So apparently the ich is worse than I thought....

[Recty]

I wouldnt do a FW dip at this point either.

Hyposalinity should start helping your fish pretty quickly as it kills off the ich when it is swimming to get back on the fish. So your fish will still show any ich they already have, but they shouldnt get any new ich on their bodies.

 

[fender4string]

Ok thanks guys. I'll leave the situation as is. That's the only time I've seen her do it so far and other than that she is behaving normally and eating well.

 

[anbosu]

I have done 1 freshwater dip in my career and as far as I could tell I just ****ed the fish off and it didn't do any good. Unless you are desperate I think just stick with the hypo at this point.

 

[fender4string]

Yeah I think I'll leave it be. She's not acting too badly. You can tell they've got it pretty bad though. They're all covered in ich (except the puffer). It seemed like it hit within 2 or 3 days. Pretty much right after I tore down the rocks to catch the kole tang. I wonder if this ich outbreak was stress induced...I still can't believe how fast and hard it hit.

 

[Freed]

Probably stirred up a bunch of the hatched ich that was in the rock or the sand bed and they were able to grab a ride on the fish. Really don't think "stress" has anything to do with the ich flourishing like it is.

 

[fender4string]

I think that when a fish is stressed it somehow affects their immune system, allowing the ich to more easily encyst. I'm pretty sure this is more related to poor water conditions like ammonia spikes but I thought similar effects (suppressed immune system) could be caused by undue environmental stress.

Am I wrong about that?

 

[Recty]

I think stress affects the fishes mucus layer, which affects how ich can attach to the fish.

I know when my return pump quit working, my temperature dropped 4 degrees and the O2 levels in my tank dropped tons.

The next day, huge ich outbreak in my tank. It definitely wasnt due to anything being stirred up, just stress to the fish.

 

[fender4string]

Interesting.

So does ich attachment stimulate the production of the mucus layer? I noticed some stringy, trailing things hanging off Bella. Both she and the picasso also appear to look kind of covered in something. I guess they look "lack luster." Would that be due to an increased production of the mucus coat?