Ick question

[MrClam]

So after purchasing two A. ocellaris clowns I drip acclimated them to my QT, but had to leave for a few hours so I asked my brother to put them in the tank after the timer went off.

So he put them in the DT instead of the QT. I switched them to the QT as soon as I had gotten home. Of course the next day one of the fish showed signs of Ick. I am treating them now with copper and they seem to be doing alright.

So my question is am i screwed? What are the odds that the DT has become contaminated? They were in the DT for no more than 6 hours.

Should I wait and see if any DT fish develop symptoms? I am wondering because I have a pistol/goby pair so I think it would be a nightmare to get the goby out of his cave.

 

[gone fishin]

wow tough break and a tough spot. Part of me thinks take the wait and see approach. while the other part thinks to be proactive. I can only say I know my luck and well I would be proactive. sorry I can't offer anything else.

 

[Dr. Reef]

i will consider dt contaminated. 6 hours or 6 sec if ich fell into the water in dt its there and soon it will cling to fish and cycle will go on till all fish are dead or they fight it off.
if u want to wait it out and see if u got lucky u can. but i suggest u treat all fish in qt and leave dt fish-less for 8 weeks.

 

[MrClam]

I guess my question should have been more specific. I was wondering if anyone had experience with threshold for infection rate? Would a single released tomont spring an epidemic in an otherwise healthy tank? What is the time interval for a trophont to fall off as a tomont?

Seeing as there were no visible white spots does this mean that there were no mature trophonts at this point and thus there would be no tomonts in the DT?

Just curious if anyone has any information on this. Obviously I understand that prudence would dictate removing all the fish and letting the tank lie fallow for 8 weeks.

 

[MrClam]

I guess my question should have been more specific. I was wondering if anyone had experience with threshold for infection rate? Would a single released tomont spring an epidemic in an otherwise healthy tank? What is the time interval for a trophont to fall off as a tomont?

Seeing as there were no visible white spots does this mean that there were no mature trophonts at this point and thus there would be no tomonts in the DT?

Just curious if anyone has any information on this. Obviously I understand that prudence would dictate removing all the fish and letting the tank lie fallow for 8 weeks.

 

[sleepydoc]

Check out snorvich's sticky on ich...

 

[MrClam]

Thanks sleepy... After reading through snorvich's information it looks as if the typical delay between trophont to tomont is 3-5 days so I am going with the wait and hope method. Hoping for the best thanks for the help.

 

[jimmyj7090]

I guess my question should have been more specific. I was wondering if anyone had experience with threshold for infection rate? Would a single released tomont spring an epidemic in an otherwise healthy tank? What is the time interval for a trophont to fall off as a tomont?

Seeing as there were no visible white spots does this mean that there were no mature trophonts at this point and thus there would be no tomonts in the DT?

Just curious if anyone has any information on this. Obviously I understand that prudence would dictate removing all the fish and letting the tank lie fallow for 8 weeks.

I can't speak to all the specifics, but I did once add a fish to my display that was infected. The fish had been observed in QT for some time and appeared healthy - until it was under full light in the display and the spots quickly became obvious. I caught the fish in less than an hour after it was introduced into the display. About 10 days later several fish in the display began to show spots....

 

[MrClam]

Yea Im pretty much just hoping to get lucky here. I have a relatively new tank so there are very few fish in there. Two small fish in a large tank. Hopefully the fact that relatively few parasites entered the water column combined with the limited fish supply means that its unlikely the parasites will find a host before they die.

Just in case anyone cares the clowns are doing well in QT. Treating with copper now and both are eating well and showing no signs of distress.

 

[jamesbaur13]

Call me a pessimist, but I think it's more likely that the display already has ick and the clowns were completely fine before they entered the tank. Why? because I could not envision a more stressful enviorment than they dealt with at the pet store. It is likely that if the pet store had ick, the clownfish would of exhibited it before you brought them home. Being that's not the case...

Whatever you do, just keep an eye out. If you can catch it before you are fully stocked it's much easier to deal with.