy.
There is no way I am going to tear my tank apart and remove the fish again because I may just reintroduce it with my next purchase. So I am in the boat that it is almost always present - or very difficult to erradicate 100%. I can only hope that with good water conditions, no stress - read - low stocking levels, and decent diet they will beat it on their own.

 

[jferrier]

jkick,
So how do you catch all your fish w/out removing everything?
I just thought it would be easier to try the shrimp first? I've caught fish for ich quarentine before and it was a royal pain in the ass. Everything had to be taken out to catch them all, and for those of us w/ out 5 tanks to pile it all in its not an easy task. So you actually quarentine everything you purchase? What would you suggest someone w/ out a quarentine tank w/ equal lighting and capacity do when they buy new corals? Just trying to be practical.

 

[gregzbobo]

Traps, luck, creative partitioning with pieces of glass or acrylic. I've even heard of using fly-hooks with bait. But I imagine thats the absolute last resort.