Can ich disappear on its own?

[Bikinibottom]

I just started over my blue tang Dori was the only survivor. I quarantined her. I gave my old tank to my parents after starting over. So now with my great new set up, new tank, new sump which has been set up over two monthes, my fish suddenly have ich. My newest addition a sailfin tang that just died two days after I purchased him may be the cause. What now? I soaked there food in garlic this morning. I'm tempted to do a fresh water dip if I can catch the guys. I can't catch the puffer with my hands and afraid he will puff up if I try to catch him with a net. I guess I would have to set the fresh water to the right temp. I do have a nine gallon nano tank I could set up.

Gina

 

[blue_eyes53813]

Not ich again.. Im sorry to hear that. Healthy fish can fight off ich, The fish are most likely showing ich from stress. You eliminate the stress and the fish can fight off the ich before it gets to bad. My tangs HATE it when the tank temp drops below 80. I keep my tank at 80-81 all the time and they never have spots. if it drops within hours my hippo tang has a spot or two.

Point is I guess. Try to figure out what is stressing them and fix it. Soak all food in garlic and vitamins. UV sterilizer if you have one, Keep good flow in the tank so ich will flow into the over flow and possibly into filters in the sump. Change-rinse-clean clean clean the filters. I bleached my filter socks to kill any ich in the socks.

Oh back to the flow issue. Near the sandbed is the most important to keep the flow high. The ich spores settle on the sand/substrate in its cycle before attaching to the fish.

 

[tippMANn98]

if I could add something Blue Eyes, Ich's total Life cycle is about 2 weeks from start to finish....If they are healthy they basically live through the life cycle.....blue eyes is totally right though....garlic is used in dog and cat food to help keep fleas away naturally...GARLIC- I know I love it...all kinds of great uses!!!!

 

[Dentoid]

The strictest answer to your question is "Yes" it can diappear on its own, but not as long as fish are in the tank. Take a look at these links for a through education on ich.

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/saltwater-fish/23132-marine-ich-myths-facts.html
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/saltwater-fish/22242-garlic-fish-immunity.html
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/saltwater-fish/23131-hyposalinity-treatment-process.html
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/saltwater-fish/23584-fish-quarantine-process-step-step.html

 

[BigAl07]

if I could add something Blue Eyes, Ich's total Life cycle is about 2 weeks from start to finish....If they are healthy they basically live through the life cycle.....blue eyes is totally right though....garlic is used in dog and cat food to help keep fleas away naturally...GARLIC- I know I love it...all kinds of great uses!!!!

Daniel is partly correct (with all due respect buddy ) The active part of the Life Cycle is roughly2-3 weeks but one portion of the stage can live almost indefinitely in the gills of the fish. This is one reason why it's so hard to completely wipe it out. Fortunately this stage is only a precursor to what the parasite is designed to do (reproduce) so it usually only stays at this stage a week or so (depending on water temps) and then release into the water column to lie dormant for a short period before being expelled from it's protective cyst to become free swimming and looking for it's next host.

Due to this one stage being "variable" at best most recent studies have shown the best treatment to be to assume (carefully worded here) that the life cycle is not just 2 -3 weeks (which is the active portion of the cycle) but to assume that the Ich will stay in it's Trophonts stage slightly longer and allow for this extra time when planning your treatment and or QT time.

Good luck and be patient. It's not a quick process but it can be controlled if not beaten

Allen

 

[Bikinibottom]

Thank you I will read up on it. I will also work on eliminating any stress. I will keep everyone posted. These fish were fine yesterday hard to believe.

Gina

 

[AQTCJAK]

It sounds as if you LFS has an issue with ICH to me

 

[Bikinibottom]

I have a question about the temperature. I normally kept my tank at 80 until I had the sump installed. Someone came to the house said my digital thermometer was set too high. Right now my tank is 76.6 so I guess i will try putting it a little warmer. My nitrates are a yellow orange more yellow than orange. What's a good temp for a puffer?

