Does ich ever just go away?

[Lavey29]

And as long as we are on the topic I'm pretty sure everyone will agree that tangs see to me most likely to develop ick first in a tank right?

But why? Perhaps taking a fish that claims 150 feet of ocean reef as territory and then putting him in a box causes so much stress their immune systems collapse? Why do some fish with mucous slime coats seem more immune?

I have a cleaner wrasse in my tank who is always cleaning the scales of the larger fish. Is he removing parasites that could potentially cause ich?

 

[Lavey29]

Pretty easily, they either screwed up the quarantine process or didn't go fallow long enough. Or they learned nothing, and introduced another fish without QT right before putting old fish in. Parasites are not very good at adapting, neither is bacteria, that's why it's so easy for us to wipe them out.

I can agree with your first part as a possibility but certainly not the second part. Bacteria, parasites, roaches. Etc... gonna be around long after you and I are gone here.

 

[Spare time]

I saw the same article. I think this was it from humble fish.

A given strain will die out after 100 generations or so. Given the average life cycle of ich is 2 weeks, this could take almost 4 years (on average).

Search for the word ‘strain’
https://humble.fish/community/index.php?threads/marine-ich.11/

That wouldn't make sense. They would be extinct if that was the case. He also doesn't have something to back that up when he states it.

 

[Pickle_soup]

And as long as we are on the topic I'm pretty sure everyone will agree that tangs see to me most likely to develop ick first in a tank right?

But why? Perhaps taking a fish that claims 150 feet of ocean reef as territory and then putting him in a box causes so much stress their immune systems collapse? Why do some fish with mucous slime coats seem more immune?

I have a cleaner wrasse in my tank who is always cleaning the scales of the larger fish. Is he removing parasites that could potentially cause ich?

Your wrasse is probably not removing ich. The appearance of ich that we see is not actually ich, but a body's reaction to it. Just like you don't see chicken pox, but the body's reaction to it. A cleaner wrasse will not save you from ich.

 

[Pickle_soup]

I can agree with your first part as a possibility but certainly not the second part. Bacteria, parasites, roaches. Etc... gonna be around long after you and I are gone here.

No way, I am taking every roach down with me!!!

 

[Pickle_soup]

And as long as we are on the topic I'm pretty sure everyone will agree that tangs see to me most likely to develop ick first in a tank right?

But why? Perhaps taking a fish that claims 150 feet of ocean reef as territory and then putting him in a box causes so much stress their immune systems collapse? Why do some fish with mucous slime coats seem more immune?

I have a cleaner wrasse in my tank who is always cleaning the scales of the larger fish. Is he removing parasites that could potentially cause ich?

I do believe that ich can develop immunity to copper if it's kept at a certain level, but I do not buy that it is generational.

 

[UMALUM]

But its not out of nowhere. It came from somewhere. It is literally impossible for every tank to have ich. That is like saying everyone has mono and it flares up in people who are stressed.

Not really it's like saying every tank has ich and it only flares up in fish that are stressed. I understand everything comes from somewhere but how many people do you think quarantine every frag they buy for 2 months? And even if they did how could they be sure?

 

[sixline]

From reading everyone's responses, it seems like it's definitely not a settled question among hobbyists.

I did a Google search for "is ich in every tank?" and the first hit was a thread from this very forum. :rolling-on-the-floor-laughing:

Users who responded to the survey were split evenly between between believing it's in every tank and believing it isn't.

 

[Lavey29]

Your wrasse is probably not removing ich. The appearance of ich that we see is not actually ich, but a body's reaction to it. Just like you don't see chicken pox, but the body's reaction to it. A cleaner wrasse will not save you from ich.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...wqsBegQIJxAG&usg=AOvVaw3K9kFOKhcV3GLZnc8ZDQUS
Perhaps or perhaps not

 

[sixline]

It is literally impossible for every tank to have ich.

Based on what?

 

[SpursFan]

Ich has to be introduced plain and simple, it is not in every tank. It can be deprived out of tanks 76 days fallow though there has been some evidence it could take up to 90 days in hypoxic zones(more reason to have ample flow).

 

[sixline]

Everything has to be introduced to a tank, either voluntarily or involuntarily. There is no abiogenesis in reefing.

However, there are a a lot of organisms that are in every reef tank.

 

[zheka757]

Being doing this for 7 years, experienced ick personality in my tank, killed alot of fish by trying to quarantine them back then.
Now for past 4years I have seeing spot on fish once a year or so. But nothing would break out on large. I have 8 tangs in my tank that fight alot, I have achilles, I have hippo, both known for ich.
I still have lots and lots of questions regarding ich, and I belive there is not a single person out there that can say I know everything there is about ich.

 

[00W]

I still have lots and lots of questions regarding ich, and I belive there is not a single person out there that can say I know everything there is about ich.

I like this.
That's how I feel.
Not to be a pain but did anyone read my post?
Please tell me how there is ich in my tank.
And if there is fine, I'm not going to argue but what does it do for 7-8 years?
I stress my fish out all the time.
So are they immune?
And what do we think of that idea.
Let's here some opinions here.

 

[FishTruck]

I like this.
That's how I feel.
Not to be a pain but did anyone read my post?
Please tell me how there is ich in my tank.
And if there is fine, I'm not going to argue but what does it do for 7-8 years?
I stress my fish out all the time.
So are they immune?
And what do we think of that idea.
Let's here some opinions here.

If there are no visible outbreaks, you either don't have ich, or, it persists in an undetectable state. Maybe, a spot here and there that you do not notice. Who can say for sure?

 

[leemont]

And as long as we are on the topic I'm pretty sure everyone will agree that tangs see to me most likely to develop ick first in a tank right?

But why? Perhaps taking a fish that claims 150 feet of ocean reef as territory and then putting him in a box causes so much stress their immune systems collapse? Why do some fish with mucous slime coats seem more

I believe its due to tangs having a thin muscus coat compared to most other fish.

 

[kenchilada]

Lots of misinformation and conjecture in this thread.

 

[brandon429]

If I was to tasked with removing ich from a system the first thing I'd do is a sandbed swap for new rinsed sand

Then the whole tank fallowed fishless for 90 days. All fish treated the right way while in observational holding, in a pro quarantine system not a pvc white hospital tank. A sub reef with muted lighting that looks like a tank but with plastic and terra cotta pots etc, a soothing dim place for treatment and observation vs a scary bright white common qt tank (see Paul's info on tank quarantine)

They'd be added back after 90 days and nothing wet from a pet store would ever enter the tank without 90 day fallow, every item, every drop of water

No other fish tanks in the home, marine ones, that can cross contaminate. It'll take a lot of work that's for sure, in a 100 gallon tank.

Best to avoid it at the start using fallow and qt preps vs catch up

 

[brandon429]

If you shop for information regarding ich by parsing testimony about someone's own tank from threads you're introducing bias into the search and results won't transfer to you, because your tank isn't theirs, in their home with their variables

If you want the real info, narrow your search down to humble fish's site or the disease forum here
No bias

That's not Jay or HF showing their tank to all entrants as the proof

The entrants tanks themselves are the proof. Outbound control/ influence over fish disease is what you need, people who work with public tanks then have to endure live time feedback on the results. You'll soon see which science you want to copy

 

[apb03]

This thread makes me wonder how many people actually tear down their tanks for a largely non-fatal parasite.