Brackish water and ich?

[cloak]

If hyposalinity kills ich in saltwater tanks, and adding salt to a freshwater tank can kill ich, then does it even exist in a brackish water tank?

 

[Kieth71]

They are not the same parasite.Freshwater ich and marine ich are two diffrent things.

 

[cloak]

I know that, but which one exists in a brackish water tank? Will those scats ever get ich?

 

[cloak]

"Cough."

 

[Gwynhidwy]

Well, hyposalinity is not effective against all strains of Cryptocaryon irritans, the protozoan that causes marine ich. It isn't effective because some strains can survive in very low salinity water. Because of that, I would assume that brackish water fish can contract marine ich IF they are exposed to one of those strains or they are kept in salty enough conditions to allow a more common strain to establish. I don't keep brackish tanks though, brackish water fish may have thicker scales or some adaptation that makes them immune to crypt.

I don't know about the freshwater variety as I don't know much about the parasite that causes it there.

 

[RBU1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15613989#post15613989 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gwynhidwy
Well, hyposalinity is not effective against all strains of Cryptocaryon irritans, the protozoan that causes marine ich. It isn't effective because some strains can survive in very low salinity water. Because of that, I would assume that brackish water fish can contract marine ich IF they are exposed to one of those strains or they are kept in salty enough conditions to allow a more common strain to establish. I don't keep brackish tanks though, brackish water fish may have thicker scales or some adaptation that makes them immune to crypt.

I don't know about the freshwater variety as I don't know much about the parasite that causes it there.

Interesting where did you get your info about an ich strain beng able to survive hypo?

 

[Gwynhidwy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15614184#post15614184 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RBU1
Interesting where did you get your info about an ich strain beng able to survive hypo?

Journal articles and personal experience.

 

[RBU1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15620011#post15620011 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gwynhidwy
Journal articles and personal experience.

Can you post these journal articles? I would really be interested in reading them.

Also personal expirience? Hum interesting....What did you keep your salinity at? Did it fluctuate at all during treatment? What did you use to measure salinity?

 

[Gwynhidwy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15639500#post15639500 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RBU1
Can you post these journal articles? I would really be interested in reading them.

Also personal expirience? Hum interesting....What did you keep your salinity at? Did it fluctuate at all during treatment? What did you use to measure salinity?

If I have time I'll try to find some of them online.

Salinity was kept at 1.009-1.010 for the duration and checked with a properly calibrated refractometer two or more times each day. I have had hyposalinity, properly administered, fail to eradicate crypt twice in my own treatment, and have known several others who have had the same experience.

The only way I've found hyposalinity to be reliably effective is by combining it with tank transfer method. If that is necessary, you might as well skip the hypo and just do the tank transfer.

 

[RBU1]

Well if you don't keep it right at 1.009 there is a chance of survival. Not sure if this is what happened here but you did say 1.010. I just treated all my fish with copper for 16 days and was going to do a hypo treatment also just to make sure there was no chance of the parasite still being around. I have a real hard time telling those colors apart on the copper test kits. I think I was in the .15 range during treatment but would feel much better if I knew I was in the .20 range. I am still looking for a test kit that might help me achieve this if I do I might do another copper treatment instead of hypo......