Ich management/treatment idea. Input?

[Holy_makerel]

I've been kicking this idea around in my head for a few weeks and since i don't have the resources to research it i thought I'd throw it out onto the interwebs.

This wouldn't be a treatment as much as a strategy to reduce ich populations.

The idea is to make a sticky pad that would be suspended in the tank. The pad mimics the skin/slimecoat of fish and attracts ich cysts to attach to it. Once attached they wouldn't be able to detach and finish their life cycle. Remove pad after a few days and replace with another.

While not a "cure" i could see this helping with survivability and a way to help control the outbreak to non lethal levels.

Thoughts?

 

[Gweeds1980]

I for one have no idea what it is that attracts ich to a fish, as opposed to anything else, but I'd be pretty certain it isn't because it looks and feels like a fish...

I'm guessing it's a chemical / hormone type response so unlikely we would be able to mimic that.

In any case, we already have a great way if dealing with ich... quarantine.

Sorry, don't want to sound disparaging, but I think if something as simple as this would work, it would already have been invented...

Now if you can find a reef safe way of eradicating all traces of ich, that would be exciting

 

[Empress]

You would need an awful lot of sticky notes! But if you could get some cysts to cling to them you can look at them under a microscope. That would be cool.

 

[Holy_makerel]

I for one have no idea what it is that attracts ich to a fish, as opposed to anything else, but I'd be pretty certain it isn't because it looks and feels like a fish...

I'm guessing it's a chemical / hormone type response so unlikely we would be able to mimic that.

In any case, we already have a great way if dealing with ich... quarantine.

Sorry, don't want to sound disparaging, but I think if something as simple as this would work, it would already have been invented...

Now if you can find a reef safe way of eradicating all traces of ich, that would be exciting

Agree with QT. Just an idea that has been rolling around in my head

 

[Paul B]

That is an interesting idea, like those sticky fly papers. Technology is not there yet but it is interesting.
I just keep my fish immune and I don't care what the ich does or what they watch in TV.

 

[aykwm]

Definetly more research is needed in this idea, but i dont think any parasites will host it as they get attracted to a fish for reasons.

There are other strategies that I can think off that perform the same and are available like UV and ozone, they will reduce the amount of free swimming parasites in water but treatment is the best solution.

 

[Brew12]

A study was done on this for Ich (not cryptocaryon irritans) but I would imagine it is similar.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10622630

 

[Holy_makerel]

A study was done on this for Ich (not cryptocaryon irritans) but I would imagine it is similar.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10622630

Thanks for posting that up. Really interesting

 

[Empress]

It sounds like they're attracted to amino acids on the skin. So what would happen if we were to add an amino acid to a trap of some sort? Similar to a bee trap??

And I've always wondered if ich likes garlic? Dosing garlic would be disastrous though for many different reasons. Don't mind me, I'm just talking to myself. My gears are turning. [emoji23]

 

[bellasdad0911]

I for one feed my hippo tang minced garlic weekly. I rescued a hippo that had a major break out and was in bad shape. I raised my temp 81 degrees soaked food in garlic guard and selcon, plenty of feeding and straight minced garlic and I have seen a trace in 2 months and the tang looks amazing. The theory is the parasite does not like the garlic enzymes which act as an antibiotic do not like the secretions and will not attach. Eventually they die off with no host. Plenty of water changes and I also use a small uv in my sump running 24/7. Works for me

 

[4FordFamily]

I for one feed my hippo tang minced garlic weekly. I rescued a hippo that had a major break out and was in bad shape. I raised my temp 81 degrees soaked food in garlic guard and selcon, plenty of feeding and straight minced garlic and I have seen a trace in 2 months and the tang looks amazing. The theory is the parasite does not like the garlic enzymes which act as an antibiotic do not like the secretions and will not attach. Eventually they die off with no host. Plenty of water changes and I also use a small uv in my sump running 24/7. Works for me

Your fish built a natural resistance to ich, garlic played little to no role in this. Glad your fish is doing well, though!

 

[Empress]

Like I swear I'm immune to caffeine. I drink so much coffee I don't get a buzz anymore! I guess I've built up a tolerance.