ICH Question

[dubbin1]

Just wanted to know what is the cause of ICH and how can it be avoided. I'm just not understanding how a healthy fish can get ICH without a diseased fish in with it:notsure:

 

[elfdoctors]

Saltwater ich is caused by a parasite, Cryptocaryon irritans. There is a waterborne phase but usually has to be brought in by another fish.
A healthy fish should not be able to get ich if nothing else has been added to the tank within the past month.
Freshwater ich often quietly coexists in an aquarium and then comes and causes disease only after the fish is stressed from something else.
The best way to avoid ich is to quarantine all new arrivals for at least 3 weeks.

 

[dubbin1]

So if I quarantine my new fish 3 weeks and no ICH shows up then that means that they dont have ICH?

 

[dubbin1]

I forgot to ask something. If one fish in the tank gets ICH then all the fish should be put in the QT tank, right?

 

[elfdoctors]

:yes:

 

[dankell]

well, this is my opinion, i have been taught that all fish have ich, its just getting it out of them is the problem, stress-poor water cond.- other fish with present ich on them, ect. i had purhcased a blue hippo tang which i later learned is very succ to ich (ich magnet) and it wound up infesting all my fish, lost all but 1 in a 125 tank, long story short, i had to start treating the water and water changing , all the methods you could try and meds available, really didnt completely get rid of it, What did work is Copper...yes copper , maintaining a 0.15 - 0.20 for 14 days killed off everything, and i also use a uv sterilizer , keep in mind, copper will kill all live rock corals and things like that, copper is ment for a fish only tank !!! and all is well now, im so happy....

 

[elfdoctors]

Originally posted by dankell
all fish have ich, its just getting it out of them is the problem, stress-poor water cond.- other fish with present ich on them, ect.
This is Not true for Saltwater ich. It is sometimes true for Freshwater ich. They are completely different diseases.
i had to start treating the water and water changing , all the methods you could try and meds available, really didnt completely get rid of it, What did work is Copper...
The only consistently reliable treatments for SW ich are hyposalinity and copper. Copper will work but it puts more stress on the fish than hyposalinity as it is often toxic. It also permanently binds to substrate and live rock (which can prevent you from ever having invertebrates in your tank).
Once ich is eradicated it has to be introduced into the tank. You should set up a QT so that you never have to worry about another ich infestation.

 

[dankell]

ask your local fish supplier, fish stores, they all keep a low level of copper in their tanks, so that they dont get ich, and we all know it causes harm to your live rock and sand and corals and inverts !! thats why i said FISH ONLY TANK !!