Lets talk about ICH

Discussion in 'Diseases' started by ali1, Nov 4, 2010.

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  1. ali1

    ali1 Skunk Shrimp

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    So i read online that marine ich will not alleviate itself due to increased temperature.

    One thing I've noticed in both instances of ich on my tangs is I raised the temperature to 86-87 by firing up my metal halides and heater. Within the first half of the day, I begin to notice the white specs are dissapearing on my tangs. is there some relationship between high lighting and/or high temperatures that cause the tangs to lose the white specs?I'm sure its underneath their skin or in the livesand, but there has to be some relation, can anyone relate to this story?


    QT is not a solution as the tank itself is infected with ich, so placing the fish back into the DT will open another opportunity for ich.

    hyposalinity works, but do i perform this in my DT or or another tank. If its only a FOWLR, is hyposalinity in the DT okay? how long for? what about my bb in my LR, will it be affected?
     
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  3. Renee@LionfishLair

    Renee@LionfishLair 3reef Sponsor

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    Increasing the temp will indeed cause the parasites to drop off faster. That's not because they are dying, but because they are going through their life cycle faster. So, say they go through their normal cycle in a day at normal temps (which at the end of the cycle results in 1000 offspring). With increased temps they go through their cycle 5 times..... that's 5000 offspring at the end of the day. That's not good!

    If you are treating the tank, once they fall off they will be "zapped". The higher temp will cause them to fall off quicker and there won't be any offspring (well not many... sometimes it takes a few cycles) as the parasite hits the treated water. BUT, I don't think it's advantegous to increase the temp for this benefit alone. Increased temps can stress a fish... this you don't want. Also for every Ich you can see on the skin, there's a load more in on the gill filaments. Increasing temperatures decreases available 02, and that can be very detrimental.

    But for everything we say can't be done... there is someone out there doing it. There are peeps who swear by increasing temps and it has "worked for them", but logic isn't on their side with that one. And I don't mean that in a condescending kind of way. There are some things in this hobby that are anecdotal because we just don't have the means of finding out "why". Other things have indeed been well researched and that's the info I tend to flow with.
     
  4. mazaj

    mazaj Feather Duster

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    +1 on Incognito reply. my personal experience in treating hiposalinity the DT is a huge failure. i have a fowlr too. the dieoff from live rock will spike ammonia and nothing you do will reduce it back to 0. i was doing 2 water changes/day and it kept the ammonia lvl @ 5. so i had to increase back salinity after 2.5 weeks. now ich is back but my tang i think he is dealing with it better (so far).
    if your QT is already infected with ich, i think it is ok to still use it to treat your fishes. anyways you are infecting it by bringing the ich with the fish. imho it is better than treating the DT.
     
  5. ali1

    ali1 Skunk Shrimp

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    This was my concern. If i hyposalin the DT, wouldn't that crash my bb?


    thanks and i completely agree with you. so help me look for a permanent solution to ich!!
     
  6. mazaj

    mazaj Feather Duster

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    ali1, how many fishes you have in your DT? is it possible to move all of them to QT?
    if yes, your solution is to keep them in QT for 6 weeks and treat them with hyposalinity. this way the ich will die in DT (no host) and QT due to treatment.
     
  7. Renee@LionfishLair

    Renee@LionfishLair 3reef Sponsor

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    Aquaculturists are investing kajillions of dollars in the search for the permanent solutions. They haven't found an easy solution yet. But that's where I concentrate my research.... aquaculture. They have the bucks and it's definitely not a hobby for them. THAT'S where the solution will be documented first.

    Unfortunately for us, marine aquaculture research isn't as advanced as freshwater.
     
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  9. ali1

    ali1 Skunk Shrimp

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    If i take out my fish for 6 weeks, wouldnt my DT starve from the necessary ammonia it needs to continue the N cycle? In essence, I would be expecting a mini cycle.

    Aside from this, i don't have a big enough QT to house all my fish from the DT. I have a 10g that was used for emergency if one fish needs it, not all :(
     
  10. Renee@LionfishLair

    Renee@LionfishLair 3reef Sponsor

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  11. ali1

    ali1 Skunk Shrimp

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    yellow tang and blue hippo and powder blue
     
  12. Renee@LionfishLair

    Renee@LionfishLair 3reef Sponsor

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    Zero tang experience here......