How do you prevent diseases like ich?

J

jesses89

Guest
to all you pros that have 100... 200... 120 ... 90... 75.... etc gallon tanks.. i know it would be devastating getting ich in your tank... because if one gets it most often then not ALL of the fish in your tank are bound to get it? No?... just wanted to ask... how do you do it? How do you prevent a disease like ich? What are your methods?
Help us little people.
tell us your secrets
 
bracebldrs

bracebldrs

Member
im far from a pro ,but i learned my lesson to. qt to protect mt
yea it sucks to go out and spend $50 on a fish to then take it home
to put it in a corner for a week or two but it worth it in the long run
also a good diet for fish, real garilc extract soaked in frozen foods help.
and vitamin sups. beth has exellent article under deseased fish .i praise my cleaner shrimp
every once and a while i catch him cleaning parasites off fish .thats cool.
a stress free envirement is also imp.keep an eye on fish bothering others.
aquascape your tank for the fish, not you.give them places to hide.
 
hatessushi

hatessushi

Active Member
Originally Posted by bracebldrs
im far from a pro ,but i learned my lesson to. qt to protect mt
yea it sucks to go out and spend $50 on a fish to then take it home
to put it in a corner for a week or two but it worth it in the long run
also a good diet for fish, real garilc extract soaked in frozen foods help.
and vitamin sups. beth has exellent article under deseased fish .i praise my cleaner shrimp
every once and a while i catch him cleaning parasites off fish .thats cool.
a stress free envirement is also imp.keep an eye on fish bothering others.
aquascape your tank for the fish, not you.give them places to hide.
Agree, the most important thing to prevent ich is provide a stress free environment, feed real nourishment to keep fish healthy also keep water parameters as close to pristine as possible which is part of providing stressless environment
 
bsd230

bsd230

Member
Quarantine any fish at the first sign. If you DON'T have inverts and corals you can treat the tank with copper at the first sign. What causes ich in a lot of fish is temperature change, stress from shipping or fighting. Almost all fish have ich, but if they are not stressed it is not able to take hold. I had a problem with it and found out it was being caused by temperature change in my tank. I had about a 4 degrees change from evening to morning. Added a larger heater reduced the temp swing down to about 1-2 degrees and the problem went away. I have also had it caused by fish fighting. Had false percs and tomatos clowns that fought constantly, two ended up dying from ich. One thing that has helped is the fish store that I buy from treats their tanks with copper. Since they started treating I haven't had a fish come down with it from moving to a new tank since.
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Originally Posted by bsd230
Quarantine any fish at the first sign. If you DON'T have inverts and corals you can treat the tank with copper at the first sign. What causes ich in a lot of fish is temperature change, stress from shipping or fighting. Almost all fish have ich, but if they are not stressed it is not able to take hold. I had a problem with it and found out it was being caused by temperature change in my tank. I had about a 4 degrees change from evening to morning. Added a larger heater reduced the temp swing down to about 1-2 degrees and the problem went away. I have also had it caused by fish fighting. Had false percs and tomatos clowns that fought constantly, two ended up dying from ich. One thing that has helped is the fish store that I buy from treats their tanks with copper. Since they started treating I haven't had a fish come down with it from moving to a new tank since.
I disagree with much of this.
By QTing at "the first sign" you've already introduced the parasite/disease into the tank...
Copper is bad... Copper can stay in a tank forever. That means you may NEVER be able to keep inverts or corals in the tank. I've read some theories that the copper can even be absorbed in the silicone sealant of glass tanks and leech out later killing everything.
Almost all fish do not have ich. Ich is a parasite. It has a life cycle that includes a free swimming stage. Stressed fish can be immuno-suppressed and might get sick faster, but unstressed fish can get ich. As I posted in a different thread, Ich isn't a disease it's a parasite. It can't magically appear in a tank.
 
azfishgal

azfishgal

Active Member
QUARANTINE QUARANTINE QUARANTINE!!!!!
I've had freshwater tanks for over 3 years and never had a problem until I brought home two clown loaches. I'm now at the end of my Ich treatment for my tank (10-14 days), but unfortunatley my clowns did not make it.
And I almost lost my Pleco that I've had for three years. I was really scared about that one, but luckily he seems to be recovering and I have not seen any white spots for 4 days, but will still be treating the tank for another 5 days. The thing is Ich, and other diseases can hide in the gills and you won't know the fish is sick until it's to late. I will NEVER stick a new fish in my tank again until it's been quarantined for 4 weeks. Some might think that's over kill, but I don't care, Ich is horrible and I hope I never run into it again.
Oh, did I say to quarantine!
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
Originally Posted by bracebldrs
im far from a pro ,but i learned my lesson to. qt to protect mt
yea it sucks to go out and spend $50 on a fish to then take it home
to put it in a corner for a week or two but it worth it in the long run
also a good diet for fish, real garilc extract soaked in frozen foods help.
and vitamin sups. beth has exellent article under deseased fish .i praise my cleaner shrimp
every once and a while i catch him cleaning parasites off fish .thats cool.
a stress free envirement is also imp.keep an eye on fish bothering others.
aquascape your tank for the fish, not you.give them places to hide.

quarantine for 3-4 weeks, not a week or two.
 
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