Explain this to me please...why is there still ICH?

[mvigor]

Nunnie's article is just wrong.

ck/Ich is always present in your tank, in your fish. Stress is the main cause of Ick/Ich. Your fish can get stressed as a result of many things. I have found that Ick/Ich seems to show up most often when I add new fish to the tank. Almost every time I bring a fish home from the store and add them to a tank within a few days not only does the new fish develop Ick/Ich, but several of the other fish as well. Very frustrating.

Of course the ICH shows up when they add new fish. That's where it CAME FROM. It was ON the new fish, not lying dormant in the tank.

 

[mvigor]

Perhaps BellaOnline is correct in saying:

Research has shown that fish can develop partial immunity to low levels of pathogens in their water and establish a tentative balance. Scratching itself should not be cause for real alarm, because some fish can live for years in this state if otherwise kept in optimal conditions, but they should be closely observed just in case. Sudden changes in their environment, such as temperature/pH fluctuations, bad water quality, overcrowding, etc. can disrupt this delicate equilibrium and spur on serious outbreaks of disease.

However, if that person had just treated with salt and heat for a sufficient period of time, they would have destroyed all the ICH and then there wouldn't be this worry of it coming back. Just because it CAN happen this way doesn't mean that all ICH is always invincible and WILL live in every fish or aquarium all the time. Nope, not even after it has been there. It can be removed.

 

[mvigor]

The PDF article sounds right on the money. It doesn't come close to making the claims that you do.

 

[Roan Art]

re: nunnie site
I would seriously question the advice of someone who advocates using salt with freshwater fish, doesn't quarantine at all and just throws new fish in with the other ones.

re: bellaonline
I have questioned a lot of the advice they have given out via email. They don't bother to answer there at all.

re: fishdoc
He's referring to koi, which are kept at MUCH cooler temperatures than our tropical fish. He also says "it is also believed that some survivors. . . " that's an opinion, not necessarily his, and it's related to coldwater fish.

re: aquanic
Good site, good link. I've been there before. However and again it's dealing with coldwater fishes kept outdoors in a pond where they can/don't care if they use copper products. Not a controlled environment such as an aquarium. I do not see where they claim that ich can go dormant.

I'd like to see some reputable links to TROPICAL sites.

Roan

 

[Alestro Bakai]

I have noticed some LFS really take the time with new shipments to quarentine the tank and I've rarely had ich from trusted sources. It's always when I break down and buy some **** fish from petsmart that my tank gets ich.

Considering how unlucky I am with my acrylic tanks, I guess I've been extremely lucky with my fish. I bought about half of all my fish from PetSmart and haven't ever had any outbreaks.