Ich Presence

[Aquadude1]

This has been done before i think, but out of curiosity how many people here have ich in there tank? If you do, what is done to manage it?

 

[Aquadude1]

I do have it in my tank. Couldn't pass up a petco deal and dont have space for a qt system in my apartment.

I manage through uv, frequent quality feedings, and provide SOME relief with cleaner shrimp.

 

[LOZReefer]

So far.... I don't believe so. Tank has only been up since last Feb though.

I once heard someone say that most fish already have ich but whether or not they show symptoms is a showing of how healthy they are?

 

[Aquadude1]

So far.... I don't believe so. Tank has only been up since last Feb though.

I once heard someone say that most fish already have ich but whether or not they show symptoms is a showing of how healthy they are?

Nice! I would have liked to kept mine that way but I took a gamble and lost.

I honestly doubt all fish have it especially healthy CB individuals.

 

[Aquadude1]

Bump

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

The only real way to know for certain if ich is present (or has been recently) is to have an eDNA test run. There is a new test on the market that tests more quickly for ich or velvet, but only in cases where moderately high numbers are present (which would give you symptoms anyway).

 

[Aquadude1]

The only real way to know for certain if ich is present (or has been recently) is to have an eDNA test run. There is a new test on the market that tests more quickly for ich or velvet, but only in cases where moderately high numbers are present (which would give you symptoms anyway).

Fair. I guess i am assuming ich is because I saw moderate visible spots that appeared to large to be velvet imo. I definitely haven't got proof for that

 

[Aquadude1]

Jay just a random question i have been thinking about as these tests are growing in popularity. I assume the tests are based on PCR, does the company offering this give any specific FN or FP stats?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Jay just a random question i have been thinking about as these tests are growing in popularity. I assume the tests are based on PCR, does the company offering this give any specific FN or FP stats?

The company that offers this service is Aquabiomics. They don't seem to say exactly how their testing is done, I suspect it is from an outside lab. It could be either qPCR or metabarcoding. I did not see any stats on how they handle their false positive or false negative results. I've been pretty cautious about relying on their results without question - some results I've seen mirror my knowledge of the system being tested (it identified a fluke species that we know was in the system on one species of ray) but in testing another tank, it showed positive for Cryptocaryon, yet the tank has had only one fish in it for three years with no symptoms....

Reading the results takes a bit of "sleuthing". I've always questioned why human eDNA doesn't show up? Maybe it does and they just don't report that? I've also found odd fish species eDNA showing up in samples that don't seem to make sense until you look at the food being fed, and then that explains why certain fish DNA is showing up (herring from food for example). One test I ran showed a bunch of terrestrial plant species - but those were growing near the tank!

 

[Aquadude1]

Jay just a random question i have been thinking about as these tests are growing in popularity. I assume the tests are based on PCR, does the company offering this give any specific FN or FP stats?

The company that offers this service is Aquabiomics. They don't seem to say exactly how their testing is done, I suspect it is from an outside lab. It could be either qPCR or metabarcoding. I did not see any stats on how they handle their false positive or false negative results. I've been pretty cautious about relying on their results without question - some results I've seen mirror my knowledge of the system being tested (it identified a fluke species that we know was in the system on one species of ray) but in testing another tank, it showed positive for Cryptocaryon, yet the tank has had only one fish in it for three years with no symptoms....

Reading the results takes a bit of "sleuthing". I've always questioned why human eDNA doesn't show up? Maybe it does and they just don't report that? I've also found odd fish species eDNA showing up in samples that don't seem to make sense until you look at the food being fed, and then that explains why certain fish DNA is showing up (herring from food for example). One test I ran showed a bunch of terrestrial plant species - but those were growing near the tank!

Thanks for detailed responce.

I would not have thought about traces showing up from fish food.