Ich
I wouldn't waste time and money on cleaner shrimp, garlic, and other supposed cures. Cleaner shrimp are not guarenteed to clean the Ich, and can be a real nuisance when trying to target feed. Moreover, buying a cleanr shrimp ignores the underlying problem, in that the fish has Ich for a reason.
There are only two approaches to dealing with Ich as Jim mentioned. One approach is to simply eradicate Ich from your system, just as Smallpox was eradicated from humanity. Your fish can't catch the disease if it does not exist in your system. The other approach is to manage Ich within your system. The disease can be present, but the fish do not succumb to it. On a daily basis, we come in contact with all sorts of horrible bacteria and diseases, yet we don't get sick. When healthy, our immune system readily handles these diseases. But when someone is immunocompromised, diseases that they normally would handle readily can become infectious. The same is true for your fish and Ich.
One option you have is to eradicate Ich from your system. This would involve removing all your fish and placing them in a separate treatment tank. In the treatment tank, you would go through a hyposalinity process for 6-8 weeks. Meanwhile, in your main tank, the Ich would be unable to complete its life cycle and be eradicated without a fish host. This is very difficult, since first, you need to set up and cycle a separate tank for treating the Ich. Then, once the fish are introduced, everything added to the system, every frag, rock, sand, and invert, as well as every fish, must be quarentined. The fish can go in the hospital tank for 6-8 weeks. The problem is, with fish in your main tank, the frags and inverts must go in a separate system of normal salinity for 6-8 week so any Ich parasites can complete their life cycle and die without a host. This is all a major undertaking.
The other option you have is to manage Ich within your system. When you see an outbreak, you need to ask yourself why your fish has Ich. In my opinion, fish usually succumb to Ich when they are immunocompromised, which for them, happens with stress and malnutrition, the same as with humans. Check to make sure your parameters and husbandry are optimal. Check that nitrate and phosphate are low, that you are using RO/DI water, and that the conditions in your tank are not too crowded. Also check that the fish are receiving a balanced diet. When you are in the option of managing ICh in your system (as I am), a spot here or there is nothing for alarm, as long as they clear up right away and are located on the dital parts of the fins, and come no more often than every few weeks at most. Ich can be the canary in the coal mine, so to speak. It can be an important warning sign that something in your system is not right.
I hope this helps. Let's go Red Sox.
Matt
