buying new corals/ how to be safe of ich?

[ThrowinRoost89]

im in the process of erradicating ich from my tank, fish have 2 more weeks and they will be back in the tank.

i wanna buy some corals, how do i make shure the rock that the frags are attached to do not have ich on them?

[Freed]

How are you ensuring that the fish are free from ich in the QT that you are running now?

To be sure that the incoming corals/inverts/etc are free from ich you must QT them as well for no less than 4-6 weeks before adding them to the main tank.

[ThrowinRoost89]

doing hypo on them.




this ich s___ stinks!..... what a pain, i guess ill need a light for my QT.

[Freed]

That's one of the downfalls of having a completely ich free tank and not worrying about your fish dying on you BUT it is the best thing to ensure you don't get any in your tank. Just think of all the fun you could have breaking down your tank and trying to catch all of those fish that have ich because you didn't QT to begin with. You are doing the right thing now so don't cut yourself short or the lives of the fish you have or want to get.

[badhand2222]

your not going to get ick coming in on your rock and your corals, dip them if you are worried. they say it can happen but the likelihood of that happing is slim at best.

[Freed]

The threads started by those that have had it happen to them kinda outweigh your opinion don't they?

[ThrowinRoost89]

is it really needed to QT snails and inverts and such? clams?

[badhand2222]

so what you are telling me is that you have got ICK, by adding corals and rock to your tank?

[badhand2222]

And if so you got ICK, how can you tell it came from the rocks and corals?

[sterbrock1]

From your original post I can't tell for sure, but it sounds like already established fish in your tank were removed because of ich. If the fish in your tank had no ich and now are getting ich, that is a good sign they are stressed for some reason. Have you focused on what may be stressing them? What changed?

[Freed]

Never said I did but I did say that others have started threads about it happening to them. Why do you think you couldn't introduce ich into a tank that came in with corals or inverts, etc?

[Freed]

Ich does not just materialize from nowhere just because a fish is "stressed" as so many people think. Ich is a parasite and has to be introduced.

[sterbrock1]

Did I say that? where in my email did I say that FREED (or should I say ich god) If a fish is healthy and ich is in your tank, the fish will not get ich. Period!

[ThrowinRoost89]

well ich doesnt host anything but fish, so is it 100% nessecasry to QT inverts and stuff?

[badhand2222]

yes but the rock is ususaly set out of water for long enough for the parasite to die, and corals are not known to be carriers of ick.

[Freed]

Originally posted by sterbrock1
If the fish in your tank had no ich and now are getting ich, that is a good sign they are stressed for some reason. Have you focused on what may be stressing them? What changed?

[Freed]

Ich feeds on fish not corals or inverts but it can come in with the water.

[sterbrock1]

FWIW, I have never quaranteened anything but fish, and never had any fish infected because I didn't.

[Freed]

Originally posted by sterbrock1
Did I say that? where in my email did I say that FREED (or should I say ich god) If a fish is healthy and ich is in your tank, the fish will not get ich. Period!

I suggest you do more research. Your ignorance is just way too evident to even hide.

[Rosseau]

Originally posted by Freed
Ich does not just materialize from nowhere just because a fish is "stressed" as so many people think. Ich is a parasite and has to be introduced.

I don't have any sources. However, I was under the impression that ich can be living within a fish without the surface expression of white dots - which we use for diagnosis.

Thus, is it possible that a relatively healthy fish could have ich, yet is healthy enough to suppress the visual expression? Once the fish is stressed, or the immune system is held up the parasite is allowed to multiply and thus express itself visually?

Potentially this is way off base. Yet, is as I have understood it.

[badhand2222]

your making up funny ick stories that Never happen to ANYBODY>

[Rosseau]

http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/ich.shtml

Not that this is necessarily a credible source, but I'm trying to bring myself up to speed on this little paraite.... I'm battling some right now.

[ThrowinRoost89]

so if i make shure not to let any of the LFS water get into my tank when transeferring the inverts, i should be good to go?

[Rosseau]

Not according to the link I just posted... I'm not done reading. However this line is pertinent to the current discussion of ich being transferred on rocks/sand/corals.

"The released tomonts swim for 2 to 6 hours before settling on a substrate. (Nicholl and Ewing found that a light substrate was preferred to a dark one.) Some biologists count this brief interval as a fourth life stage (in which it is susceptible to medication, by the way, according to Dr. Peter Burgess, the resident "fish doctor" at Practical Fishkeeping magazine). Quickly it attaches to a substrate and encysts, as the reproducing stage. This life-stage doesn't eat. Its metabolic clock is now ticking; it is spending its stored energy to divide and divide again within the short-lived cyst. The tomont's time-span remains temperature-dependent: at common aquarium temperatures it's a matter of hours to days."

Basically, at one of the stages of the ich lifestyle it will release itself from its fish host and briefly (hours to days) live on a substrate.

[Rosseau]

"Only the trophont can persist "dormant" in the aquarium, though it's never free-living but always attached inconspicuously to a host, perhaps on a gill surface."

(Sorry if I'm taking this thread over with my rampant postings)