clown loaches and ich...

A couple of notes for your reference.
Ich is a parasite, if it isn't in your tank then nothing but you introducing it will cause it to show up. It does attack weakened and stressed fish more readily, but as OG said. If you q tank new fish and don't introduce ich you won't have to worry about it.

Melafix to the best of my knowledge will not kill ich (someone may correct me if I missed something) As mentioned earlier, meds (at least the ones that do kill ich) are very hard on loaches. Salt will do the job.

The temperature discussion is one of those things that is greatly mis interpreted when it comes to ich. Rapid temp drops will weaken a fish immune system and in a tank that has an active ich life cycle already this usually causes an outbreak very quickly. Warmer temps may or may not be a good idea for certain fish, but in the discussion of ich Planned tank temperature is really irrelevant. Since higher temps speed up ich's life cycle, if anything else stresses the fish and there is ich in the tank, the outbreak will usually be quicker and more severe with higher temps up to the point at which it is too warm for ich.
So in a nutshell, make sure you don't have ich in your tank already, buy your loaches (I highly reccomend quarantine) and then enjoy them at whatever temp you feel is best.

More info on ICH:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39759

More info on Quarantine:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46875

Just remember that if you already have ich in your main tank and don't know it, any stress could potentially cause an outbreak.
Dave
 
I used to take my chances and not QT, and was very lucky to not have any problems. However I don't plan on adding any fish to this tank without a lengthy hospital stay LOL!! Since the loaches seem to be a bit more sensitive, how long would you recommend a QT for to be fairly certain they were disease free? I used to have a few clowns before I had any idea what I was doing, they're what got me back into fish, but I never kept them again because I couldn't seem to keep them alive (of course now I know I know the many things I did terribly wrong :duh: )
 
I keep reading about these fish getting Ich. Seems that all the time this is stress. What good would it do to QT them unless you treat them as if they have the disease? And what good would that do if the disease were in the tank you are about to put them in?
 
It allows them to adjust to new conditions... and they can be kept better than at the LFS, So, IMO, they are healthier, happier, and, therefore better off to cope with a slighter amount of stress being simply moved from one tank to the next in a matter of seconds. (boy that's a lot of commas). Also, as already mentioned, it is easier to treat if an outbreak should occur in a QT.
 
I keep reading about these fish getting Ich. Seems that all the time this is stress. What good would it do to QT them unless you treat them as if they have the disease? And what good would that do if the disease were in the tank you are about to put them in?
Click to expand...

One of the dis-advantages of loaches and many catfish is that they get ich very easily. It isn't as much a matter of constant stress as it is a matter of their ability to ward off the parasite in the first place. I read about a study (I can't remember where) that stated Channel cats were 30 times more likely to get ich than fish with scales.


As far as qt, there are several things to consider.
#1. the trip home from the LFS is a lot of stress and therefore fish that have ich will show an outbreak very quickly when they get home. The fact that loaches are more sensative to this actually makes QT less of a Gamble. In other words you might have a jack Dempsey get through QT without having an outbreak, but in the case of a CL it's a cinch that if they have ich you will know it soon.
#2. ich isn't the only disease we worry about, and QT is something that IMO and IME should always be done. I've tried it both ways, and there just isn't a negative to a QT tank that I can find.
#3. as mentioned the cost of treatment is kept much lower with a smaller qt tank
#4. new fish need a chance to get used to new water, etc. this is easier without the added stress/potential stress of new tank mates and previously estabilished territories. by limiting the changes, the total stress is reduced and the fish will be better off.


dave
 
ergo sum said:
And what good would that do if the disease were in the tank you are about to put them in?
Click to expand...

Well if your normal tank already has ich, then it wouldn't matter!!! But in my case I definately don't, however it is somewhat of a new tank, so I will be waiting for quite a while to get more fish anyway. I moved over all my old stuff and have avoided a cycle, but I am also running several filters which will replace my smaller ones once I feel confident enough that the new ones have ran long enough to establish bacteria.
 
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