New Fish Had Ich. Removed Under 24 Hours. Did it Infest Tank?

[FiveGallonSea]

Bought a Gem from a reputable seller that was supposedly kept in copper. He looked very nice and healthy at the store. I acclimated him and moved him into my display during lights off. He was active, eating well. When I was doing a close examination during lights on today I found spots that looked like ich. Definitely not easy to find on a gem but they were there. I removed him immediately.

In those 20-24 hours could I have infested my tank? I’d be devastated.

 

[MnFish1]

Bought a Gem from a reputable seller that was supposedly kept in copper. He looked very nice and healthy at the store. I acclimated him and moved him into my display during lights off. He was active, eating well. When I was doing a close examination during lights on today I found spots that looked like ich. Definitely not easy to find on a gem but they were there. I removed him immediately.

In those 20-24 hours could I have infested my tank? I’d be devastated.

Yes - if it was Ich, it could have. And sorry to give the news

 

[CasperOe]

Aye I second what @MnFish1 writes, there's a realistic chance/risk that it may be in your tank now sadly if it was in fact ich

Are you sure that's what it is/was?

 

[randomfishdude]

Uv filter time.
Just to be shure.

 

[MnFish1]

Uv filter time.
Just to be shure.

a UV filter will not make it 'sure' or 'unsure'. - However it may help if indeed the fish had ich

 

[randomfishdude]

a UV filter will not make it 'sure' or 'unsure'. - However it may help if indeed the fish had ich

Yea. I'm just saying as a little extra measure.

 

[MnFish1]

Yea. I'm just saying as a little extra measure.

agree

 

[Uncle99]

The tank may have been infected but seems if it was, the infection was at very early stages. I’d just keep a close watch on DT friends and be ready to take action, if things go south. Taking action is very stressful itself, so keeping everything normal including feeding is essential.

Hold GEM until a determination can be made if anyone, catches the parasite.

Not ALL infections result in fish being wiped out.

But be ready as you can if anyone stops eating or is lathargic.

 

[randomfishdude]

The tank may have been infected but seems if it was, the infection was at very early stages. I’d just keep a close watch on DT friends and be ready to take action, if things go south. Taking action is very stressful itself, so keeping everything normal including feeding is essential.

Hold GEM until a determination can be made if anyone, catches the parasite.

Not ALL infections result in fish being wiped out.

But be ready as you can if anyone stops eating or is lathargic.

This Is what I am doing.
Since I can't qt.
Wasn't it you who responded to my thread?

 

[Uncle99]

This Is what I am doing.
Since I can't qt.
Wasn't it you who responded to my thread?

Perfect.
I can QT, but did not with a Blue Tang.
It came, went several rounds, and then just slowly disappeared. Over say three weeks. No additives, no changes.
I’m not good with medications, I kill the fish for sure, or stress him out so he dies anyways.
If it happens again, I’ll just do the same.
Good luck.

 

[FiveGallonSea]

I run a UV 24/7. I contacted the seller and took him back. Very heartbreaking overall. Been wanting a gem for years and the time finally came with a local stand up guy who is reputable.

I took a look at his room and several tanks where the Gem came from were all plumbed together. There was all kinds of tangs in different systems including the delicate powder blue with no issues. I don’t know how mine had it. Especially in copper. Though he does say he runs low therapeutic levels. Then again who knows if it was ich for sure but it was something and I didn’t want it in my display tank. All his fins had small ich-like spots that was only visible under blue lights. That’s why they escaped me as I observed him under dim white lights at the store.

If it was lympho I wouldn’t mind I’ve dealt with that easily but these were small and all over his fins. Couldn’t really tell any on the body. So back he goes to copper and we will see what happens.

I’m a grown man and this is truly disheartening. I briefly had my *dream* setup as things are all going pretty well right now and I was happy. Should have known better in this hobby that happy doesn’t last long.

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

Yes, there is now ich in the tank. You could try taking all fish out and doing treatment, or potentially running ich management, though I wouldn't suggest this.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I run a UV 24/7. I contacted the seller and took him back. Very heartbreaking overall. Been wanting a gem for years and the time finally came with a local stand up guy who is reputable.

