Ich treatment..

[John A!10]

So I started treating my fish for ich two weeks ago with coppersafe. The ich wasn’t bad but it was definitely getting worse when I pulled the fish out of my dt. I have never seen ich since, not even the day after. Could the fish still be infected internally and the copper won’t affect it? Will the copper treatment fail?

note: it was definitely ich

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Just because you can't see the ick doesn't mean it isn't there. Best to stick it out for a full treatment and fallow period imo

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ich has and lives in cycles. Disappearance is generally temporary and you must assume that there is still presence. Reason being :
- Free-swimming cells called dinospores are released from a mature cyst and go in search of a host fish.1 Typically these cells can survive seven to eight days without a host, but in lower tank temperatures at around 75-80 degrees, some strains may last up to 30+ days.
- Once a host is found, typically heading for the soft tissue inside the gills first, the dinospores lose their swimming capabilities and become non-motile parasitic trophozoites. At this stage they turn parasitic, as each attaches to the host fish by sending out a filament for feeding.
- After deriving nutrition for 3 days to a week the trophozoites become mature and drop off into the substrate, may remain hidden in the mucus membrane, or sometimes be deeply embedded in the tissue of a host fish, where at this point each forms a type of hard shell covering.
- Inside each encrusted cyst the cells, now called tomonts, reproduce internally by non-sexual division. Upon reaching maturity in about five days, each cyst ruptures and releases hundreds of new free-swimming dinospores to start the cycle all over again, but in much large numbers.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

So I started treating my fish for ich two weeks ago with coppersafe. The ich wasn’t bad but it was definitely getting worse when I pulled the fish out of my dt. I have never seen ich since, not even the day after. Could the fish still be infected internally and the copper won’t affect it? Will the copper treatment fail?

note: it was definitely ich

Cryptocaryon (ich) does not live internally in fish. It can however, create minor infections that are very difficult to see. I always run coppersafe for 30 days, then remove it through water changes, and then observe the fish for two weeks. Ich has a resting statage that may still be active in your DT, so if you rush to put the fish back, they could get reinfected.

Jay

 

[John A!10]

I will not be ending the copper safe early. I will be doing the full 30 days and the full fallow period it has just been two weeks that I can’t see it, I’m used to a shorter life cycle. It was a very minor infection and if the ich fell off, wouldn’t the copper kill it?

 

[John A!10]

Typically these cells can survive seven to eight days without a host, but in lower tank temperatures at around 75-80 degrees, some strains may last up to 30+ days.

I’m a little confused, if the ich has been free swimming for two weeks wouldn’t the ich have been killed by the copper?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I will not be ending the copper safe early. I will be doing the full 30 days and the full fallow period it has just been two weeks that I can’t see it, I’m used to a shorter life cycle. It was a very minor infection and if the ich fell off, wouldn’t the copper kill it?

I may not understand your situation. I understood that your fish had ich in your DT and you moved them to a QT to treat them. If so, your DT will still have the tomont stage that can release theronts that can infect fish placed back into that tank. It takes 45 to as long as 76 days for the tomonts become unable to release theronts.
Jay

 

[John A!10]

I may not understand your situation. I understood that your fish had ich in your DT and you moved them to a QT to treat them. If so, your DT will still have the tomont stage that can release theronts that can infect fish placed back into that tank. It takes 45 to as long as 76 days for the tomonts become unable to release theronts.
Jay

Yes I’m currently doing a fallow period and that’s all sorted out, but I haven’t seen ich for two weeks since I put my fish in qt, what could have happened to the ich?

 

[gentlefish]

Different states of the parasite and only one ( maybe 2) of the lifecycle are sensitive to copper. The “egg” phase is not sensitive and may take longer to hatch. What comes out you kill with copper.
There are 2 copperprotocols . One with treatment , display and observation tank, one with treatment and display tank.
since you do not treat the display tank , that has to be host(fish) free until all eggs are hatched and what comes out dies of not finding foo.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Yes I’m currently doing a fallow period and that’s all sorted out, but I haven’t seen ich for two weeks since I put my fish in qt, what could have happened to the ich?

Well, I'm still confused (grin). If you moved all of the fish to QT and did not treat with anything and the ich went away, then you may just have lucked out and gotten rid of it with one segment of the tank transfer method. If you treated them in the QT, then that is why the ich went away.

Jay

 

[John A!10]

Well, I'm still confused (grin). If you moved all of the fish to QT and did not treat with anything and the ich went away, then you may just have lucked out and gotten rid of it with one segment of the tank transfer method. If you treated them in the QT, then that is why the ich went away.

Jay

Got it! I treated them in the qt with copper so it probably just got rid of it faster than I thought.