Tough Ich Question

[black_majik]

I know the first thing people will say to this is a link to other threads well I have read those and i couldn't find my answer.
Ok so awhile ago I bought a tang and didn't have a QT and two weeks later Ich wiped out my whole tank. Now I have a QT and was thinking about another tang. My question is is Ich always in the main tank just waiting for the right conditions? Is it a natural parasite to tangs? or is it picked out in LFS and stress makes it worse? The reason I really am asking is so if I run hypo in QT with a tang for 1 1/2 months will all chances of Ich in my main tank go away even if the fish is stressed? or is it just hoping the fish doesn't get stressed and the parasite pops up in the tank. I WOULD LOVE CREDITABLE INFORMATION. ex. books , articles, and etc.

 

[Freed]

The only way ich can be in a tank is if it is put there either via adding a new fish that hasn't been properly QT'd or via ich coming in with live rock, corals, inverts, etc that haven't been QT'd as well. If your main tank is fishless for no less than 4-6 weeks while you have fish in QT going thru hypo then it is extremely unlikely that any ich will remain after wards. You can be almost 100% sure that all ich will be gone. Stress does not cause ich. Ich causes ich. You can have an ich free tank and stress everything out as much as you possibly can and ich will not appear out of thin air.

 

[black_majik]

Thats funny because you helped me earlier with an ich issue and I was about to PM you about this

 

[black_majik]

So when people say that the Powder Blue Tang and Hippo Tang are ich machines it truly doesn't mean they develop it inside the tank. Good to know

 

[kevin2000]

No offence intended but most of your questions have been asked/asnwered in the "sticky posts" in the disease forum. Read those posts and ask specific questions about what you don't udnerstand.

 

[Freed]

Haha, well there you go. Any other Q's?

 

[ThrowinRoost89]

how do you make shure new LR and corals and any other non-fish livestock do not have ich?

my fish are currently in hypo, been in there for a week. im going to give them 6 more for to make shure its all gone!

 

[Freed]

All you need do for live rock, coral and inverts is put them in the QT for 4-6 weeks at normal SG, pH, alk, etc. Any ich will die off without fish to feed off of.

 

[ThrowinRoost89]

will the corals,rock and inverts need water changes like the fish do???


if so, this is ganna suck.....

 

[Freed]

If your ammonia and/or nitrite spike then yes you will have to change water. If your filtration is adequate enough then that should take care of the ammonia and nitrite for you. Water changes every once in a while wouldn't hurt though either way.

 

[cmejaf30]

I was told that ich lives on most fish and that it overpowers the fish when they become stressed/weak. This in turn weakens their immune system, allowing the ich to flourish. (Please see my other post and if you have any advice let me know). I'm batting ich on a flame angel and need all the help I can get. Does hypo really work? If so, what's the best way to do it?

 

[Freed]

I am doing hypo right now on two heniochus diphreutes in my QT tank and have done hypo on numerous other fish with the same result with all of them--- no ich in the main display and not even after the display fish have been "stressed" beyond belief. It works and has been proven to work by authors etc., unlike so many of the "reef safe" ich treatments for display/reef tanks which haven't been proven to work. The manufacturer leads the buyer to believe that the magic potion is what is making the ich disappear but in all actuality it is the natural life cycle of the ich itself which causes the ich to disappear from the fish after a few days.