Ick dying out after 11 months with no new strains

[Grnorton]

who has heard of Ick dying out after going close to a year without any new hosts etc? just looking for input. I have read this before and was also told this recently...very curious about this, Who has proof or experience or anything?

 

[ThRoewer]

I don't think it was 11 month but rather 11 generations (infection cycles) and only if only one single strain of ich is in the tank.

And this also goes just back to one single observation (like thee 72 days fallow period) which I would take with caution.

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

Is there a Ich parasite that lives a year without a host.I am doing TTM now and I will leave my tank fallow for 120 days.

 

[ThRoewer]

Unless someone shows me definitive proof that none of the many ich strains can survive longer than 72 days at normal reef tank temperatures I assume at least some of them can hold out for a year or even longer.

And with definitive proof I mean clear cut proof that ich consumes energy while laying in wait and will run out of fuel for sure after a define time period.

If it can hibernate without or just minimal energy consumption I see no reason why it couldn't hang on much longer than 72 days.

 

[ca1ore]

Not sure the OP isn't mixing up his questions .....

I have had ich in my tank for two years (that I know of). I QT all fish, so I do not believe that the original strain has been supplemented with another, yet it still persists. So a single ich strain dying out after a year seems incorrect. How long ich can persist in the absence of any host fish is a different question. 72 days is the accepted maximum.

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

72 days is at a cooler temp,at reef tank temps most hatch in 2 to 28 days.I would think there is no Ich that can lay dormant for a year.

 

[ThRoewer]

Not sure the OP isn't mixing up his questions .....

I have had ich in my tank for two years (that I know of). I QT all fish, so I do not believe that the original strain has been supplemented with another, yet it still persists. So a single ich strain dying out after a year seems incorrect. How long ich can persist in the absence of any host fish is a different question. 72 days is the accepted maximum.

How do you know that you started with only one strain to begin with? When you see ich on fish they can actually have several strains all at once and you wouldn't know it unless you do gene sequencing of the parasites.
Also, did you put all your new fish through TTM or just observational QT?

72 days is at a cooler temp,at reef tank temps most hatch in 2 to 28 days.I would think there is no Ich that can lay dormant for a year.

Well, the study that came up with the 72 days was conducted with Atlantic mullets, so the water temperatures might not have been at the 24°C to 27°C you normally find in reef tanks.

Though there are quite a few members who reported ich outbreaks after going fallow for 72 days (or even more) and putting all fish through TTM and after a short while ich returned... It could be they let something slip through, or there is at least ich strain that can lay dormant for longer

 

[ca1ore]

How do you know that you started with only one strain to begin with? When you see ich on fish they can actually have several strains all at once and you wouldn't know it unless you do gene sequencing of the parasites.
Also, did you put all your new fish through TTM or just observational QT?

Good questions. Of course I don't know that it's a single strain, or multiple; nor do I know whether a 'typical' ich breakout is one, a few or many. No way to know. In the context of the OP's question it doesn't really matter, because if there is no way to know, then the prudent course is to assume the worst and act accordingly. In this case, to not anticipate that an exiting strain or strains will die out un-augmented.

I do not do TTM, but I do prophylactically treat for ich. Could a new strain have snuck though? Of course, but I think it unlikely.