Marine Ich
- Thread starter badbowtie
- Start date
So the only way to tell if you have Ich is visually? I bought a blue tang, didn't quarantine him and a week later he was dead. When I pulled his stinky carcass out I felt I should do a partial water change. With my python I went in behind some live rock and extracted some disgusting looking waste and within an hour my clown and yellow tang were covered in white spots and acting crazy. Sounds like classic Ich symptoms based on what I've read. What's puzzling is the white things attached to a shell (photo attached) look like little donuts instead of little micro balls. Any insights?
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ThRoewer
New member
Based on the description it is unlikely that the fish died of ich.
Ich usually takes a while to kill a fish.
Amyloodinium, Brooklynella or Monoganean are more likely to have killed your fish.
Ich usually takes a while to kill a fish.
Amyloodinium, Brooklynella or Monoganean are more likely to have killed your fish.
I've never been down this road, everything was great for the last 3 years since I 1st took up saltwater. I followed the advice of Aquarium services- bought a new 10 gal Quarantine tank, took an old Eheim 2215 apart and soaked everything in fresh water, put only bio mech in it, filled it and the new tank with 30% salted Ro Di and 70% water from the main tank, brought the temp to 30 deg C., same as I had previously raised the main tank to, added appropriate amounts of "Colony Marine and Ich-X", let it run for 24 hrs, acclimated my yellow Tang and Clown before putting them in and 10 hrs later (overnight) they were both dead.
The reason I'm suspecting Ich is my blood shrimps, snails, anemones and 2 marine species that look like ww1 naval mines are still doing fine in the main tank just all my fish have died.
The reason I'm suspecting Ich is my blood shrimps, snails, anemones and 2 marine species that look like ww1 naval mines are still doing fine in the main tank just all my fish have died.
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None of those activities will affect ich positively. 24 hours quarantine is meaningless. Lack of dissolved oxygen from raising temperature probably killed them.
ThRoewer
New member
Fish specific diseases and parasites only affect fish but not inverts like shrimp or corals.
Cryptocaryon, Amyloodinium, Brooklynella,... are parasites of fish. Moneganeans are even more specific and several species only infect certain fish families.
That the shrimp and anemones live only proves that you were dealing with a fish disease/parasite but doesn't allow to conclude which.
I'm surprised how attached i had become to my fish, especially the clown. She had such a personality. I now have an empty 10 gal hospital tank running and a 65 gal main tank with nothing but inverts.
What do I do to ensure both are and stay parasite free before adding any fish? No one at Aquarium Services ever even suggested having a quar tank to evaluate new additions and it makes so much sense. Will the parasite die off after 8-10 weeks not having a host fish to attach itself to? I also have something new that appeared mysteriously and was hoping someone could identify it as I don't know what it is or if it's hazardous, it may have came in a piece of live rock. Pic attached.
What do I do to ensure both are and stay parasite free before adding any fish? No one at Aquarium Services ever even suggested having a quar tank to evaluate new additions and it makes so much sense. Will the parasite die off after 8-10 weeks not having a host fish to attach itself to? I also have something new that appeared mysteriously and was hoping someone could identify it as I don't know what it is or if it's hazardous, it may have came in a piece of live rock. Pic attached.
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ThRoewer
New member
Without knowing what killed the fish it's hard to tell. Given the fact that you only have a shrimp, a few urchins and a few other inverts I would rather start over and sterilize the tanks and equipment - after returning the inverts, rocks and whatever else wet there is, to the store of course. And also return that canister filter you seem to have - those are bad enough for freshwater but really bad for saltwater (unless you wanna clean it at a minimum once a week)
It would be a good opportunity to read up and get it right this time (that old tank looked like something I had in the 70s).
Actually, there is a PCR test for Amyloodinium. It is just not yet commercially available. In theory this should also work with other parasites that have free stages or where you could easily collect some infected tissue from hosts.
It would be a good opportunity to read up and get it right this time (that old tank looked like something I had in the 70s).
Actually, there is a PCR test for Amyloodinium. It is just not yet commercially available. In theory this should also work with other parasites that have free stages or where you could easily collect some infected tissue from hosts.
Eheim 2215
Eheim 2215
The canister filter is past the point of return. What type of filter is better? Also the store won't accept anything they think think may be infected - I already told them. So I'm kinda backed into a corner as I don't have an extra grand kicking around. I read that parasites can't survive without a host and after 8 to 10 weeks they'll die off. Was that baloney:fish1:?
Eheim 2215
The canister filter is past the point of return. What type of filter is better? Also the store won't accept anything they think think may be infected - I already told them. So I'm kinda backed into a corner as I don't have an extra grand kicking around. I read that parasites can't survive without a host and after 8 to 10 weeks they'll die off. Was that baloney:fish1:?
Ich parasites have a long free stage so you can leave the tank fallow for 3-6 months and still run the risk of ich being in the tank.
Before you start again you should quarantine for 6-10 weeks per fish and go slow - one fish at a time - each with rounds of meds before being introduced to the main tank.
Before you start again you should quarantine for 6-10 weeks per fish and go slow - one fish at a time - each with rounds of meds before being introduced to the main tank.
ThRoewer
New member
Not exactly correct on the details.
Also, random rounds of meds is a generally bad advice.
Except for a formalin dip I would not do any treatment with meds or chemicals unless it actually needed due to an actual outbreak.
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