Over feeding to help with ich

[Shobloth]

I keep hearing about people over feeding while there's ich present to help the fish recover, does anyone know if there's conclusive evidence that this helps?

 

[thegrun]

Absolutely not! There is no known silver bullet when it come to treating ich, copper, tank transfers or hypo salinity are your only proven cures.

 

[HumbleFish]

Overfeeding is done in an attempt to bolster a fish's immune system to withstand attacking parasites. I've never understood this strategy, because on the flip side water quality must get degraded from all that food. A better strategy would be to feed the normal amount, but ensure the food is nutritious (ex. nori, PE mysis which is high in protein) or soak the fish food in vitamin supplements. But as thegrun pointed out, treating with one of the proven methods is the only way to really solve the problem. Everything else is just managing it.

 

[snorvich]

Absolutely not! There is no known silver bullet when it come to treating ich, copper, tank transfers or hypo salinity are your only proven cures.

This.

 

[Paul B]

It is extremely hard to get those tiny ich parasites to overeat. I guess a really small funnel would do it. :wavehand:

 

[ca1ore]

If by 'over-feeding' you mean keeping the fish well fed, then, yes, it is a worthwhile goal regardless of the specific reason. A healthy fish population (not just feeding, but space, tank-mates, etc.) will be better able to withstand disease; things like fin rot, lympho, HLLE, etc. Whether healthy fish are better able to resist a parasite like ich is less clear. My experience is that an aggressive strain of ich will burrow into a healthy fish just as effectively as it will into a less healthy fish.