Avoiding ich

[snorvich]

Well I've gotten the cupramine up to .4, I did it over 4 days so I hope that is slow enough. Everyone but the new guy is eating well and they all seem happy enough. I was thinking of waiting 12 weeks but I see you say 10, is there any point to doing 12 or should I be pretty safe with 10 weeks? I'm also thinking I'll have to add them slowly back into the tank so there is not so much bioload all at once right?

I feel that 10 is sufficient. I would continue to feed your display tank even with no fish in order to keep the bioload capacity where it is.

 

[MrTuskfish]

2-3 month with no fish not bad (knock on canopy) wow so people qt not to lose there money on fish ...

So if i have no fish in the display tank for 2-3 months that means i dont have to run a skimmer

People use a QT to save fish; the new fish in the Qt and the fish in the DT. If saving money on fish is a big deal, then a goldfish in a bowl is probably the way to go.

 

[Shellyfish]

I feel that 10 is sufficient. I would continue to feed your display tank even with no fish in order to keep the bioload capacity where it is.

Thanks! Would you advise feeding just a few pellets? Or should I be feeding as though the fish were still in there?

 

[snorvich]

Thanks! Would you advise feeding just a few pellets? Or should I be feeding as though the fish were still in there?

Do you have significant shrimp and other CUC? If so, I would feed about 1/2 of what you would have fed with fish. Otherwise just a few pellets twice per day.

 

[sneaton]

A strange comment and a strange question. People quarantine because they, as conscientious aquarists want to provide the best environment for the animals they have agree to take care of. Some people have a very significant embedded base of fish that they do not wish to lose. I know some of mine are not replaceable.

Assuming a reef environment, people still feed their shrimp and potentially their corals. Worst case is they want to maintain their biological filter so they do feed. Running a skimmer is something that should be done.

just curoius what fish you have that arent replaceable?

 

[Shellyfish]

I have no shrimp, but there are some crabs and snails.

Technically most fish are replaceable, but for me, I would be really sad to lose my mimic an yellow tang, I've had them for a while and they are my favorite fish.

 

[MrTuskfish]

There are many fish in the hobby that are impossible to find except on very rare occasions and from very specialized divers/collectors.

 

[snorvich]

just curoius what fish you have that arent replaceable?

Many. An example would be a mated pair of C. earli in my small (240 gallon tank) and in my other tank (a 350 gallon), a gem tang.

 

[snorvich]

I have no shrimp, but there are some crabs and snails.

Technically most fish are replaceable, but for me, I would be really sad to lose my mimic an yellow tang, I've had them for a while and they are my favorite fish.

In that case, I would feed a few pellets, twice per day to maintain the clean up crew.

 

[Shellyfish]

Will do, thanks again for all the help

 

[lxeroxl]

The stage where the parasite is attached to a fish is called a trophont. The trophont will spend three to seven days (depending on temperature) feeding on the fish and that is what you see symptomatically when you see "salt sprinkled on the fish" even though this is actually under the skin not on top of it.

After that, the trophont leaves the fish and becomes what is called a protomont. This protomont travels to the substrate and begins to crawl around for usually two to eight hours, but it could go for as long as eighteen hours after it leaves it's fish host. Once the protomont attaches to a surface, it begins to encyst and is now called a tomont.

Protomonts will not attach to inverts. However, in display tanks, substrate is the attachment of choice. The remainder of the life cycle is why you should leave the display tank fallow for 9 weeks (some say 10 weeks) If you do not transfer water after quarantining corals or other inverts, you will be quite safe.

Division inside the cyst into hundreds of daughter parasites, called tomites, begins shortly thereafter. This noninfectious stage can last anywhere from three to twenty-eight days. During this extended period, the parasite cyst is lying in wait for a host. After this period, the tomites hatch and begin swimming around, looking for a fish host. At this point, they are called theronts, and they must find a host within twenty-four hours or die.

In theory it is remotely possible to have a theront brought in with a coral although it is highly unlikely. But that is what the three day isolation (and in my case dip with Revive or Coral Rx) is for.

I understand that the chances are slim and it may be a risk that you just have to take, but is it not entirely possible for the Protomonts to attach to the frag plug / rock rubble that the coral is mounted to. If this happens how is 3 days long enough for it to die. Did i miss something in the life cycle? or is this chance just so statistically small that its worth ignoring

 

[wooden_reefer]

Thank you for the clarification. As always, it's much appreciated.

But the problem is that the human being who transfers and handles the inverts may include ich at any stage of the lifecycle into the container of the inverts.

 

[wooden_reefer]

One good strategy is to buy all the inverts first.

By the time your have QTed all the fish, the inverts will have gone thru the fallow period.

Particularly, it is best to get all inverts that require strong light first before any fish. Inverts that do not require strong light is simpler to isolate for 10 weeks.