who is a good fish for eating a parasite off a flame angel?

[cichlid666]

neon gobie? cleaner shrimp?

 

[arizona tech]

i got a flame angel and he and the cleaner shrimp are like best buddies, always cleaning him i have not seen any white spot,try the cleaner shrimp first plus they are a hoot to watch

 

[Jonny Bolt]

Ya, I had a Peppermint Shrimp and my Pygmy Angel absolutely loved it. We would stop in to see the Shrimp throughout the day for a little cleanin'. Too bad I decided to get a Valentini Puffer and a Dwarf Lion lol.

 

[cichlid666]

thanks for the input! sounds like the cleaner shrimp would be a great addition to my reef tank. sounds like a hoot to watch, i've seen pictures and almost cant believe it.Do these shrimp eat anything I might not want them to.... BTA, soft corals etc?

 

[Teremei]

The only thing they eat that you wouldn't want them to is OTHER FISHES FOOD and STEALING FOOD FROM THE CORALS!! These guys are pigs!! Atleast mine is. I have to hand feed him until he's full otherwise he will take food from ANYTHING!!

 

[kevin2000]

What kind of pararasite? Remember that biological controls like cleaner shrimp and cleaner fish are considered lousy methods for controlling ich and some other parasites.

 

[Teremei]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6671156#post6671156 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kevin2000
What kind of pararasite? Remember that biological controls like cleaner shrimp and cleaner fish are considered lousy methods for controlling ich and some other parasites.

Lousy by who? People who quarantine and haven't had long term success WITHOUT quarantine? I've had ich in my tank before, I have a cleaner shrimp and neon goby. No fish deaths related to parasites in over a year. I wouldn't use the word "lousy". .

 

[kevin2000]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6672786#post6672786 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Teremei
Lousy by who? People who quarantine and haven't had long term success WITHOUT quarantine? I've had ich in my tank before, I have a cleaner shrimp and neon goby. No fish deaths related to parasites in over a year. I wouldn't use the word "lousy". .

You may not like the word "lousy" .. however neither cleaner fish or shrimp are considered effective in eradicating ich. If you follow this forum on a regular basis you will see many threads where people lost all of their fish to ich while trying to treat with cleaner shrimp/fish. Use of biological controls has limited effect.

Here's a couple good links discussing ich ... might help

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/marineich.html
http://www.marineaquariumadvice.com/aquarium_fish_1.html

Here's a quote from one of the articles ... seems right on point.

Can cleaner wrasses control "Ich"?

Many aquarists regard common cleaner wrasses, Labroides dimidiatus, as effective agents for the control and treatment of marine "Ich". While this would be a desirable situation, it is unfortunately not true. Grutter (2000) showed that L. dimidiatus feeds mainly on the larvae of gnatid isopods throughout its life, and C. irritans theronts were never found in it's diet. Fish remain infected with theronts despite the presence of cleaner wrasse, and even the cleaner wrasse may become infected (personal observation).

Here's a quote from Terry Bartelme's 5 part ich series

Biological cleaners

Fish often succumb to cryptocaryonosis despite the presence of biological cleaners such as cleaner shrimp or cleaner wrasse. While cleaners will exhibit their instinctual "cleaning" behaviors, do not assume that they eat trophonts, or eat them in sufficient numbers to affect a cure. "Cleaner" species of fish are also subject to infection

Hope this helps.

 

[Teremei]

I find a good way to control Ich is to provide a healthy happy environment for your fish. I have read many threads where a person has killed their fish with a few spots of ich because they stress it out catching it and putting it in a 10 gallon tank that was not properly matched to main tank peramiters, putting the fish back in the tank, only to catch ich again, and die from all the stress of moving back and forth. When the fish could have survived if left alone.

I do not "prescribe" cleaner shrimp as a "medication" for ich. But nor do I judge people who have succsessfully used Quarantine fish to keep their tank healthy. I ask that you don't judge my healthy tank of one year, or judge my phylosophy. And that is. If your fish has 3 spots of ich, do not TEAR DOWN your tank trying to catch it and treat it. You are only stressing the fish out more.

Now like I have asked, how long have you successfully had a reef tank using MY methodology? Do not judge something just because you can not successfully use that method.

 

[Medicine Man]

I have 2 cleaner wrasses and they are wonderull fish! My tangs continually swim by them and turn on their sides to be cleaned. You can tell the cleaners are kind of sick of it. I don't think I would recommend buying one for the purpose of getting rid of ich but having them in a reef tank with fish cannot hurt for they are continually cleaning them. I also feed a mush of food mixed with garlic and echinacea just for health and improved immunity. Never had ich (knock on wood).