ICH!!!!!

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by Enigma

What condition are the fish in right now? How are things progressing? Have you started with garlic? What else do you have in he tank (corals and inverts)?

I got a clown, firefish, sixline wrasse, cleaner shrimp, cuc, torch coral, some mushrooms and a really big feather duster. My sixline got ich only and it seems to be a little better today (the ich from the body disappeared a bit).

I started garlic 2 days back but it turned my water cloudy so I am just feeding them garlic enhanced flake now. Everyone is eating like crazy.

[mrhasan]

I was going through this article:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/g...ral_pagesid=78

and this line caught my attention:

"Cryptocaryon is a fully ciliated protozoan that is present in all saltwater environments"

Since this is an article in liveaquaria, I believe it is correct to some extent (atleast approved by Dr. Foster and Smith).

Comments?

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by mrhasan

Comments?

I'm thinking they mean natural environments?

[mrhasan]

Not sure but here's another line:

"Most wild fish are exposed to low levels of this parasite but are able to effectively fight off the infection without becoming seriously ill. In contrast, due to a relatively small volume of water and a concentrated population of fish, the number of Cryptocaryon has the opportunity to explode in the home aquarium."

[Aquattro]

Yes, I think that's well known. What are you trying to determine?

[mrhasan]

Same debate that I started with :P

"Every tank has this parasite to some extent"

[Aquattro]

Well, probably, yes. But only because the keeper hasn't gone to the effort to remove it. It can be removed, although typically it costs the person all their fish first, as it did for me. With proper quarantine, you can have a parasite free tank.
The question might be, can my fish be fine even if I have ich in the tank? Again, probably. I've had ich outbreaks that I've cleared up with garlic, no fish losses, and no sign again of ich for years. So yes, your tank can be ok with ich present, assuming the fish are healthy and stress free? Does that mean you shouldn't do more? No, not really.
As it was stated, it is our responsibility to do our best. Most of don't, for many reasons. Time, space, money, laziness, lack of concern, etc..
All depends on what you want, what risk you're willing to live with, and whether you want to chance killing all your fish, and then replacing them. That last part cost me about $2000
I'm not willing to do that again, so I go through the trouble, or if I don't want to go through it, I don't buy more fish.

[mrhasan]

Only "money" is the concern for me :P

I am thinking of starting a quarantine tank. I plan one adding, if possible, only two more fishes but not any time soon. Depending on the scenario, I might even have to go through leaving the tank fishless for 2 months. That would be the hardest part just to keep few fishes since I am limited to a 20 gallon tank.

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Well, probably, yes. But only because the keeper hasn't gone to the effort to remove it. It can be removed, although typically it costs the person all their fish first, as it did for me. With proper quarantine, you can have a parasite free tank.
The question might be, can my fish be fine even if I have ich in the tank? Again, probably. I've had ich outbreaks that I've cleared up with garlic, no fish losses, and no sign again of ich for years. So yes, your tank can be ok with ich present, assuming the fish are healthy and stress free? Does that mean you shouldn't do more? No, not really.
As it was stated, it is our responsibility to do our best. Most of don't, for many reasons. Time, space, money, laziness, lack of concern, etc..
All depends on what you want, what risk you're willing to live with, and whether you want to chance killing all your fish, and then replacing them. That last part cost me about $2000
I'm not willing to do that again, so I go through the trouble, or if I don't want to go through it, I don't buy more fish.

[Enigma]

In the end, you need to decide what is right for you.

You've pretty much reached your stocking limit for fish. You could maybe add another little fish, or a couple of really little fish. In the event you do not eradicate ich from your display, you risk infecting any new fish you add. If you won't be adding any new fish, that isn't an issue.

You could let the fish fight it off. Many fish do this successfully. In the event something stressful were to happen, the fish could weaken and become susceptible to the ich again. But, If you upgrade to a larger system and move your fish into it, they're going to bring the ich into the new system.

Garlic is really your only option for treating in your display with the other livestock you have, and anecdotal evidence does support the treatment for boosting the immunity of fish to ich.

So, can you live with ich in your system? That's for you to decide for yourself. No one else can (or should) do that for you. And, (while this may sound callous) you don't have any rare or overly costly fish in there: they could be replaced quite easily if they all died from it.

[mrhasan]

Haha yah :P I try to stick to below $30 type fishes :P The filtration system along worth more than the fishes themselves and had people (who are not in this hobby) saying you spent that much just to keep a nemo?! :P

Originally Posted by Enigma

In the end, you need to decide what is right for you.

You've pretty much reached your stocking limit for fish. You could maybe add another little fish, or a couple of really little fish. In the event you do not eradicate ich from your display, you risk infecting any new fish you add. If you won't be adding any new fish, that isn't an issue.

You could let the fish fight it off. Many fish do this successfully. In the event something stressful were to happen, the fish could weaken and become susceptible to the ich again. But, If you upgrade to a larger system and move your fish into it, they're going to bring the ich into the new system.

Garlic is really your only option for treating in your display with the other livestock you have, and anecdotal evidence does support the treatment for boosting the immunity of fish to ich.

So, can you live with ich in your system? That's for you to decide for yourself. No one else can (or should) do that for you. And, (while this may sound callous) you don't have any rare or overly costly fish in there: they could be replaced quite easily if they all died from it.