Ich article

[TerryB]

Boomer,
I am aware of one report saying that they found lose tomonts in the gills. I am also aware that this has not been confirmed by anyone else and has not been reported in any other isolate or strain. ATJ is right, I was talking about the differences between strains of Cryptocaryon irritans not being enough to separate them into different species. FW ick is a different subject altogether and we know that SW ich and FW ick are not closely related if at all. BTW, I am also aware of the Wright & Colorni report and I happen to have a copy of it. There has been a problem with the classification that Cryptocaryon irritans was assigned to from the beginning (several decades). It is way past due to be reclassified.
Terry B

 

[Boomer]

:thumbsup:

 

[isis_kitty]

Steven,

Aside from research that has been done with UV sterilization on the side of human disease prevention, has there been research done on the long term effects of UV use in aquarium??

 

[dieselfish]

How long does one leave the subject fish in the freshwater dip?

 

[Steven Pro]

Steven,

Aside from research that has been done with UV sterilization on the side of human disease prevention, has there been research done on the long term effects of UV use in aquarium??

I am not sure what exactly you mean. Are you asking if there have been studies showing whether or not UV is efffective in aquariums or whether or not there is some unintended consequence of using UV's?

 

[Steven Pro]

How long does one leave the subject fish in the freshwater dip?

Generally 5-15 minutes

 

[isis_kitty]

I am not sure what exactly you mean. Are you asking if there have been studies showing whether or not UV is efffective in aquariums or whether or not there is some unintended consequence of using UV's?

either

 

[Steven Pro]

The only things I am aware of are "Ultraviolet light control of Ichthyophthiriius multifiliis Fouquet in a closed fish culture recirculation system" by Gratzek et al from Journal of Fish Disease 1983, 6:145-153. While it discusses freshwater Ich, both saltwater and freshwater Ich have a similar mode of reproduction making comparison somewhat useful especially in discussing UV's. Colorni & Burgess also extrapolate from this study in discussing the potential of using UV's to combat Cryptocaryon irritans in their 1997 paper "Cryptocaryon irritans Brown 1951, the cause of 'white spot disease' in marine fish: an update" in Aquarium Sciences and Conservation, 1:217-238.

In the Gratzek experiment 36 20-gallon tanks were hooked up to a central filtration system. Four of those tanks were stocked with infected fish while the rest contained healthy individuals. The healthy fish remained disease free and never had more than 1.33% mortalities, while the infected fish suffered an 82.81% mortality rate. It appears the UV was able to contain the infection to those infected aquariums, but it did nothing to cure the already sick fish in the infested tanks.

If someone asked me, "I have $200 to spend on disease prevention. What should I buy?" I would tell them categorically to invest that money in a quarantine tank instead of a UV, no question.