 

[leebca]

To help answer your questions, you should read this link: http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/saltwater-fish/23132-marine-ich-myths-facts.html

Healthy and sick fish can contract and act as carriers to Marine Ich Cryptocaryon irritans. A good quarantine process should keep this parasite out of your home marine system.

I have not had Marine Ich in my home marine systems for more than 38 years now by following a good quarantine process and some prophylactic treatments on certain Tangs. See this link for what I do: http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/saltwater-fish/23584-fish-quarantine-process-step-step.html

Marine Ich has been studied for over 100 years and we know a lot about it. Average stage times in the life cycle can vary as much as 200% so there is always a chance to get contaminated if you don't take into account just how long the stages in the cycle can last. Dr. Burgess for instance, found a cyst that lasted over 60 days before moving onto its next stage. This is abnormal but possible.

We know that a FW dip will not cure the fish, but it can help a fish if it is particularly infected in the gills. The Marine Ich is protected from the FW by the fish's own mucous coating and top layers of skin.

If you want it out permanently, follow the quarantine guidelines and the information provided in the above link.

Good luck!

 

[AQTCJAK]

78-80 is a good range

 

[Bikinibottom]

okay I set the temperature I'm on my way to get the nano tank from my parents, I just hope I can catch these fish to put them in the quarantine. I watched the man who set up my sump pick up puff with his hands not too sure about that I will work on him last

 

[BigAl07]

I saw one VERY entangled in a net a while back.... the LFS owner had a time getting him out without harming him and he didn't look overly happy bobbing around all swollen when I left. Good luck girl.

Allen

 

[AQTCJAK]

most puffers are very friendly a bowl will catch most of them

 

[tbittner]

When I bought my puffer, they caught him in a speciman container, then put a bag in the water and he actually swam into it. They are friendly, curious creatures. Just be gentle and do your best to not get him to blow up.

I believe it's also best to try to keep him in water at all times and don't let them get exposed to air.

 

[Cal Native]

I had a problem with ich once, caused by stress do to a mean, nasty pseudochromis. No fish could eat, sleep or do anything without being chased around. I installed a UV, feed garlic laced food and added vitamin C Drops. Ich went away but so did the pseudochromis, I havn't had an ich problem since. I hope you don't lose any of your fine finned friends. Good Luck.

 

[Amphibious]

I highly recommend you do the research mentioned above, follow the advice given and then add a UV sterilizer to your system. While a UV will not prevent Ich and it will not kill Ich on the fish it will kill the free swimming stage that passes through the UV. That prevents the outbreak from getting out of control. I've used them for 40 years.

Dick

 

[ScottT1980]

Re: temperature...

You can actually increase the speed of the pathogen's lifecycle and therefore, potentially decrease treatment time if you increase temperature in the tank. It pushes the pathogen to the theront stage, which is also the stage that is susceptible to CuSO4. However, I wouldn't crank up the temp, do it gradually if you choose to incorporate this into your treatment protocol.

Just some more tidbits for you...

 

[BigAl07]

Yes if you wish to increase temps do it very slowly.. no more than a 2deg increase over 24hrs... the LAST thing you want to do is add more stress to your tank which will only make matters worse for your tankmates.

Allen

 

[leebca]

The freshwater Ich (Ichthyophthirius multifilis) from which Marine Ich got its name is very heat sensitive and raising the temperature speeds its life cycle quite a bit. This is not the case with Marine Ich.

MI is found in waters from 50F to 100F. At higher temperatures its cycle only increases nominally and, the ranges of each stage can still vary quite a bit. Thus, the outcome can be that at higher temperatures, the entire cycle may only be shortened very little. Overall it is best to cure fish of the parasite using known traditional methods, sticking to the recommended times and keeping the temperature set for what is best for the fishes. To significantly speed the cycle of Marine Ich would take temperatures unsuitable to keep marine fish.

 

[ScottT1980]

My apologies, I should have added qualifiers instead of a blanketed statement. With that said, I knew the effects weren't significant, but I had no idea how ineffective it was with Crypto. Interestingly, according to Noga's "Fish Disease" text, it isn't even pathogenic beyond 86 degrees F. That leads me to believe it doesn't even go to the theront stage at that temp.