Do we really know anything about ich?!

One of my favorite topics! (For realz, just in case someone thinks I'm being mean

The percentage of fish having Ich will depend on the area they are being removed from and the species of fish.

I'm going to throw exact numbers out from a single study, so you can get an idea of the numbers of wild fish being brought in with Ich..... and how variable and unpredictable it is. And to clarify, when I say "Ich" when referencing these studies, I'm talking about Crypto.

Total number of fish in study = 358 fish (14 different species)
Total number of fish to have Ich = 239 (13 species)
Total percent with Ich = 66.7%

They took fish from 3 different sites.

Site 1 = 79% had Ich
The average number of parasites found on these infected fish = 12.9 per fish.

Site 2 = 66% had Ich
The average = 5 parasites per fish

Site 3 = 51% had Ich
The average = 2.3 parasites per fish.

So, you have a much better chance of bringing Ich in, if you buy fish from Site 1 verses Site 3. THEN there is the differences amongst species (which this study didn't cover), the strain of Ich and then your water parameters (salinity, temp).

Like a snowflake, no two Ich cases are alike (exaggeration, of course). It's why there is so much disagreement on the topic. There is honestly no mystery in Ich anymore, you just have to know where to look for your references.

 

Lol Renee next time I will quote you! I am pretty sure you are where I learned all that from a couple months back. This post is awesome do you have any links to the study?

 

Sometimes I see a ****e spot on one of my fish.

Turns out to be a small copopod usually, luckily.

Is the fish showing any signs of sickness, has it spread.

Sounds like you went above and beyond with your QT!

I had posted 'white' spot, censored that?

Worked this time, I must have mis spelled it

 

Soak everything in selcon!

 

Oh, small copepods, that's better....or WORSE?

 

Excellent info, Renee! Thanks for sharing.

Where the problem comes in is at the LFS. They sort fish by species, not region (save for a few from the Red Sea, of course). So it's fairly safe to assume that, for example, Green Chromis from sites 2 and 3 are mixed with Green Chromis from site 1 (all being stressed from capture, shipping, etc.).

On the subject of ich strains, an article I read a while back stated that one of the reasons fish are more susceptible to ich in our tanks is because we mix livestock from different regions and expose them to strains to which they are neither accustomed or immune. Just thought I'd throw that out there and see what you think.

 

This made me laugh! I hate it when I reread a post I made and find multiple errors

 

I'm actually pretty sure this study is online. I'll go hunt it down, as I now just read it from a PDF on my iPad. Most of my references are not available as links as they are academic journals. It sucks that these are hard to get a hold of if you don't have access through work or school.

 

THESE are the types of places we have to get our research from. Forget what you read on the internet, sometimes you need to go back to grass roots.

http://www.int-res.com/articles/dao/25/d025p159.pdf

Absolutely, 100% correct.

And just when ya think you can still edit it and no one will be the wiser.... someone quotes you.

 

So ich CAN lay dormant? It can survive in a tank and not infect fish? This goes against everything I have read. I've read that NO fish is immune and can only fight it off for so long. Eventually EVERY fish will fall victim if it is present. So confusing. So is there nothing we can do then?