Quick ich question

saltfish123

saltfish123

Member
I recently had a 30 gallon whith i got rid of for a 125 but the point is that there was a sarjent major who had an extremly bad case of ich, but within a week it was gone and no fish have ever had ich in that tank, occelaris clowns, eligibi angel and a bicolor pseud. How did none of these fish get ich. I was a new aquarist and i foolishly listened to my lfs and kept my salinity around 1.017 is this why the ich was never on my fish??
* never treated the sarjent major for his ich
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
If you never treated for the ich, there is a very good chance that the ich is still in the tank and is just dormant. If anything gets stressed out or if you fail to do some water changes, and the nitrate goes up, or the pH goes down, or something similiar, the ich very well may come back.
You need to take your specific gravity all the way down to 1.009 to kill ich and stop them from reproducing.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
If you never treated for the ich, there is a very good chance that the ich is still in the tank and is just dormant. If anything gets stressed out or if you fail to do some water changes, and the nitrate goes up, or the pH goes down, or something similiar, the ich very well may come back.
You need to take your specific gravity all the way down to 1.009 to kill ich and stop them from reproducing.
Yep
Make sure there are no inverts, live rock, etc. in the tank when you do it. If you don't treat it it will definately show up again.
 
92protruck

92protruck

Member
curious how ich goes dormant. I was always told and read that ich had a very specific life cycle consisting of I think three or four stages over a two week period of time. In what stage can the parasite go dormant? and how does it know when to come out of dormancy and resume the life cycle and attach to a stressed fish? how does water quality, pH and stress of fish effect ich? What if you are observing a new fish in QT for the prescribed 4 weeks but the ich is dormant? How would you know? I have a lot of re-learning to do because this throws a major curve into my QT procedure? Can ich be killed while dormant?
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
For the full life cycle of ich, please check out the "common treatments" FAQ at the top of the disease and treatment board. Beth explains all about ich's life cycle.
Water quality, ph, diet, etc. effect the fish. When their immune system is down they are unable to fight the parasite.
When observing a new fish in a qt it is imperative that you watch them closely. This is the time for observation. Use a magnifying glass. If you see no spots in 3-4 weeks, the fish is in the clear and safe to add to your display. If there are parasites on the fish you will see them. Ich does not die while it is dormant. Ich hosts a fish, then drops off. While it is dormant it is reproducing internally. When the parasite releases it's young it dies (I believe it actually ruptures and the young are released) The young are now lookng for a host. This is when they are able to be killed. This is also why treatment takes so long. All ich do not drop off and go dormant all at the same time. It depends on what stage of the cycle the ich was in while introduced.
I hope I have answered your question. Check out Beth's post on ich. If you have more questions, plase submit a post so we can answer your questions seperately from saltfish123's
 
rafaelosuarez

rafaelosuarez

New Member
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
If you never treated for the ich, there is a very good chance that the ich is still in the tank and is just dormant. If anything gets stressed out or if you fail to do some water changes, and the nitrate goes up, or the pH goes down, or something similiar, the ich very well may come back.
You need to take your specific gravity all the way down to 1.009 to kill ich and stop them from reproducing.
Quick question;
I the gravity is put so low, wont this kill the fish? :notsure:
 
i<3tangs

i<3tangs

New Member
Nope, fish can be acclimated (over a 48hr period) down to low salt levels 1.009. Although, Iverts, corals, and most micros in your tank cannot.. Hypo should only be used when treating a fish, or to treat in QT before introducing them to your display, otherwise low salinity over prolonged periods can slowly pull color from the fish & drop their overall living quality.
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Originally Posted by I<3tangs
Nope, fish can be acclimated (over a 48hr period) down to low salt levels 1.009. Although, Iverts, corals, and most micros in your tank cannot.. Hypo should only be used when treating a fish, or to treat in QT before introducing them to your display, otherwise low salinity over prolonged periods can slowly pull color from the fish & drop their overall living quality.
I agree. Long term exposure (more than 8 weeks) can begin to start hurting the organs of the fish, but it is perfectly fine to rid the fish of ich. It is much safer than using copper.
 
rafaelosuarez

rafaelosuarez

New Member
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
I agree. Long term exposure (more than 8 weeks) can begin to start hurting the organs of the fish, but it is perfectly fine to rid the fish of ich. It is much safer than using copper.
Damsels 4 stripe, 2 dominos, 1 blue devil, lawnmower blennie, yellow watchman gobie, Yellow Tang, 10 blue leg hermit crabs, 2 peppermint shrimp. I use to have for a very little time 5 mexican turbo snails and 2 coneheads, because of the copper teatment they are gone.
I want to get ride of the blue devil because he is really a DEVIL...I am a newbbie and so far can say I want to have more experience. Great hobbie
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Originally Posted by rafaelosuarez
Damsels 4 stripe, 2 dominos, 1 blue devil, lawnmower blennie, yellow watchman gobie, Yellow Tang, 10 blue leg hermit crabs, 2 peppermint shrimp. I use to have for a very little time 5 mexican turbo snails and 2 coneheads, because of the copper teatment they are gone.
I want to get ride of the blue devil because he is really a DEVIL...I am a newbbie and so far can say I want to have more experience. Great hobbie

Please make new topics if you want to change the discussion and discuss your own tank and its problems. You cannot take over someone else's topic.
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Please do not be disrespectful without understanding the issue. People make new threads so that they can get the help that they need or the question that they have answered. By introducing new ideas and unrelated questions into the thread, the original question is lost, as members become distracted with the newer question.
It is perfectly fine to learn from other posts. If you see something that relates to the topic that is being discussed, post it in that thread. If not, and it spurs a new thought or question that is unrelated, post it in a new thread. You will get much more help, and the original poster will still get his question answered.
Thank you for your understanding.
 
golgi aparatus

golgi aparatus

Member
I have a quick question about treating for Ich with Hypo. I do not have the luxury of having a qt tank at this point in time and I have had some issues the past month with Ich. I had one puffer who suffered from a bad case and subsequently died. Now I have a Niger Trigger and a blue damsel in a 55g tank. The Niger Trigger has now developed Ich on his skin. My question is can I preform the Hypo treatment in my display tank seeing as how I dont have any inverts etc... Or am I better off treating with a copper based Ich treatment. I'm not sure if copper based treatments actually kill all of the Ich in the tank as well as on the fish.
Thanks for any advice.
Vitals:
Am- 0
Ni - 0
Na -5
Ph - 8.0
55gallon FO
 
golgi aparatus

golgi aparatus

Member
Thanks man.
Now 2 more quick questions:
1: How long to I have to have the salinity at 1.0009?
2: Will this kill the dormant Ich in the tank at the same time it kills the host Ich on the fish?
 
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