Ich Questions

[Costa Randy]

About a month ago my display tank came down with a serious Ich infestation. I guess I should feel fortunate that half my fish survived. I have set up a hospital tank, but have not moved the survivors for treatment yet. I have 2 questions.

(1) It’s been a month, why haven’t I seen a re-appearance of Ich on my surviving fish in the display tank (tank temp. is 78 - 79 F)?
(2) When this evil critter encysts’s into a tomite; is this stage large enough to been seen without magnification?

[TerryB]

Your survivng fish may have developed a limted immunity to the parasite for a limited amount of time. If you were to place another fish in that tank the parasite would have a ready host an you would have another full blown outbreak. If you want to get rid of the parasite and not have to worry about it then treat all the fish, leave the display fishless for 6 weeks or more and quarantine all new fish for at least 30 days BEFORE they go into your display tank.

I doubt you could see the tomont stage with just the naked eye.

Terry B

[Costa Randy]

Thank you for the feedback. I will move my surviving fish to the treatment tank right away.

Is it true that scale-less fish tolerate copper treatment less well than their scaled cousins?

[Rondelet]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6473611#post6473611 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Costa Randy
Is it true that scale-less fish tolerate copper treatment less well than their scaled cousins?

As a general rule, yes. Also, as a rule, you should use a test kit to measure copper concentration when using it for treaments.