mild ich on new fish

[dmh41532]

Yesterday, I purchased a small tang. This morning, I noticed what appears to be ich spots. I have it in a separate tank. The fish is swimming around and eating well (algae sheets.) Not sure if I should start treatment now or wait to see if the fish will be able to fight it off.

 

[Spar]

even if he fights off this infestation, he will still have the parasite, and will be bringing it into your DT when you move it over. this really isn't a big deal if you haven't had a strict treatment/QT protocol for all your inhabitants since the get-go though, as you likely already have it in your DT. keep in mind that you won't necessarily 'see' the parasite or the effects (white spots for example) if the fish are strong and are fighting off major infestations; but the parasite is still there and active nonetheless.

regardless, as for that fish, you are doing him a big favor by giving him some relief. TTM or copper are the most for sure routes, but you could also try out hypo (harder to administer and some strains of ich are resistant are the down sides to this).

soak his food in vitamins to help his immune system out while being treated as well... not sure this really helps much, but can't hurt.

 

[Nina51]

this really isn't a big deal if you haven't had a strict treatment/QT protocol for all your inhabitants since the get-go though, as you likely already have it in your DT.

i have seen this referred to in other threads. before i upgraded, i had 2 biocubes. i never qt'ed anything back then and never had ich, to my knowledge. when i upgraded, i moved several of the fish from those tanks into my 75g. again, never any signs of ich. so, my question is, is it assumed i have ich in my dt?

 

[Spar]

i have seen this referred to in other threads. before i upgraded, i had 2 biocubes. i never qt'ed anything back then and never had ich, to my knowledge. when i upgraded, i moved several of the fish from those tanks into my 75g. again, never any signs of ich. so, my question is, is it assumed i have ich in my dt?

IMO it is assumed. But what is likely is that you had provided a low stress environment, keeping your fish feed well and happy, etc. Meaning there had been no reason for a mass infestation to hit your fish. But as we all know, you don't have to see the parasite or effects of it for it to be present.

I guess the question is, is it worth going through the trouble of fully treating new fish (time and labor) if you aren't sure your DT is ich-free? Observation is at least a close 2nd to treating with TTM or Copper/CP, if the goal is just general health over complete eradication.