rickgarant
New member
had mine 3yrs he is 10" but i got him from brother in law that had him for 7yrs
How long did your blue tang live?
- Thread starter bigj11
- Start date
"Saltwater ick is seldom fatal. And is typically only present in fish that are stressed"
- This is a highly misleading statement, and could get beginners into a lot of trouble with their aquariums if they take it to heart. Cryptocaryon is routinely fatal to fish in home aquariums because people often do not always treat properly nor soon enough.
While stress can make the fish predisposed to a serious infection, the parasite needs to get introduced into the system in the first place. People cannot lose sight of the fact that ALL fish in EVERY aquarium are undergoing some level of chronic stress by virtue of being held in the aquarium. If active Cryptocaryon tomites are released into the aquarium, infections usually result. Why do you think public aquariums use net dips, and have an accrediation requirement of a minimum 30 day quarantine for fish?
The OP asked for a quarantine protocol - but that is such a complicated topic, that it cannot be distilled into a message reply here, but I can give a synopsis:
I use a six week quarantine process with either 14 days of ionic copper at 0.20ppm or constant chelated copper. In addition, all fish are medicated with praziquantel. If during any point, an active disease is noted, the quarantine counter rolls back to day one. And yes, Crytpocaryon is rarely fatal in my fish, and I ALWAYS quarantine "ick magnets" such as hepatus and PBT(grin).
Jay
- This is a highly misleading statement, and could get beginners into a lot of trouble with their aquariums if they take it to heart. Cryptocaryon is routinely fatal to fish in home aquariums because people often do not always treat properly nor soon enough.
While stress can make the fish predisposed to a serious infection, the parasite needs to get introduced into the system in the first place. People cannot lose sight of the fact that ALL fish in EVERY aquarium are undergoing some level of chronic stress by virtue of being held in the aquarium. If active Cryptocaryon tomites are released into the aquarium, infections usually result. Why do you think public aquariums use net dips, and have an accrediation requirement of a minimum 30 day quarantine for fish?
The OP asked for a quarantine protocol - but that is such a complicated topic, that it cannot be distilled into a message reply here, but I can give a synopsis:
I use a six week quarantine process with either 14 days of ionic copper at 0.20ppm or constant chelated copper. In addition, all fish are medicated with praziquantel. If during any point, an active disease is noted, the quarantine counter rolls back to day one. And yes, Crytpocaryon is rarely fatal in my fish, and I ALWAYS quarantine "ick magnets" such as hepatus and PBT(grin).
Jay
I might be necroing a dead thread here but I thought it was worth addressing this comment.
The above quoted statement is.. well WRONG. At least from the aquarium standpoint ich (Cryptocaryon tomites) will always be in your system and the outbreaks are periodic. If you have healthy, active fish, these outbreaks seem to become meaningless and are beaten back easily and if you have unhealthy (stressed, malnutritioned etc) fish, the outbreaks are serious.
The above concept that this disease can be contained by quarantine is extremely misleading. this will always exist in your aquarium. The reason the above comment is misinformed is that if you introduce an active colony to an aquarium, you will have an infection. You have to understand the periodicity of this disease in that it always exists and an will occur whenever the parasite is in blossom. If you happen to introduce an organism that is in blossom, you will see it on your fish but that doesn't change the overall pressence of the infection.
Basically, we all have ich; the helth of your fish determines it's visibility not the quarantine process, and you will be less effected by ich if your ecosystem is healthy.
Megatrev62
New member
Most abused fish in the hobby.
orangegoby
New member
I have killed 5 of them in the past 4 years(mostly came in unhealthy) and because this is one of my favorite fish so i am gonna chip in.
The statement..."Saltwater ick is seldom fatal...." IS ONLY TRUE IN THE FIRST SCENARIO i have described. here is what i have found to share:
1. healthy fish with ick in a zero stress environment, the recovery rate will be very positive.
2. healthy fish with ick in a high stress environment, the odds is not on your side.
3. unhealthy fish with ick in a zero stress environment, the recovery rate remain slim.
4. unhealthy fish with ick in a high stress environment, 100% will be dead.
btw, i have my hippo tang for about 6 months now, he grow from 2.5" to 4.5" in the last 6 month and is very healthy and fat.
The statement..."Saltwater ick is seldom fatal...." IS ONLY TRUE IN THE FIRST SCENARIO i have described. here is what i have found to share:
1. healthy fish with ick in a zero stress environment, the recovery rate will be very positive.
2. healthy fish with ick in a high stress environment, the odds is not on your side.
3. unhealthy fish with ick in a zero stress environment, the recovery rate remain slim.
4. unhealthy fish with ick in a high stress environment, 100% will be dead.
btw, i have my hippo tang for about 6 months now, he grow from 2.5" to 4.5" in the last 6 month and is very healthy and fat.
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woodnaquanut
Active member
Is this your opinion or is it FACT. If it is fact, please post references.
TheGodParticle
New member
Actually, your above quoted statement is well....WRONG. In fact it's slightly absurd to even think about. Ich will not always just be in your system. It has to be introduced. If I buy a new tank, use dry rock, dry sand, and mix my own saltwater, (which is how hundreds of people start off their tanks) where exactly does the ich come from? Does it just magically appear out of nowhere? Poof! Here I am world, I'm a parasite that appeared out of nothing! That's the point of a QT. We know enough about ich to know its life cycles and how to properly beat it with a rigorous QT process. Now do I think most people have ich in their tank, yes, probably. But the idea that ich is just always there is absurd. So no, we don't ALL have ich, and yes it can be beat. Nobody ever said it was easy though.
TheGodParticle
New member
I'd say Copperbands are the most abused fish in our hobby, probably followed by Blue Tangs. I personally know people who have gone through 6-7 of them and keep buying, it's a shame.
