Crazy ICH question!

[ryknier]

This is all just a curious question and have no intention on doing this!?

If I had a healthy tank, lets say a 50 gallon, if that makes a difference, but the tank has been cycled and no parasites or anything has affected my tank.

Now lets say I put an affected fish in the tank with ICH. How long would it take before I see visible signs on the other fish or sympthoms on other fish. How long does the process take for ich to travel?

 

[Lobo.]

I dont know exaclty it takes ich to spread accross a tank, but i do know that the answere depends on a few variables.
ONE- if your (healthy) fish are stessed out the process won't take very long
TWO- if the water temp is low it wont take very long
Three- if your fish are delicate (scaleless fish or something like discus) then it wont take long
Since ich works in stages (the white fluffy stuff is only one stage in ich's life) it is possible that after the infected fish is introduced, that the ich could go dorment in the tank for a while untill something (like another disease or an extremly stressful situation) causes it to reappear.

 

[daveedka]

Ich has no dormant stage ( thankfully) At normal tank temps it would take 1-4 days for it to reach the freeswimming stage and attack the other fish. The free swimming stage is only a few hours though before they die off. Once attached to the fish it can take another 4-5 days at tropical temps to grow and hatch off of the fish again.

The real time it takes varies greatly with temps. in cold water Goldfish tanks, it can take several weeks to go through all three stages. At 85*F it is a matter of a couple days.

Next is the issue of how ich lives and hides in a tank. Unfortunately the situation you are describing ( adding an infected fish to a healthy tank) happens all of the time. Depending on fish type, stress levels, and immune response Ich is fought off by your fish. the slime coat of a healthy hardy fish will often repel it. The one place a fish is always vulnerable is the gills, where ther is no slime coat. then ICH attaches grows, hatches multiplies and the cycle re-starts.

Either way if you add ich to the tank, and don't kill it off it will remain at whatever quantity it can until something stresses your fish and then you suddenly have a full blown outbreak.
For more info:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=39759
Dave

 

[ryknier]

anything about "aquaplus as a dechlor. It contains aloe vera" swimfins said something about this and was curious on its contents....