Will ICH????

LAReefer4Life · Apr 30, 2019

My friend and I are having a debate around the length of time that ich latches onto the fish and feeds during the first stage of it life cycle. She noticed a few small specs last night on her fish and in the morning they were gone. I was at her place earlier as well and there were no visible signs earlier that same day.

I informed her that it was most likely sand or particles of sorts attached to the mucous coat vs ich due to the fact they were gone in under 24 hours. My understanding after reading many articles is that it typically takes 3 plus days before it falls off into the substrate to reproduce... BUT she in convinced otherwise.

Looking for confirmation from the experts here so she will handle this appropriately.

Thank you!

drstardust · Apr 30, 2019

I am not aware of ich trophonts being present for less than 3 days. Velvet can certainly be on for 24 hours or even less, but I doubt this is the case if your fish are doing ok and the spots looked large enough to be called sand-like. Particulates can definitely attach to fish and without a picture of it at the time we may never know *shrug*

LAReefer4Life · Apr 30, 2019

drstardust said:
I am not aware of ich trophonts being present for less than 3 days. Velvet can certainly be on for 24 hours or even less, but I doubt this is the case if your fish are doing ok and the spots looked large enough to be called sand-like. Particulates can definitely attach to fish and without a picture of it at the time we may never know *shrug*

Thanks for the quick response @drstardust. Living up to that excellence award

BTW how did earn that? I see everyone has these different badges???