Your thoughts on "Ich-Free" tanks - IS IT POSSIBLE?

[daniella3d]

My tank? what's the point of seing my tank ?

AS for your ich case, you will probably keep having episodes of ich here and there, not my fault so don't bite my head off. Once it is in the tank it can be in low level infection on the gills only, then one day the fish get stressed and weaken and the infection spread.

I quarantined a copperband butterfly..isn't it a delicate fish? you should see him now...huge fat and healthy. Why would it be stressfull for a fish to be in quarantine if the quarantine is well setup, have hiding places and have good water quality, again I am asking? why?

ich may be in your tank but it's not in mine. I have never had any case of ick in my tank and I had a blue hippo tang. It did get ich when I got it but not ever after the hyposalinity treatment. Hyposalinity treatment is hard to do. It must be done at 1.009 for 4 weeks minimum and with a well calibrated refractometer. But that did cure the ich on my hippo 100% since it never returned. If the fish still had ich, it would have showed up once I moved it to the display tank or when I redid my scape because that was quite stressfull for my fish then.

BTW, a week is about right for the ich to show up once it is in a system and a fish is stressed out. There could be a few explanation for your fish. Either ich was present in your main tank and although the hypo treatment worked when you introduced it in you display it got contaminated again? It could be that the hypo did not work? not sure.

None of my fish in the DT ever showed any sign of ich..stress or no stress and I can assure you that they have gone though major stress but still no sign of ich. That's the beauty of having a ich free tank...wether the fish are stressed out or not they don't show any sign of ich..and no need to feed garlic! no need to be carefull not to do that or do this to stress the fish.

Here is my tank...it has changed a bit now as there are no more algae and the coral have grow a lot and some have been replaced by others but that's it:



and this is the rock with the SPS now, 9 months later:



and here is a video of my copperband butterfly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=LJ61unnhpgQ

and a video of my tank today, sorry for the frag rack (I had to frag!) and the out of focus spots :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=TUltUhzQajk

Originally Posted by Bblinks

so much tension again... daniella3d, if you dont 6 long month there is no sign of any ick...until the achille showd up 2 months ago. He was treated with hypo prior to entering the dt but after a week of being chased around by the powder it is packed full of ick. Now 2 month later I still feed it heavily but the ich just seem to hang around.

I agree that quarantine will stress out your fish especially with delicate ones like achilles tang but as long as they are eating and they look health, they will be able to fight off infection. I strongly believe that ick is in everyone's tank, it's just the matters of wether your tank inhabbitants are health enough to fight it off.

[jorjef]

The silence is deafening........ Advantage daniella

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by jorjef

The silence if deafening........ Advantage daniella

lol

[marie]

Originally Posted by Bblinks

.......

I agree that quarantine will stress out your fish especially with delicate ones like achilles tang but as long as they are eating and they look health, they will be able to fight off infection. I strongly believe that ick is in everyone's tank, it's just the matters of wether your tank inhabbitants are health enough to fight it off.

Originally Posted by marie

I am pretty sure that at this time my main tank does not have ich.

I have the ultimate ich magnet, an achilles tang. Even after removing all the rock, stirring the sand bed up in the process and placing all the rock back in a different position (high stress) my tang has never had a single white spot on him.
All my fish were quarantined for 8 weeks and treated with cupramine for 2 of those weeks before being added to the display. I have an achilles tang (6 yrs), a regal angel(6yrs), 2 potters angels(2 yrs) and a copperband butterfly (3 yrs) all hard to keep fish with never any signs of ich.....

I'm not just pretty sure......I would bet money that I have no ich in my tank. Ich would stand out like a sore thumb on this guy

[globaldesigns]

Originally Posted by daniella3d

What? no, the ich is not present and dormant on every fish, that's simply not true. Ich does not live inside a fish either, it live on the skin and gills.

Your fish got ich and then it disapeared and then returned, that's because ich is going through cycles.

There is no point in doing a quarantine on a fish that has ich if you are not going to treat it and then put it in your tank. YOu might as well put it directly into your tank! Ich is not going to go away on its own without a proper treatment.

Daniella, sorry but you are incorrect. Google ICH, and you will find alot of articles. Here is a blurb from one such article:

"The adult parasite burrows into the skin of its victim, feeding on blood and dead epithelial cells. The irritation caused by the burrowing parasite causes the skin of the fish to swell and produce white cysts seen as a small spots."

Here is another one:

"Cryptocaryon is a fully ciliated protozoan that is present in all saltwater environments. It is prevalent in marine aquariums, aquaculture ponds, and in import and wholesale holding environments. This widespread protozoan penetrates the skin and gills of the fish. Depending on the immune status of the fish, it can cause symptoms as mild as just a few small white spots to more severe symptoms including severe irritation, loss of appetite, lethargy, severe respiratory distress, and death."

Here is the link for the second quote: http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/g...ral_pagesid=78, also note this article states it penetrates the skin. Again, ICH doesn't just live on things, it is inside the fish. Also note, that it even states ICH is present in "ALL SALTWATER ENVIRONMENTS", this article does discuss quarantining as a "prevention", but not a cure or elimination.

[jorjef]

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by jorjef

whao, buddy, that horse is dead. You gotta stop beating it!!

[Tracey2]

OP, I think you have to make up your own mind. I qt to rule out velvet, like Marie I have achillies, 3 regal angels and a copperband so I care enough to qt all new fish. As for ich, its just a parasite so of course it doesn't have to exist in our tanks but is extremely difficult to avoid, all new coral, rock etc would have to be in qt for 3 months IMO and all new fish treated with copper or hypo. I use copper on hardy fish and hypo on delicate ones. Good luck

[jorjef]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

whao, buddy, that horse is dead. You gotta stop beating it!!

I could get out my rented mule....

[marie]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

whao, buddy, that horse is dead. You gotta stop beating it!!

As my husband would say....."that's as subtle as a fart in a spacesuit"