I took a look at his room and several tanks where the Gem came from were all plumbed together. There was all kinds of tangs in different systems including the delicate powder blue with no issues. I don’t know how mine had it. Especially in copper. Though he does say he runs low therapeutic levels. Then again who knows if it was ich for sure but it was something and I didn’t want it in my display tank. All his fins had small ich-like spots that was only visible under blue lights. That’s why they escaped me as I observed him under dim white lights at the store.

If it was lympho I wouldn’t mind I’ve dealt with that easily but these were small and all over his fins. Couldn’t really tell any on the body. So back he goes to copper and we will see what happens.

I’m a grown man and this is truly disheartening. I briefly had my *dream* setup as things are all going pretty well right now and I was happy. Should have known better in this hobby that happy doesn’t last long.

I hear LFS running low doses of copper - I wish they wouldn’t do that, it just suppresses ich. Same with the stores that hold their fish in low salinity, but not full hypo.

Jay

 

[randomfishdude]

I hear LFS running low doses of copper - I wish they wouldn’t do that, it just suppresses ich. Same with the stores that hold their fish in low salinity, but not full hypo.

Jay

The lfs I work at holds at 1.022
And we don't run copper in our systems.
The store is 60%freshwater and 40%saltwater.
But there is 5 or 6 separate systems.
The fish don't stay long enough for any signs of anythang to show up usually.
I don't remember who the supplier is.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Agree with low dose and really have not seen mention of symptoms other than dots you see. Can you post pics of the fish or even video under white lighting?

 

[FiveGallonSea]

Agree with low dose and really have not seen mention of symptoms other than dots you see. Can you post pics of the fish or even video under white lighting?

I returned him because my QT tank isn't up yet and I didn't want to keep him in my display any longer. He's going back into copper and we will see again in two weeks. He had no symptoms in the period I had him and he readily ate. But I mean white small sand-like specks on all fins.... I guess it still could have been lymph or something but why gamble anymore than I already did with my display

 

[vetteguy53081]

I returned him because my QT tank isn't up yet and I didn't want to keep him in my display any longer. He's going back into copper and we will see again in two weeks. He had no symptoms in the period I had him and he readily ate. But I mean white small sand-like specks on all fins.... I guess it still could have been lymph or something but why gamble anymore than I already did with my display

If confirmed ich, this parasite is opportunistic and will likely have gone to other fish as a host which in turn is recommended to treat all the fish with coppersafe for a full 30 days and leave the display tank fishless for 45-60 days to allow the parasites to die off without a host fish for their reproduction

 

[MugiwaraGrape]

Bought a Gem from a reputable seller that was supposedly kept in copper. He looked very nice and healthy at the store. I acclimated him and moved him into my display during lights off. He was active, eating well. When I was doing a close examination during lights on today I found spots that looked like ich. Definitely not easy to find on a gem but they were there. I removed him immediately.

In those 20-24 hours could I have infested my tank? I’d be devastated.

I would monitor for aggression between them as well. I had a panic a couple months ago over a powder brown and it ended up being that when my lights went out my sailfin prowled my whole 250 to find and fight with the powder.

 

[Sarcasm Included]

If confirmed ich, this parasite is opportunistic and will likely have gone to other fish as a host which in turn is recommended to treat all the fish with coppersafe for a full 30 days and leave the display tank fishless for 45-60 days to allow the parasites to die off without a host fish for their reproduction

The parasite doesn't drop off and go directly to other fish, it drops to the sand of other hard surface to reproduce first. Technically, if he removed all the other fish from the display within 3 days, he should bae able to prevent their infection. The display tank should be considered infected though.

 

[vetteguy53081]

The parasite doesn't drop off and go directly to other fish, it drops to the sand of other hard surface to reproduce first. Technically, if he removed all the other fish from the display within 3 days, he should bae able to prevent their infection. The display tank should be considered infected though.

I did not say they jump fish to fish as yes , they recycle/reproduce and find host once again
There is no 3 days rule as often when we see the parasites, they are in tromont or trophants stages already