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Mandarin ich
- Thread starter Julius
- Start date
Hypo? good god why? So he has ick, big deal - let it run its course and it will clear on its own. Ick is an external parasite - I'd be more interested in finding the cause of the Goby's stress that permit him to become susceptible to the parasite in the first place. The only time I would interfere is if the fish shows signs of a bacterial infection (clouded eyes, labored breathing etc.) and than I would treat with Myracin II.
We studied ich in biology a few weeks ago. NEVER LET IT RUN ITS COURSE. Go with the hypo salinity method as it is the safest method for the fish. The reason you want to get the fish out of the tank is because Marine ich ( a different species altogether than freshwater ich) is a multi stage parasite. THe stage we see is stage 3. Stage one begins as a spore, two is the white ich on the fish, then the ich sort of explodes into thousands of spores and settles into the sand and formes little metamorphis eggs, then starts all over again. If you leave the ich in the tank it will be on every fish within weeks. Copper is very dangerous to the fish's live. Hyposlatinity is safer for a few weeks then the fishs live will begin to shut down. THe hypo method should only take two weeks to work then aclimate the fish back to normal salinity SLOWLY over days.
Despite what some folks seem to believe, a UV unit is not going to eradicate the parasite from your system. It can help, but it's not a total solution. It can only kill the parasite when it's in the free swimming stage - and then only if it passes through the unit - and then only if you have a unit that's strong enough with low enough flow through rates so that the parasite receives enough exposure.
That said, many otherwise healthy fish will get past a minor ich infection on their own provided they are not stressed and they're eating well. This doesn't mean the parasite is out of the system.
Hypo treatment, done correctly, is very effective. Two weeks would be a bare minimum and 4 to 6 would be safer. Most bony reef fish will tolerate extended periods of hypo with no problems. Also, the main system should stay fallow (fishless) for at least 30 days to help break the life cycle of the parasite.
HTH
That said, many otherwise healthy fish will get past a minor ich infection on their own provided they are not stressed and they're eating well. This doesn't mean the parasite is out of the system.
Hypo treatment, done correctly, is very effective. Two weeks would be a bare minimum and 4 to 6 would be safer. Most bony reef fish will tolerate extended periods of hypo with no problems. Also, the main system should stay fallow (fishless) for at least 30 days to help break the life cycle of the parasite.
HTH
support the hypo treatment too over other medications, though also recommend bringing hypo back to regular salinity at end of treatment much slower then bringing down to hypo.
interesting that the mandarin would have ich too, i remember reading in couple places that rarely do dragonettes have ich because of the slime coat they secrete.. and that would be another potential reason to not put them in qt but rather move them to regular tank (main one being danger of them not having anything to eat.. ).
i quarentined a new scooter dragonette over the summer with some ich'ed pair of percs and damsel (only have one qt). only one perc made it, but scooter blenny was never effected.. do other people have experiences with dragonettes with ich/parasites?
interesting that the mandarin would have ich too, i remember reading in couple places that rarely do dragonettes have ich because of the slime coat they secrete.. and that would be another potential reason to not put them in qt but rather move them to regular tank (main one being danger of them not having anything to eat.. ).
i quarentined a new scooter dragonette over the summer with some ich'ed pair of percs and damsel (only have one qt). only one perc made it, but scooter blenny was never effected.. do other people have experiences with dragonettes with ich/parasites?
I disagree. Ich is in your tank 24/7 – you can not eradicate it, only treat it. Ich is an external parasite that attaches itself to the body of a susceptible fish – the real question is why is the fish susceptible to the parasite? The answer to this question is what needs to be corrected.
Now, Hypo – sure it will work, I don’t doubt it in the least. So pull the fish drop it in your hospital tank and treat it. But at some point you should realize that the fish is being put back into the main tank where it got Ich in the first place. When a fish gets stressed it becomes susceptible to ich – what you want to do is find the cause of his stress and fix it. Personally I think Hypo is adding stress to the little guy – but its your fish.
Most often its water quality, or swings in it. Last time I had Ich it turned out to be stay voltage – dropped in a ground, stress gone and ich ran its course and went away. Ich can not kill a fish, stress kills the fish – a stressed fish becomes susceptible to a bacterial infection that can kill it. Go with hypo if you must, but find the cause and fix it too. BTW, don’t you have a cleaner shrimp? Drop in a couple more and the ich will be off the fish in 24 hours.
Now, Hypo – sure it will work, I don’t doubt it in the least. So pull the fish drop it in your hospital tank and treat it. But at some point you should realize that the fish is being put back into the main tank where it got Ich in the first place. When a fish gets stressed it becomes susceptible to ich – what you want to do is find the cause of his stress and fix it. Personally I think Hypo is adding stress to the little guy – but its your fish.
Most often its water quality, or swings in it. Last time I had Ich it turned out to be stay voltage – dropped in a ground, stress gone and ich ran its course and went away. Ich can not kill a fish, stress kills the fish – a stressed fish becomes susceptible to a bacterial infection that can kill it. Go with hypo if you must, but find the cause and fix it too. BTW, don’t you have a cleaner shrimp? Drop in a couple more and the ich will be off the fish in 24 hours.
With all respect, this has been fairly well studied/documented and you should really research this a bit more before stating something like that as fact. It's most definitely possible to keep C. irritans out of your system with proper quarantine procedures. The fact that most hobbyists don't adhere to these procedures and that ich is present in many hobbyists tanks does not mean it's not possible to avoid.CG1":3kgvsbwb said:Ich is in your tank 24/7 – you can not eradicate it, only treat it.
CG1":19szfd95 said:I disagree. Ich is in your tank 24/7 – you can not eradicate it, only treat it. Ich is an external parasite that attaches itself to the body of a susceptible fish – the real question is why is the fish susceptible to the parasite? The answer to this question is what needs to be corrected.
Now, Hypo – sure it will work, I don’t doubt it in the least. So pull the fish drop it in your hospital tank and treat it. But at some point you should realize that the fish is being put back into the main tank where it got Ich in the first place. When a fish gets stressed it becomes susceptible to ich – what you want to do is find the cause of his stress and fix it. Personally I think Hypo is adding stress to the little guy – but its your fish.
Most often its water quality, or swings in it. Last time I had Ich it turned out to be stay voltage – dropped in a ground, stress gone and ich ran its course and went away. Ich can not kill a fish, stress kills the fish – a stressed fish becomes susceptible to a bacterial infection that can kill it. Go with hypo if you must, but find the cause and fix it too. BTW, don’t you have a cleaner shrimp? Drop in a couple more and the ich will be off the fish in 24 hours.
Ich can kill a fish. It can destroys their gill tissues.
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