Ich emergency!! Help with medication please!!!!

[Gweeds1980]

I'm just thinking out loud and don't really expect an answer to this one but, how does the dinospore find a host so quickly? For one dinospore in one second find one fish in, let's say, a 10 gallon tank....that's pretty quick. Can Dino's see? Or do they smell the fish host! How tiny are these things anyway? Why can't we see them? Really I'm just scratching my head. [emoji854]

From my own research online, having read a few published papers, the honest answer is that we just don't know... it seems to be a mix up of various chemical and hormonal signals given off by fish.

 

[Rikki Reef]

agree on temp an myself used a two part product called Rally an Kick ich and dosed the whole DT took about a month but all is good and lost one fish yellow tank but he the 1st to get sick an missed it, good luck an save nemo

 

[Gweeds1980]

agree on temp an myself used a two part product called Rally an Kick ich and dosed the whole DT took about a month but all is good and lost one fish yellow tank but he the 1st to get sick an missed it, good luck an save nemo

That's great for you... but you do still have ich and now you're managing it... that's fine and really hope it works out, but be aware.

 

[Humblefish]

From my own research online, having read a few published papers, the honest answer is that we just don't know... it seems to be a mix up of various chemical and hormonal signals given off by fish.

^^This

Much of what we know on why free swimmers are "attracted" to fish and how their immune system works to combat them is still theoretical. Once those puzzles are fully solved, we may be closer to seeing a viable "reef safe" parasite treatment. In the meanwhile, science has proven that copper (for example) kills free swimming parasites in a QT environment so that remains your best bet.

 

[Empress]

If researchers can figure out why free swimmers are attracted our fish and how they find the fish in the water column then we can come up with a better solution than having to use copper to eradicate them.

We need to stop these death bugs BEFORE they can attach to fish ALL THE TIME. And make it reef safe for those tanks that are already infected.

For the hobbyists, marine parasites is somewhat equal to cancer in people. We know what it is....but we can't stop it from happening. But I'm hopeful that someday someone will figure it out. [emoji57]

 

[Gweeds1980]

Not sure how they seek them out-- could be heat or slime they seek -- but because of how many there are after one completing it's life cycle (hundreds) it's a big chance.

I doubt it's body heat... don't forget fish are ectotherms, so I doubt evolution would have favoured body heat as a way to find a host.

 

[4FordFamily]

I doubt it's body heat... don't forget fish are ectotherms, so I doubt evolution would have favoured body heat as a way to find a host.

Probably true. Perhaps electrical activity-- but then heaters and pumps should attract a lot, one would think -- serving as a great distraction.

 

[Empress]

I think it's "fish movement" that attracts these parasites to find fish hosts so quickly. Very much like a shark with radar can signal in on prey.

 

[Maritimer]

The sharks' "radar" is electrical-based. They're pretty well attracted to electronics, too - during our shark dive last Saturday, one of the blue sharks _ate_ one of the divers' GoPro camera.

~Bruce

 

[ngoodermuth]

The sharks' "radar" is electrical-based. They're pretty well attracted to electronics, too - during our shark dive last Saturday, one of the blue sharks _ate_ one of the divers' GoPro camera.

~Bruce

I love the casualness of this comment "during our shark dive last Saturday" ... that is awesome! Do you have any cool pictures?

 

[Maritimer]

Nah.

Mostly got video of the dolphins and blue sharks - everyone missed out on getting photos or video of the whales.

Will drop some in the "Wildlife Near You" thread, so as not to clutter here.

~Bruce

 

[Humblefish]

Just wanted to share this read: https://repository.lib.ncsu.edu/bitstream/handle/1840.16/2844/etd.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

It is entitled, "Chemosensory Attraction of Pfiesteria spp. To Fish Secreta" (abstract below). Pfiesteria is a genus of dinoflagellates, and at least two species feeds on fish skin through micropredation; which makes them similar to our very own Amyloodinium ocellatum aka Marine Velvet Disease. So, this read might help explain why parasites (or at least velvet dinospores) are "attracted" to fish.

Dinoflagellates represent a diverse group of both auxotrophic and heterotrophic protists. Most heterotrophic dinoflagellates are raptorial feeders that encounter prey using 'temporal-gradient sensing' chemotaxis wherein cells move along a chemical gradient in a directed manner toward the highest concentration. Using short-term 'memory' to determine the orientation of the gradient, dinoflagellates swim in a 'run-and-tumble' pattern, alternating directed swimming with rapid changes in orientation. As the extracellular concentration of the attractant increases, a corresponding increase in the ratio of net-to-gross displacement results in overall movement toward the stimulus.The dinoflagellates Pfiesteria piscicida and P. shumwayae are heterotrophic estuarine species with complex life cycles that include amoeboid, flagellated, and cyst stages, that have been implicated as causative agents in numerous major fish kills in the southeastern United States These organisms show documented 'ambush-predator' behavior toward live fish in culture, including rapid transformations among stages and directed swimming toward fish prey in a manner that suggests the presence of a strong signalling relationship between live fish and cells of Pfiesteria spp.Zoospores of the two species of Pfiesteria can be divided into three functional types: TOX-A designates actively toxic isolates fed on fish prey; TOX-B refers to temporarily non-toxic cultures that have recently (1 week to 6 months) been removed from fish prey (and fed alternative algal prey); and NON-IND refers to isolates without apparent ichthyotoxic ability (tested as unable to kill fish in the standardized fish bioassay process; or without access to fish for ca. 1.5 years). Several Pfiesteria-like dinoflagellates have been isolated from samples in which P. piscicida and P. shumwayae are also present, including several cryptoperidiniopsoid species that have repeatedly been tested as lacking ichthyotoxic capability under ecologically relevant conditions (cell densities that occur in estuaries).Microcapillary assay techniques were employed to determine the attraction of P. piscicida and P. shumwayae zoospores to sterile-filtered fish mucus and excreta. Differences in attraction were measured among functional types, and between these two species and several isolates of cryptoperidiniopsoids, in ten-minute trials in which zoospores entering tubes filled with test substances were observed and counted. TOX-A zoospores of both P. piscicida and P. shumwayae were strongly and comparably attracted to fish secreta/excreta, relative to their behavior toward microcapillary tubes that were filled with filtered seawater. TOX-B zoospores of both Pfiesteria species showed intermediate attraction toward fish materials that appeared to be inversely related to time isolated from fish prey. NON-IND zoospores exhibited low attraction to fish materials. Cryptoperidiniopsoid zoospores showed moderate attraction with no apparent influence of previous exposure to fish.In an additional experiment that examined the signal activity in fish materials over time after collection from fresh fish, unfiltered fish materials ceased to attract P. piscicida zoospores after approximately 48 hours and ultrafiltered materials maintained attractive ability over the duration of the experiment (72 hours). These data show that filtration of fish materials may be used to extend the useful life of the chemical signal, possibly by removing bacteria that consume or degrade it.In recent years, several researchers have identified fish kairomones (pheromones that benefit the recipient) present in fish mucus that induce life history and behavioral changes in a range of zooplankters. It is likely that one or more of these kairomones, or similar compounds, are responsible for the behavioral and developmental changes observed in Pfiesteria spp. in the presence of live fish. Data from these experiments support the current understanding that significant behavioral differences exist between functional types of Pfiesteria spp., and between these toxic dinoflagellate species and known lookalike dinoflagellates without ichthyotoxic activity under ecologically relevant conditions.