Can a Brittle Star Host Ich?

[NeuroticAquatics]

Well, I added a couple fish last week and now my 240g has fish showing signs of Ich. I typically don't treat in QT and everyone has looking good. Something slipped through. Anyways...I'm looking at using Cupramine and may have to convert my son's 60g into a QT. He only has a Coral Beauty, 16" eel (not sure what kind) and a big green brittle star. I figure I can remove his rocks and sand, move that into a 40g I have and then I've got a slightly larger QT.

Can a brittle star host/carry Ich? I was hoping to move that into my 240g once it's fallow. I figure it's one less waste producer in the 40g.

 

[Scarybo]

Well, I added a couple fish last week and now my 240g has fish showing signs of Ich. I typically don't treat in QT and everyone has looking good. Something slipped through. Anyways...I'm looking at using Cupramine and may have to convert my son's 60g into a QT. He only has a Coral Beauty, 16" eel (not sure what kind) and a big green brittle star. I figure I can remove his rocks and sand, move that into a 40g I have and then I've got a slightly larger QT.

Can a brittle star host/carry Ich? I was hoping to move that into my 240g once it's fallow. I figure it's one less waste producer in the 40g.

Per the wise man known as Humblefish:
Although unlikely, it is possible to bring in a fish disease on a coral or invert. While none of these can actually “host” the way a fish can, certain diseases can hitchhike their way into your DT. We’ll use ich as an example. Ich has both a cyst (tomonts) stage and a free swimming (theronts) stage of its life cycle. The free swimmers can be found in any droplet of water from an infected tank, so care must be taken when dealing with anything wet. This also applies to wet hands, for example, going from QT to DT. One way to prevent free swimmers from cross contaminating your DT is to gently pour DT water over the coral/invert (and into a bucket) before placing the coral/invert into your tank. The bucket water should then be discarded. In theory, this simple process should “wash away” any theronts and prevent them from entering your DT.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-quarantine.189815/

 

[brandon429]

excellent vector biology explained above. nitrifiers work the exact same way, which is how we cycled tanks in the 80's before bottle bac, before ghost feeding was thought required. we were in no particular rush back in the day, so things self-cycled nicely, just as that rain puddle in the street does shortly after deposition in a nice storm.

 

[NeuroticAquatics]

This brittle star would be put into my 240g that has Ich. I'm not worried about contamination. I am worried that going fallow is pointless if the brittle star can host Ich during the fallow period.

 

[Scarybo]

This brittle star would be put into my 240g that has Ich. I'm not worried about contamination. I am worried that going fallow is pointless if the brittle star can host Ich during the fallow period.

It cant host ich. inverts are fine during the fallow period

 

[brandon429]

agreed

I was just drawing a parallel between how things get in our tank unwittingly in many cases. you did good considering that brittle star, he's substrate just like anything else regarding dangerous hitchhikers. he could bring in both ich and extra nitrifiers

 

[Flippers4pups]

Brittle can't host Ich as @Humblefish stated. Can Ich come with it (trapped in it feet, in the water surrounding its body......) Yes.

As with any fish, coral or invert that has been exposed to Ich, it can be transferred with said fish, coral or invert to another system. Anything wet, anything in the tank water that has Ich in it.

 

[Maritimer]

Apparently, ich can't even encyst on echinoderms.

A point to be made though, is about the eel ... it _can_ host ich (it's a fish, after all, just an odd one) and it's not going to tolerate copper medications well, though CP could work with the eel.

~Bruce

 

[NeuroticAquatics]

Okay, so the brittle star goes into the soon-to-be-fallow 240g.

The eel is in my son's 60g (Ich free) now and will go into a 40g (that I normally use for QT of larger fish) with the Coral Beauty. That is just to hold those two while my 240g's inhabitants are in the 60g. It's a big game of musical chairs.

The more I think about all the moving, the more I'm tempted to just use copper in the 240g as I do not ever intend for it to be anything other than a FOWLR. It's the possible resale value down the road that's making me think twice.

 

[Brew12]

Okay, so the brittle star goes into the soon-to-be-fallow 240g.

The eel is in my son's 60g (Ich free) now and will go into a 40g (that I normally use for QT of larger fish) with the Coral Beauty. That is just to hold those two while my 240g's inhabitants are in the 60g. It's a big game of musical chairs.

The more I think about all the moving, the more I'm tempted to just use copper in the 240g as I do not ever intend for it to be anything other than a FOWLR. It's the possible resale value down the road that's making me think twice.

Don't worry about resale. After treating with copper you can get the copper back out of the system. Just to save money on filters, I would wait a few months and several water changes before purposely trying to remove it. Contrary to popular belief, it will not be absorbed into the tank at all. It will get absorbed in the rock, but over time it can be removed too. Just run something like Polyfilters for a few months and you can pull it all out.

 

[NeuroticAquatics]

I honestly don't think I will be getting rid of my 240g anytime soon, if ever. I got someone to buy the Regal Tang (Ich and all) so I could do CP but figure I can measure copper. Gonna think it over but I am leaning that way now. Need to get a Salifert test kit...

 

[Humblefish]

Just to clarify a couple of things:

• The life stage of ich/velvet which feeds upon fish is called the trophont. Trophonts CANNOT feed on any corals/inverts. This is why going fallow works, because you are denying the parasite a necessary food source and thus starving it to death. You just have to patiently wait for it to reach that stage in it's lifecycle.
• The reproductive stage of ich/velvet is called the tomont. Tomonts CAN encyst to certain corals/inverts; any hard surface really. Dr. Peter Burgess conducted a series of experiments in 1992, partially to fulfill the requirements for his PhD. He proved that ich tomonts can encyst upon glass, plastic, gravel, metal, wood, shrimp exoskeleton and "shell materials" including staghorn corals. Interestingly, he couldn't get tomonts to even attach to an Asteria starfish or a Echinus sea urchin. See table below.