Ich attack

[lendz]

I guess shark aint affected by ich eh?

I have a very nice naso tang,emperor angelfish,grouper and a unicorn tang.

I introduced the emperor angelfish. All was doing fine then it got ich and so did my naso. Then they died. Except the grouper.

I want to add new fish in the future. What can I do? Thanx!

 

[lendz]

By the way,it's been 2 weeks already.

 

[lendz]

Anyone? My problem is if I can run my tank on hypo or leave it?

 

[ccampbell57]

If you have a shark, no hypo will kill it...

If you dont have a shark...put the tank in hypo (make sure to get it down to .009 sg.)

Use a refractometer and ensure that it is done in series over 48 hours. leave in hypo for 4-6 weeks after last sign of ich.

 

[mattsilvester]

ditto ccampbell > accept using a hydrometer is probably a waste of time. I used one before switching to a refractometer.... thought I was at 1.009, and in fact it was at 1.004 or so......

Refractometer and calibrate it regularly using distilled water and you can be gauranteed very good accuracy.

With Hypo, you must between 1.009 and 1.010.... any higher won't kill the ich, any lower will kill the fish......

With a shark...... I dunno..... ask Bob Fenner on wetwebmedia is in doubt!

 

[ccampbell57]

LOL...i meant refractometer...thanks Matt

 

[lendz]

Okay thanx for the input.

Do sharks get affected by ich? I had them for quite some time now. But only the naso and other fishes got ich and died.

 

[mattsilvester]

I don't know....... seriously, go to Wet Web Media and ask Bob Fenner - then it will be fact, not opinion. My thoughts are that yes - ich is a pathogen, and sharks are fish...... I do not see what would give them immunity, other than a strong immune system......

Out of interest you say "sharks" as in multiple animals? What are they, how big, and do you have any pics? Would be really interested to see

 

[lendz]

I already posted a thread about my sharks.. Thanx! I can't find the URL.

I know sharks are fishes too. lol. But they have different skins unlike the normal fishes which are more prone to ich. There are no visible spots of ich.

 

[mattsilvester]

I could be wrong on this one, but I think ich gets into the fish via the gills, where it propogates through the blood stream - then burrows out through the skin when life cycle is nearly complete..... and the white "spots" are a mucus reaction to that burrowing.......

I could be totally wrong here, but I am sure I read it somewhere..... its to glorious to make .... LOL.... but I dfoe read it - whether its correct or not is beyond me.

 

[lendz]

Oh.. Thanx mattsilver. But it's been a month? or 3 weeks since my last fish died from ich. The sharks aint affected. (?)

Coz I dont see any difficulty in breathing and external white spots.

Thanx matt!

Lendz

 

[mattsilvester]

It would seem a fair conclusion to reach........

If you check in the "disease" forum there is a few sticky's on ich etc. Well worth the read explaining the life cycles etc. and its only a couple of pages long, and its not all scientific mobo jombo.....

Assuming that your sharks have either (a) not been infected or (b) sharks are immune to ich, then going forward on the assumption that the ich has not found a host for 3 weeks then you are nearly at "ich free" status..... for prudence I would give it at least another 10days, preferably 2 weeks before adding anything else to the tank, and at least you have te peace of mind that they will be going into a ich free system (based on our asumptions).

At that rate, do you quarantine your new additions? I would highly recommend it, beacuse if you do, you can avoid this ever happening again........ once again, based on our "shark immunity" theory.

I'm off to do a search for your thread with pics

 

[lendz]

Okay bro! Thanx!

I would wait for 2 weeks or more to be ich free. Hopefully.