Freshwater Ich Question

[Shep]

So I wanted to do a little research first but I was thinking of putting molies into a frag tank for algae control but the store that sells them has had a bad history of ich. Would it make a difference if it was freshwater ich instead of marine ich or would it still take hold in my tank?

 

[tyler1503]

I believe they are completely unrelated parasites
I wouldn't think any freshwater disease you would usually be concerned with would survive in a marine tank.
I added a Molly to my 120 and he's done a great job keeping algae in check. Great choice of fish for a frag tank!

 

[Shep]

I believe they are completely unrelated parasites
I wouldn't think any freshwater disease you would usually be concerned with would survive in a marine tank.
I added a Molly to my 120 and he's done a great job keeping algae in check. Great choice of fish for a frag tank!

Good to know! Yea I was told in a different thread that I should use them, now just doing a little research.

 

[Humblefish]

I believe they are completely unrelated parasites
I wouldn't think any freshwater disease you would usually be concerned with would survive in a marine tank.
I added a Molly to my 120 and he's done a great job keeping algae in check. Great choice of fish for a frag tank!

^^This. Any FW parasites they were carrying would go into osmotic shock and die-off during the acclimation process. Once fully acclimated to SW, mollies would be susceptible to the same diseases as any other SW fish. They do have one advantage, however. If a molly got SW ich (for example), converting him back to full FW would eradicate it.

 

[Shep]

^^This. Any FW parasites they were carrying would go into osmotic shock and die-off during the acclimation process. Once fully acclimated to SW, mollies would be susceptible to the same diseases as any other SW fish. They do have one advantage however. If a molly got SW ich (for example), converting them back to full FW would eradicate it.

Didn't even think of that! Great idea

 

[Humblefish]

Didn't even think of that! Great idea

You would still need to go fallow for 72 days in the affected tank, before converting the mollies back over. Otherwise, they would just keep getting reinfected with SW ich shortly after acclimation was complete.