Eels and Ich

[boalgf]

Can eels get ich?
I need to clear out my display tank for a month or so, all the fish are going in a 75 gal quarantine tank to get rid of the ich.
Can I leave my zebra eel in the display tank or is he a host for ich?

 

[boalgf]

any input?

 

[tthemadd1]

I have heard they are a host...

 

[fishieness]

i have heard they are not. Aparently ick needs scales to attach on to. and since eels dont realy have scales, that takes care of that. Also, eels have a thick layer of mucus and slime on them, much thicker and slicker than that of a fish. So the parasite is not able to attach once again. This is what i have heard, i had ickin my tank and my snowflake didnt get it. But if they are under a lot of stress...like a realy lot... then their slime coat will depleat, jsut like a fish, so it may be possible then.
any other experiences?

 

[boalgf]

Do you think then, that it would be ok to leave the eel in the display tank? I want to leave it empty of fish long enough for the ich to die. How long does it take ich in a display tank to die?

 

[fishieness]

different people will tell you different things. But IMO, 3-4 weeks for ick to die. Of course, longer will not be bad, that is if you have a tank that you can put all the other fish in that is large enough so they do not get stressed out. If you leave him in the tank, he will not get ick, but the reason why fish get ick in the first place is because of poor water conditions. So if you want to move him out anyways to give him better water quality until yours clears up, then that owuld be a good thing.

 

[tome]

Eels can not get ich, because of the mucus on there body. Also if you do put copper in the tank the eel won't die. I use copper safe and have a green moray eel and he is fine. Good luck with the ich

 

[fishieness]

the eel will not. But any inverts like sanils that are in there now or even will be there in the future, will. I dont recomend using anything with copper or fermaldihyde (wow is that spelled wrong). Not only will it kill inverts, but it will hurt your biological filtration on your live sand and live rock. Id suggest, if you do not take your fish out of the display and plan on using treatments, to use kick-ick or prevent ick. But with a tank of your size, it will cost a pretty good amount of money. So taking your fish out into a smaller tank and treating them there would probably be best IMO.