• ach, ICH!

    From Brian@1:278/230 to All on Monday, January 26, 2004 06:27:00
    For the first time since I started keeping fish again, after five years,
    I have ich! Having had healthy tanks all this time, I'm at a bit of a
    loss. Is it normal to have only some fish in a tank infected with ich?
    My three lemon tetras, the oldest fish in the tank, are covered with
    white spots, but the diamond tetras aren't. I've added a heater, changed
    some water, cleaned the filter, and started dosing with ich guard.

    As a related question, is it possible to have a fish tank and not have
    ich at all for a long, long time (until adding one fish from an infected tank)?

    B

    --
    Brian Heller

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  • From Tedd Jacobs@1:278/230 to All on Monday, January 26, 2004 06:27:00
    "Brian" wrote...

    <snip>

    As a related question, is it possible to have a fish tank and not have
    ich at all for a long, long time (until adding one fish from an infected tank)?

    if i remember right, there was a discussion on here about a year ago regarding ich and if it is ever fully eradicated from a tank. it seems the outcome was 50/50 with some believing that it was possible to fully eradicate ich from a tank, and others believing it was not possible to fully eradicate ich from a tank, only to reduce the outbreaks of it.

    the first group says that you can have a clean (ich free) tank, but if you introduce a new fish without quarantining first, it may be infected and could in
    return infect your whole tank.

    the second group says that ich is always present in your tank. (as to whether it's presence was free floating or dormant i cant remember). and that if conditions became bad enough that the fish's immune system was reduced low enough it would become possible for the ich to gain a foothold in some fish and possibly lead to a new outbreak. (i think someone actually brought in a reference article for this, but honestly, i cant fully remember.)

    i realize this doesnt answer your question, but just as food for thought and maybe someone will hopefully remember this and help out.

    tedd.
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  • From Dick@1:278/230 to All on Monday, January 26, 2004 06:47:00
    On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 03:09:27 GMT, Brian <bsheller@comcast.net> wrote:

    For the first time since I started keeping fish again, after five years,
    I have ich! Having had healthy tanks all this time, I'm at a bit of a
    loss. Is it normal to have only some fish in a tank infected with ich?
    My three lemon tetras, the oldest fish in the tank, are covered with
    white spots, but the diamond tetras aren't. I've added a heater, changed >some water, cleaned the filter, and started dosing with ich guard.

    As a related question, is it possible to have a fish tank and not have
    ich at all for a long, long time (until adding one fish from an infected >tank)?

    B


    I battled Ich in my 75 gallon tank. It is a lot of water and a lot of
    fish to treat. Removing infected fish to a smaller quarantine tank is
    much easier.

    Ich seems to effect some species more than others. Clown Loaches and
    Mollies seem more sensitive. I got 7 Clown Loaches through the
    internet. They all had Ich when they arrived. Not having another
    tank at the time, I treated the 75 gallons. I wasn't getting any
    success on 5 of the 7. The other two looked bigger and better color.
    I also noticed the Ich had not spread to the other 65 fish in the
    tank. So, I removed the 5, stopped the treatment and let the tank
    come back to health. (I was seeing stress in the fish and live
    plants) The two made it and none of my other fish were taken.

    I use Rid Ich Plus. It worked well for me the first time, but not on
    the Loaches. It is useable where the fish are scaleless. A
    quarantine tank does have the advantage of limiting the kind of fish
    and thus increasing the treatments possible.


    From what I have read, Ich is always present waiting for poor fish
    health to attack.
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  • From Geezer From Freezer@1:278/230 to All on Monday, January 26, 2004 10:38:00
    If the ich outbreak is bad, move all fish temporarily out if possible,
    remove all water from tank, remove filters and put very hot water into tank and stand
    (or bleach if possible - need everything out for this!!)

    discard filter media and wash filters in hot water, replace with new filter media and
    re-cycle (with Bio-Spira to kick start). Move fishies back when recovered (usually 30 days)

    If ich outbreak is not bad, then whack temp up a little, add salt, turn lights off and cover.

    That is what I've read anyway!
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  • From Tedd Jacobs@1:278/230 to All on Monday, January 26, 2004 20:43:00
    "Geezer From Freezer" wrote...

    If ich outbreak is not bad, then whack temp up a little, add salt, turn
    lights
    off and cover.

    That is what I've read anyway!

    i've heard of the temp and salt thing, but never the lights and cover thing. sounds interesting enough to try if the opportunity ever presents itself though.
    would you happen to remember where you read that?
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  • From Coelacanth@1:278/230 to All on Monday, January 26, 2004 20:43:00
    "Tedd Jacobs" <Jacobs@mail.boisestate.edu> wrote in message news:3igRb.68$pd1.48957@news.uswest.net...

