Bought A New Fish Yesterday. Ick Today.
- Thread starter lateinningmagic
- Start date
Erm - the visible stage is when it's burrowed into the skin. If the angelfish had ich hidden in its gills (the usual place) then they could indeed have hatched out and visible infected another fish by now. By contrast, anything from the hatchetfish would have already gone through its life cycle several times by now.
Late, this is why we do need to quarantine our fish. If we value our fish as much, then quarantining every of your new fish is one way to do better service to all your fish instead of subjecting your older stocks to continuous reinfections with pathogens. The more your fish are exposed to such issues, the more they become stressed that sooner or later, it is too late to save them.
Right now, it is not too late to start setting up your quarantine tank if you attempt to buy another fish again. 3-4 weeks is not too long. Patience will pay off for you. What is more, is that we avoid a lot of headaches in the long run when we are assured our older stocks that we value a lot, are safe from possible disease transmissions that could prove themselves lethal to your pets.
Right now, it is not too late to start setting up your quarantine tank if you attempt to buy another fish again. 3-4 weeks is not too long. Patience will pay off for you. What is more, is that we avoid a lot of headaches in the long run when we are assured our older stocks that we value a lot, are safe from possible disease transmissions that could prove themselves lethal to your pets.
I meant the stage where the protozoan is burrowed in the skin but doesn't show any external symptoms because its too far in and too small. When the white dots appear, yes its still burrowed, just much larger and about to burst out, thus you can actually see it. Sorry for the confusion
ich is not that opportunistic.
it cannot nor will it detect when the fish is more vulnerable to the parasite.
it simply goes thru the life cycle..falling from the host dropping to the substrate ( or what ever if lands on) then simply multiplying there until it becomes free swimming(this is why most raise temp as it speeds up the incubation period) if the host is stressed it may be less resistant to the ich and thus become more heavily infested.
you are correct it is more vulnerable as a free swimmer.. it does not have much time to find a host. but in a closed system like an aquarium it can find a host rather quickly.
as mentioned QTis your best defense
I won't be the first to tell you but you always need to qt the fish, no matter where you get them. ESPECIALLY from chain stores, I am the aquatics person at a Petco and yes we don't qt to sell faster. I don't agree with it but I am just the guy to scrubs fish tanks all day. There really is a lot of disease that gets into these tanks, and since 18 overstocked tanks are all run off one central sump, things can get pretty grim. I am not saying don't buy from chain stores, I am just saying that extra precaution should be used.
Gourami's always seem to be the worst. Most of the time, we recieve them with a fungus/ick already. I treat the tanks but it is hard to cure it with a large filtration system. If some of the fish look sick in the tanks around the ones you want to buy, just ask the people if the tanks are on the same sump system. If they are, I wouldn't buy from that section.
Gourami's always seem to be the worst. Most of the time, we recieve them with a fungus/ick already. I treat the tanks but it is hard to cure it with a large filtration system. If some of the fish look sick in the tanks around the ones you want to buy, just ask the people if the tanks are on the same sump system. If they are, I wouldn't buy from that section.
Should I QT? Yes. We all should. But I don't have the space for it. I'm living at home, I can't just be setting up all the tanks I want.
The angelfish had no signs of ick and I placed it in the tank without QT. Bad on my part, but is it possible it was the source of the ick? Is it possible for a carrier of ick to infect another fish in 24 hours? Yes or no? I think yes.
Also, I feel I don't need to QT from my favorite LFS. I don't know what the process their fish go to, but even though the sell the fish they receive the same day, their fish are always bigger and older then the fish from all other chain stores. I trust their stock.
The angelfish had no signs of ick and I placed it in the tank without QT. Bad on my part, but is it possible it was the source of the ick? Is it possible for a carrier of ick to infect another fish in 24 hours? Yes or no? I think yes.
Also, I feel I don't need to QT from my favorite LFS. I don't know what the process their fish go to, but even though the sell the fish they receive the same day, their fish are always bigger and older then the fish from all other chain stores. I trust their stock.
Me. It's easier to believe that I am special and exceptions happen then to believe I am wrong. :raspberry:
