The speed of ich

Aquatect · #1 09/15/2004, 06:08 AM

Well, last night I added a really ni Potter's Angel that I had been watching at work for a few days, we had him for a while and he was looking fine, no irregularities or torn fins. Today I turn on my lights and my clownfish (whom I've had for over 3 years) has a pretty bad case of ich. Over his entire body pretty much. Is it possible that he got it all over night or is it more likely that he was developing it earlier and I hadnt noticed?

Thanks in advance

jwm2k3 · #2 09/15/2004, 09:17 AM

My guess is that the fish had the parasite all along. It was healthy enough to keep it in check all by itself. When the new fish was added, stress went up and the clowns immune system was lowered by the stressful conditions and the parasite was able to spread.

So what are you going to do now?

Aquatect · #3 09/16/2004, 12:41 PM

Well oddly enough it would seem that the clown is lookign way better. I looked at him the next morning and there were way fewer spots. I was gonna quarantine and treat since ive got empty tanks and extra stuff, or run to work and buy this stuff we have thats reef safe (kick-ick maybe? I dont remember...). My other fish look fine though. Angel looks happy

williams-crist · #4 09/16/2004, 03:37 PM

Sounds like your fish have partial ich immunity. Anytime, you add new fish this is likely to happen. Your fish may be able to tolerate this for a long time. Or possibly it might eventually kill your fish.

Might be a good idea to leave your main tank fallow "no fish" for at leat 4 weeks and treat the fish you have in a separate tank for ich. This way you won't have to worry about it happening again.

Best of luck,

Debra

williams-crist · #5 09/16/2004, 03:38 PM

Forgot most people here at RC believe kick ich and many other self proclaimed reef safe cures to be as good as snake oil.

Aquatect · #6 09/17/2004, 02:50 PM

Yea, it isnt kick-ick i forget what it was. Oh well, the clown looks like she's alot better now, I'll just wait it out. Everthing else looks fine. Thanks all.

jwm2k3 · #7 09/18/2004, 02:21 PM

This is typical of ich. It will go away (as the trophonts detach from the fish and sink to substrate where they incubate for 28 days and then the cyst ruptures open, releasing thousands more parasites) and then come back.

Be careful, I suspect you will see it again.

Nice avatar.