    "Geezer From Freezer" wrote...

    If ich outbreak is not bad, then whack temp up a little, add salt, turn
    lights
    off and cover.

    That is what I've read anyway!

    i've heard of the temp and salt thing, but never the lights and cover
    thing.
    sounds interesting enough to try if the opportunity ever presents itself
    though.
    would you happen to remember where you read that?

    Blocking light will help with Velvet, which is photosynthetic.
    Maybe it's just a good idea to do with all "spotty" diseases since
    it can be difficult to tell ich from velvet (larger whiter spots vs
    smaller yellower spots)?

    -coelacanth
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  • From Dick@1:278/230 to All on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 10:51:00
    On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 11:26:50 +0000, Geezer From Freezer
    <Geezer@Freezer.com> wrote:

    If the ich outbreak is bad, move all fish temporarily out if possible,
    remove all water from tank, remove filters and put very hot water into tank and
    stand
    (or bleach if possible - need everything out for this!!)

    discard filter media and wash filters in hot water, replace with new filter >media and
    re-cycle (with Bio-Spira to kick start). Move fishies back when recovered >(usually 30 days)

    If ich outbreak is not bad, then whack temp up a little, add salt, turn lights >off and cover.

    That is what I've read anyway!


    I tried the cover and darkness treatment once. Didn't stop the Ich,
    but didn't seem to harm the fish or plants. I did learn to be less
    fearful about not feeding for a couple of days.
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  • From Keith J.@1:278/230 to All on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 11:04:00
    I also read that ich parasites need light to reproduce, in a book on
    crustacea at the local university library.

    At the time I was trying to spawn crayfish in captivity, which turns out to
    be easy in an outdoor pond, but nearly impossible indoors.

    The book title is "Crustacean Reproduction" and it's published by the University of Wisconsin Press. Sorry, but I don't recall the author's name.

    Keith J.

    "Tedd Jacobs" <Jacobs@mail.boisestate.edu> wrote in message news:3igRb.68$pd1.48957@news.uswest.net...

    "Geezer From Freezer" wrote...

    If ich outbreak is not bad, then whack temp up a little, add salt, turn
    lights
    off and cover.

    That is what I've read anyway!

    i've heard of the temp and salt thing, but never the lights and cover
    thing.
    sounds interesting enough to try if the opportunity ever presents itself
    though.
    would you happen to remember where you read that?


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  • From Iain Miller@1:278/230 to All on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 20:46:00
    "Geezer From Freezer" <Geezer@Freezer.com> wrote in message news:4014F97A.213D59C@Freezer.com...
    If the ich outbreak is bad, move all fish temporarily out if possible,
    remove all water from tank, remove filters and put very hot water into
    tank and
    stand
    (or bleach if possible - need everything out for this!!)

    discard filter media and wash filters in hot water, replace with new
    filter
    media and
    re-cycle (with Bio-Spira to kick start). Move fishies back when recovered (usually 30 days)

    If ich outbreak is not bad, then whack temp up a little, add salt, turn
    lights
    off and cover.

    That is what I've read anyway!

    Good grief (!) - a bit radical! I have always just used Waterlife Protazin
    for Ich, it never fails & I've never lost a fish to it.....

    I.
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  • From Brian@1:278/230 to All on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 20:46:00
    Update:

    I made sure that it was only the lemon tetras infected, and removed them
    to a quarantine tank (unfortunately, I have no heater for that tank, so
    they endured a 10-degree temperature drop). Still treating for ich, but
    now I'm seeing fin rot, too. Probably from the stress?

    B

    --
    Brian Heller

    It is easier to tame wild beasts
    than to conquer the human mind.
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  • From Dick@1:278/230 to All on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 10:25:00
    On Tue, 27 Jan 2004 15:19:45 +0000, Geezer From Freezer
    <Geezer@Freezer.com> wrote:



    Dick wrote:
    I tried the cover and darkness treatment once. Didn't stop the Ich,
    but didn't seem to harm the fish or plants. I did learn to be less
    fearful about not feeding for a couple of days.

    I've not fed my fish for 8 days and they've been fine. They ate algae and >diatoms
    and were still poohing!


    I am surprised and wouldn't have the guts to try to let them go so
    long. I do have a 4 inch black angelfish that seemed to not eat for
    30 days. I figure she must be eating something I didn't see. Then
    one day I popped in the flakes and she came up to the top and started
    eating like she hadn't eaten for days, which is true.
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