Do we really know anything about ich?!

+1 If you other fish are not showing signs, leave everything where it is. Still get that 30 gal and QT all new fish for 4-6 weeks. Treat as needed while in QT.

 

I have a 10 gal qt now that is fully setup to qt every new single fish. I was only going to get the 30 for all of my fish at once. The problem is, I would like to have a tang. But I have not had much luck with them, even after a good quarantine. The powder blue was quarantined and ate like a pig and never saw a spot on him. Colorful and healthy in qt, then died in dt. I wanted to rid the dt of ich so that it wouldn't kill anymore fish. Also, I was under the impression that eventually any fish will succumb to ich, is this not true?

 

Do you mean die from it If so thats false. I have had many, infact most of my fish that got it have beat it and lived long healthy lives.

 

Either get it, or die from it.

 

Ich is one of the most common aliments seen in aquarium fish. It has a very high mortality rate. But way more fish die from causes other than ich.

QTs are great and I highly recommend them. But if your QT is stress-free enough or the fish are healthy enough or partially immune, they can carry a low grade case of it that you don't/can't even notice. I had a 100g tank set up for a year with a couple of lions in it. Never any signs of Ich. I had a 28g set up with a pair of lions in it (for over a year). Never any signs of Ich. We put the 28g lions in with the 100g lions.... and there it was. These guys had no visible spots in over a year of QT, so go figure. The good thing was they were well conditioned at that point, were getting a beautiful varied diet and they beat it on their own. So QTs are your best beat, but they don't guarantee an Ich-free display tank unless you medicate in QT.

 

Thought you might find this interesting to use as a reference...

"Life cycle durations may range primarily because of the unpredictability of tomont development. In addition, some characteristics of the different life cycle stages vary depending upon the stain of C. irritans, the salinity, temperature of water, and the species of fish infested."

Diggles, B.K. and Adlard, R.D. (1997) Intraspecific variation in Cryptocaryon irritans. Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, 44: 25-32.

Just a little something you can add to Ich discussions out there. I don't think everyone realizes there are different strains.

 

A month ago a patent application was submitted for a Cryptocaryon irritans vaccine comprised of an immobilization antigen.

 

Nice...so basically a flu shot for fish

 

They've been messing with it for awhile, and there are other vaccines that work in different ways. They just don't know how to use it. It would be next to impossible to vaccinate a million fish in an ocean floating pen. They are also looking at ways to inoculate feed.

 

Now that would be the million dollar idea...literally. Good to see some progression either way. Thanks for keeping us updated!