TTM -Should I start over or not?
- Thread starter lespaul339
- Start date
I agree.
ThRoewer
New member
Actually the Burgess dissertation does not state that the immunity only lasts for 6 months. He only investigated up to that point and it indicated that the immune response started to fade at that point if the fish are kept in an ich free system.
From my observations fish will maintain a certain level of immunity for as long as they are exposed to the parasite.
If spots show up on immune reef fish it is often on the end of the tailfin where the blood circulation is rather weak.
This week I had my Philippine regal angel under the microscope to check for monoganean parasites and found a few ich nodules (clearly identified by the rotating parasite inside) on its tailfin. I also checked the body and other fins but didn't find anything there.
But with clownfish in anemones i noticed that spots mostly show up on the back around the hard rayed dorsal fin. It is the area that is in least contact with the anemone, supporting the theory that anemone slime provides some level of protection against skin parasites.
This last little flare up was likely brought on by a blenny from DD who decided to make this tank his home despite being earmarked for the BSJ tank (he took the opportunity of a slightly open lid to escape to the 40B)
I also observed that elevated stress makes fish more susceptible to ich. I have a male bluestripe pipefish isolated in a specimen container and the male of the resident pair always tries to fight it. He also showed some nodules despite normally being clean.
Interestingly this flare up was confined to the 40B and didn't affect the fish in the connected tanks.
I don't buy into the commonly expressed statement that ich will hide inside the gills (someone may have confused this with Amyloodinium which primarily infects gills).
At least Burgess found on his test fish no preference of the parasite to any particular region of the fish whether partially immune or not. Fully immune fish would have no detectable infection at all. Though he only worked with one species. My own observations would indicate that partially immune fish predominantly show nodules on regions with restricted blood flow, especially the edges of fins. Fish with heavy armor (seahorses, pipefish, boxfish,...) are usually less specific.
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From my observations fish will maintain a certain level of immunity for as long as they are exposed to the parasite.
If spots show up on immune reef fish it is often on the end of the tailfin where the blood circulation is rather weak.
This week I had my Philippine regal angel under the microscope to check for monoganean parasites and found a few ich nodules (clearly identified by the rotating parasite inside) on its tailfin. I also checked the body and other fins but didn't find anything there.
But with clownfish in anemones i noticed that spots mostly show up on the back around the hard rayed dorsal fin. It is the area that is in least contact with the anemone, supporting the theory that anemone slime provides some level of protection against skin parasites.
This last little flare up was likely brought on by a blenny from DD who decided to make this tank his home despite being earmarked for the BSJ tank (he took the opportunity of a slightly open lid to escape to the 40B)
I also observed that elevated stress makes fish more susceptible to ich. I have a male bluestripe pipefish isolated in a specimen container and the male of the resident pair always tries to fight it. He also showed some nodules despite normally being clean.
Interestingly this flare up was confined to the 40B and didn't affect the fish in the connected tanks.
I don't buy into the commonly expressed statement that ich will hide inside the gills (someone may have confused this with Amyloodinium which primarily infects gills).
At least Burgess found on his test fish no preference of the parasite to any particular region of the fish whether partially immune or not. Fully immune fish would have no detectable infection at all. Though he only worked with one species. My own observations would indicate that partially immune fish predominantly show nodules on regions with restricted blood flow, especially the edges of fins. Fish with heavy armor (seahorses, pipefish, boxfish,...) are usually less specific.
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Tahoe Reefer
New member
In an emergency situation, like a power outage or heater failure, you can float ziplock bags of hot water in your tank to heat it up. The freezer bags work great. Just a thought for the future, goog luck.
