I'm Ichy and i know it!!

[Gogol_frag]

Putting this out there in the hope that it helps a fellow reefer ... spoiler alert, this is a happy story.



I have 4 Watanabei Angel fishes ... three tiny females (between 2.5 - 3 inches) and a large adult male (6 inches) that got introduced to my reef 1 week prior. One of the females carried a minor injury, from which it developed ich, and like wildfire it spread to all 4 of them with cases ranging from Mild to Alarming. This was last night.



Having noticed this, I aggressively fed them blackworms - made sure they ate 1.5 store-bought cups full in less than 12 hours (fed them hourly until they said "No mas"!!) and dosed Brightwell Coral Amino, This morning, white-spots all but dissapeared. I will keep monitoring the situation while carrying on with my "treatment" and let you know when it completely goes away. At this rate it will likely be by tonight.



Disclaimer: Due to my ineptness with medication, I have a Patch-Adams disposition to fish diseases. Sometimes the disease is too vile to bring back fishes, but for 100% of the cases of ich that have broken out with my tangs and other fishes, good nutrition and a clean a healthy reef has been able to help me stave off inhabitant losses. I have had multiple similar happy experiences of being able to fight-off bacterial infections, injuries from fishy-skirmishes, loss of apetite etc - where focussing on nutrition and water-quality as opposed to medication has resulted in a surprisingly quick turnaround. I also feed my reef live phyto and brine shrimps, so likely the sand bed has organisms that debilitate the protozoa once it falls of the fish. Lastly, i also have an overpowered 40W AquaUV sterilizer that i am sure also helps matters.



I am quite hesitant with medications, unless professionals administer it, and am truly happy that it seems like i have found an alternate way that works really well for my reef. I hope some others read this, prior to further stressing out diseased fish with medications and QT. Some diseases are really bad - and will likely not be cured with such Cumbaya-esque treatment. But for 99% of the fish diseases that i have encountered, the diseased fish is just crying out to be fed and fattened up!!



Happy Labor Day, reef-fam!

 

[Gogol_frag]

Putting this out there in the hope that it helps a fellow reefer ... spoiler alert, this is a happy story.



I have 4 Watanabei Angel fishes ... three tiny females (between 2.5 - 3 inches) and a large adult male (6 inches) that got introduced to my reef 1 week prior. One of the females carried a minor injury, from which it developed ich, and like wildfire it spread to all 4 of them with cases ranging from Mild to Alarming. This was last night.



Having noticed this, I aggressively fed them blackworms - made sure they ate 1.5 store-bought cups full in less than 12 hours (fed them hourly until they said "No mas"!!) and dosed Brightwell Coral Amino, This morning, white-spots all but dissapeared. I will keep monitoring the situation while carrying on with my "treatment" and let you know when it completely goes away. At this rate it will likely be by tonight.



Disclaimer: Due to my ineptness with medication, I have a Patch-Adams disposition to fish diseases. Sometimes the disease is too vile to bring back fishes, but for 100% of the cases of ich that have broken out with my tangs and other fishes, good nutrition and a clean a healthy reef has been able to help me stave off inhabitant losses. I have had multiple similar happy experiences of being able to fight-off bacterial infections, injuries from fishy-skirmishes, loss of apetite etc - where focussing on nutrition and water-quality as opposed to medication has resulted in a surprisingly quick turnaround. I also feed my reef live phyto and brine shrimps, so likely the sand bed has organisms that debilitate the protozoa once it falls of the fish. Lastly, i also have an overpowered 40W AquaUV sterilizer that i am sure also helps matters.



I am quite hesitant with medications, unless professionals administer it, and am truly happy that it seems like i have found an alternate way that works really well for my reef. I hope some others read this, prior to further stressing out diseased fish with medications and QT. Some diseases are really bad - and will likely not be cured with such Cumbaya-esque treatment. But for 99% of the fish diseases that i have encountered, the diseased fish is just crying out to be fed and fattened up!!



Happy Labor Day, reef-fam!

Update - the white spots have been eradicated, for now - So, 14 hours from start to finish from observing white-spots. Now onto the next phase.

1. Keep an eagle-eye for remission of ich.

2. Ensure that I always have enough blackworms and Coral Amino to treat any diseased fish.

3. Restart my white-worm culture - and hope and pray that they are as effective and attractive to my fishes as the blackworms.

4. Transition to a primarily worm-based diet for my fishes.

#3 is just me being cheap ... blackworms perfectly work for the purpose, so if you can do it, may be dont rock the boat. I have 15 fishes and plan to tap-out around 20-21 (after a couple more tangs and 4 more Bimac Anthias). So, I am looking at 3 cups of blackworms per day for my current fishes and 4 cups per day over the when i have 20-21 hungry mouths. From my past experiences, white worms are much more cost effective than blackworms and wayyyy easier to propagate.

 

[Uncle99]

Maybe the ich just fell off as a normal part of their cycle.
How did you rid the DT of the parasite.
While I certainly agree that feeding is crucial, how did it end the cycle.
Maybe I just misunderstood.

 

[Gogol_frag]

Good question Uncle99.

Having an active and well-fed sand-bed (through live plankton feeding), and an overpowered UV decreases the chances of the parasites' long-term survival in DT. As I mentioned, I have treated ich/wounds/bacteria infection due to newby-introduction a coupla times now, and have seen 100% successes by relying solely on nutition. However, my reef is young, the oldest fish having spent 2 years in my reef. I am trying to emulate @Paul B in this matter who has had a multi-decade success with live-feed immunuty-boosting.

My general thought process is a preference on boosting inhabitant-immunity as opposed to maintaining a sterile system - sorta like the dicotomy between the lockdown and the vaccine.

Through myriad processes, such as inverts etc. that we can't treat with medications, we will always run the risk of introducing pathogens. Having immunity-boosted inhabitants means that the parasites will find it more difficult to attack, and even if they do, the inahbitants will likely be able to fight it off. I know there is a downside-risk to the nutrition-route. But am willing to wager that the risk is lower than medications and QT, at my nonprofessional hands.