Is this ich and how can I help him?

[Newflee]

Justin,
I should say that my view on garlic use is anecdotal. I have had some success using it so far but I would not at this time claim that it "cures" parasite infestations. Used as a preventative in combination with quarantine may be the best way to use it. There are no solid scientific papers published on this so we are all being scientists when using it.
I personally think the theory of my last post is valid, but I don't think the use of oils is as good. I use fresh garlic chopped very fine with one of those hand operated "super chopper" things that you see on tv. Once the garlic is chopped fine, I mix it in with the feed whether it is fresh seafood or freshly thawed Hikari foods. I then feed. The fish generally eat both the tiny garlic pieces as well as the saturated seafood. My experience doing this has been in a 41000 gallon tank with hundreds of reef fish. In a population that large competition for food is more like nature and hardly anything that is ever put into that taak goes uneaten. If your fish are picky eaters you will want to be carefull about not fouling the tank with uneaten food.
To give you an idea of how much garlic is added to the large tank, the water actually has the smell of garlic. Garlic was first used in this tank due to the presence of sharks and inability to use chemical treatments. The garlic in my opinion has been effective as used. Untill a real study is done, we can only speculate if or why garlic is effective.
As far as nori goes, I have tried it and personally find that it is not worth the trouble. Most fish that I have kept would rather not eat it. Also if you are concerned about your tangs getting vegitable matter, most mature reef tanks have a wide variety of natural microalgae for them to pick at. Fish naturally pick at rocks and substrate for tiny food items constantly. They don't need the "Big meal" that a lot of people like to feed.
Anyway I don't want to get off topic.
The bottom line for me is:
-Use fressly chopped garlic
-Don't overfeed and perhaps the fish will eat the garlic itself
-try not to dilute the active compounds
-Don't ever add oils to a tank
-Always quarantine
-Document your results for future use


Lee