how contagious is ich?

Toby_Kourtney

New member
I ask because my 125 gallon has ich and my qt does not. I have 2 clownfish and a blenny in my qt tank that are ich free. It just dawned on me that I've been using the same bucket to do water changes for both tanks. will ich survive in a hose,pump, or bucket with freshwater in it? If so how long are we talking. Sorry if this is a silly question but I'm super paranoid.
 
how contagious is ich?

How do you know they are Ich free? I am paranoid and assume ALL fish have Ich. Because of this no fish even gets into quarantine without first going through TT method treatment. Just because you can't currently see it doesn't mean it's not there. If it came from a LFS it more than likely came in contact with Ich.
 
How do you know they are Ich free? I am paranoid and assume ALL fish have Ich. Because of this no fish even gets into quarantine without first going through TT method treatment. Just because you can't currently see it doesn't mean it's not there. If it came from a LFS it more than likely came in contact with Ich.

Exactly.
 
Why are you bothering to worry if the fish in QT are headed to your DT, there is no need to treat them, they will be getting exposed to ich anyways.

The only way to clean up everything, is QT all fish in the DT, ttm is great to rid ich, and run your DT fallow for 72 days.

To answer your question, its very possible to transfer ich on a drop of water. If everything that is shared is completely dry for 24 hours, ich will not survive. But its advisable to use separate equipment for your DT and QT, because worse things can come from new fish and you don't want them in your DT.
 
In answer to the OP's question, the super-paranoid answer is yes, it is possible to have transferred ich from your DT to your QT.

The biggest danger is if you have transferred a cyst (tomant stage), and in the short-term freshwater exposure won't kill it. The other danger is transfer of the free-swimming stages (protomont and theront) and these stages probably won't have survived. The probability depends on specifics, such as if you are using the same bucket for mixing new salt water as well as removing water, and the overall time between activities. In addition, if you do water changes using a syphon and clean the sand bed during the change, thereby sucking up particles, you have significantly increased the chances of transferring a viable cyst. If you simply remove water from the water column during the change, then chances of having transferred a cyst are greatly reduced.

Possible cross-contamination of ich is mostly anecdotal and theoretical in some scenarios, and in many instances (such as in your original question) the risks are pretty low.

But, for example, I believe there is published scientific evidence that ich can be transferred between two systems just in close proximity to each other (think how far you can see evidence of salt creep!), so it doesn't take much to spread the parasite. It's your Clint Eastwood moment (Do you feel lucky?).

Bottom line is the risks of infecting your QT are low, but I personally would assume that ich is present, and take steps accordingly, as generally advised here.
 
But, for example, I believe there is published scientific evidence that ich can be transferred between two systems just in close proximity to each other (think how far you can see evidence of salt creep!), so it doesn't take much to spread the parasite.

As in this sticky.
 
sorry guys I left out a bit of info. All the fish in the display are dead. I was out of town for business when it happened. the fish that are in the qt in a completely different room have never been in the display and have never shown any signs of ich. They were going through 6 weeks in qt to make sure they were disease free. At this point I'm just trying to minimize contaminating the qt. Sorry I'm having a hard time painting a picture.
 
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