Can free swimming parasites kill fish instantly?

[nayanjyoti2012]

Hi All. I have a 33 gallons FOWLR tank.
But sadly started adding fishes without quarantine until one fish got ich and shed and then again all fishes started itching against surfaces and few days later all had white spots and died in following 2 days. This happened over a period of 10 days. So I'm assuming this was most probably ich, but not velvet. But regardless,

My tank was left fallow for 3 weeks and then I thought of adding just one fish
I added and it was swimming very actively, eating all food very actively too.
But the next day it started occasionally twitching towards one side and swimming up and down and ultimately falling in the sand bed. Unfortunately it was too late and it died without any trace of white spots on its body.

So my query is if free swimming parasites kills fish in such instant time, that too for a healthy fish without any signs of white spot or anything in body.

Looking for help. Please suggest!
Thanks in advance.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Your tank has disease, you have to leave the tank fishless for some time, I think 45 days but let someone else confirm that or else google it. If you don't leave the tank fishless, then any fish you add can get the disease and die. Its very stressful for the fish to be netted at the store, transported to your home, acclimated to a new tank which has disease, certainly all that stress can kill a fish fast.

 

[nayanjyoti2012]

Your tank has disease, you have to leave the tank fishless for some time, I think 45 days but let someone else confirm that or else google it. If you don't leave the tank fishless, then any fish you add can get the disease and die. Its very stressful for the fish to be netted at the store, transported to your home, acclimated to a new tank which has disease, certainly all that stress can kill a fish fast.

Yeah that sounds legit. However I am still wondering if it's actually the ich/velvet parasites that killed that fish or any other tank issues. Parameters are all fine so if it's free floating parasites like ich/velvet then how come the fish died in just 1 day that too without any signs of white spots whatsoever. Can you suggest?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi All. I have a 33 gallons FOWLR tank.
But sadly started adding fishes without quarantine until one fish got ich and shed and then again all fishes started itching against surfaces and few days later all had white spots and died in following 2 days. This happened over a period of 10 days. So I'm assuming this was most probably ich, but not velvet. But regardless,

My tank was left fallow for 3 weeks and then I thought of adding just one fish
I added and it was swimming very actively, eating all food very actively too.
But the next day it started occasionally twitching towards one side and swimming up and down and ultimately falling in the sand bed. Unfortunately it was too late and it died without any trace of white spots on its body.

So my query is if free swimming parasites kills fish in such instant time, that too for a healthy fish without any signs of white spot or anything in body.

Looking for help. Please suggest!
Thanks in advance.

It does sound like ich caused the first issue in your tank.

No, free swimming theronts of ick or velvet will not kill the fish. These first need to attach to the fish and develop into the trophont stage before they harm the fish. This takes days for the first batch, but then, additional reproduction is required for the fish to die from the infection. That takes one to two weeks in most cases.

Something else killed this last fish - either it was sick when you got it, had an acclimation issue, or there is a water quality issue in your tank.

Jay

 

[nayanjyoti2012]

It does sound like ich caused the first issue in your tank.

No, free swimming theronts of ick or velvet will not kill the fish. These first need to attach to the fish and develop into the trophont stage before they harm the fish. This takes days for the first batch, but then, additional reproduction is required for the fish to die from the infection. That takes one to two weeks in most cases.

Something else killed this last fish - either it was sick when you got it, had an acclimation issue, or there is a water quality issue in your tank.

Jay

Yes, sounds right, I agree. My parameters are all normal so I'm not very sure if anything else is wrong. If it's any pollutants or any other issues. Can you please suggest as to which parameters can I check which was probably very lethal to that fish. It was a pretty hardy, yellow tail blue damsel, it was eating very actively and swimming very well too. But after 24 hours, it started twitching and died after 3 hours or so. Please suggest me

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Yes, sounds right, I agree. My parameters are all normal so I'm not very sure if anything else is wrong. If it's any pollutants or any other issues. Can you please suggest as to which parameters can I check which was probably very lethal to that fish. It was a pretty hardy, yellow tail blue damsel, it was eating very actively and swimming very well too. But after 24 hours, it started twitching and died after 3 hours or so. Please suggest me

Sorry - not enough clues to form a diagnosis.

Are there any animals alive in the tank now?

 

[nayanjyoti2012]

Sorry - not enough clues to form a diagnosis.

Are there any animals alive in the tank now?

Yes I have a very small niger trigger which is eating fine and staying fine since few days. I had no room for him in quarantine and my bigger tank is currently hosting fishes which he might eat so I've added him here

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Yes I have a very small niger trigger which is eating fine and staying fine since few days. I had no room for him in quarantine and my bigger tank is currently hosting fishes which he might eat so I've added him here

I would just watch the trigger for two weeks, to try and ensure it didn’t catch a disease from the fish that died.

 

[nayanjyoti2012]

I would just watch the trigger for two weeks, to try and ensure it didn’t catch a disease from the fish that died.

Sure. Thanks for the insights