ICH after being in OT for 9 months?

[lakai]

I noticed my hippo tang with what seems like ich on his fins and body. I've had him for 9 months together with a tomini and purple tang from day 1. I did copper for a short amount of time in the beginning but could not get ammonia under control and stopped and haven't done treatment of anything since. No new fish have been introduced into the tank.

Is it possible for ich to show up 9 months after no signs of it ?? Other two tangs don't show anything. The tank is barebottom with some marine pure balls and pvc pipe.

Thanks

 

[Old Fritz]

It can happen. I once had a tank where everything was fine for 3 months (before I had a qt and when i trusted my lfs) and out of nowhere after a water change when I got the salinity a little too high my fish were just covered in ich. While nine months is much longer it is possible just enough ich survived to go unnoticed for that period of time and it eventually just exploded.

 

[Subsea]

I noticed my hippo tang with what seems like ich on his fins and body. I've had him for 9 months together with a tomini and purple tang from day 1. I did copper for a short amount of time in the beginning but could not get ammonia under control and stopped and haven't done treatment of anything since. No new fish have been introduced into the tank.

Is it possible for ich to show up 9 months after no signs of it ?? Other two tangs don't show anything. The tank is barebottom with some marine pure balls and pvc pipe.

Thanks

It is more then possible. Due to stress from a power failure, with no additions or changes for 2 years, an ich epidemic happened in my system.

When I started in this hobby 48 years ago, scientific research papers said two weeks incubation, now 76 days us the consensus.

When I read the research papers, I found this to be common, “Most will incubate in 14 -76 days””.

It only takes one to tango.

 

[DLHDesign]

Ich can survive indefinitely out of sight; it commonly will attach to the gills where it can not be visually seen without special examination.

 

[Subsea]

M

Ich can survive indefinitely out of sight; it commonly will attach to the gills where it can not be visually seen without special examination.

Considering three stages in ich life cycle, which stage exist indefinitely in gills?

 

[LesPoissons]

Ich can 100% survive without fish being overwhelmed with symptoms. I do not think we understand it completely. I have had my fish for years and occasionally my hippo will get stressed and "break out" and no other fish are affected, and it goes away without treatment. You can deal with it the same way, or take your fish out, move to a hospital tank, treat with copper fully, and keep your display tank fish free for "76 days" at least. If you dont have live rock or live sand, inverts etc you can treat the whole tank with copper and leave the fish in it. It should not raise the ammonia at all, unless you are killing all your inverts and good guys in the live rock. What are your current parameters?

 

[DLHDesign]

Considering three stages in ich life cycle, which stage exist indefinitely in gills?

Sorry; didn't mean to imply that a single parasite could survive indefinitely. Just that the ich infestation could survive by only attaching to the gill areas of fish throughout multiple generations of the parasite.

 

[KIRBLIT]

It can also come in on corals, snails, crabs, rock, ect. If you have added anything wet without proper QT periods, it could have come in that way.

 

[Subsea]

Sorry; didn't mean to imply that a single parasite could survive indefinitely. Just that the ich infestation could survive by only attaching to the gill areas of fish throughout multiple generations of the parasite.

That would be hard to prove. Are there research papers that document this?

I consider it a possibility and a good hypothesis to explain some ich epidemics. I feel that an equally valid hypothesis is that dormant cyst don’t follow the 76 day rule.

 

[Thales]

Ich can 100% survive without fish being overwhelmed with symptoms.

This. Fish can have low level infections that don't show or bother the fish. Ich can seem to come and go because of this.

 

[Subsea]

Ich can 100% survive without fish being overwhelmed with symptoms. I do not think we understand it completely. I have had my fish for years and occasionally my hippo will get stressed and "break out" and no other fish are affected, and it goes away without treatment. You can deal with it the same way, or take your fish out, move to a hospital tank, treat with copper fully, and keep your display tank fish free for "76 days" at least. If you dont have live rock or live sand, inverts etc you can treat the whole tank with copper and leave the fish in it. It should not raise the ammonia at all, unless you are killing all your inverts and good guys in the live rock. What are your current parameters?

Does copper kill bacteria? If it does, then biological filter will be destroyed in display tank.

 

[lakai]

This is really strange. Everywhere I read about the life cycle of Ich nowhere have I seen a case where ich was able to stay dormant for over 270 days then appear.

 

[Cell]

Visible symptoms of ich can come and go, while the fish remains infected.

 

[MnFish1]

That would be hard to prove. Are there research papers that document this?

I consider it a possibility and a good hypothesis to explain some ich epidemics. I feel that an equally valid hypothesis is that dormant cyst don’t follow the 76 day rule.

FA164/FA164: Cryptocaryon irritans Infections (Marine White Spot Disease) in Fish

University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension outreach is a partnership between state, federal, and county governments to provide scientific knowledge and expertise to the public. The University of Florida (UF), together with Florida A&M University (FAMU)...

edis.ifas.ufl.edu

As is seen with other diseases, general fish health and environmental factors including water quality will affect the status of the fish's immune system and may worsen the effects of an infection. If the immune status of the fish is compromised or if environmental factors are less than optimal, Cryptocaryon infection will be even more explosive and harmful.

Fish that survive a Cryptocaryon infection develop immunity, which can prevent significant disease for up to 6 months (Burgess 1992; Burgess and Matthews 1995). However, these survivors may act as carriers and provide a reservoir for future outbreaks (Colorni and Burgess 1997).

 

[lakai]

This kinda sucks, I’ll be out of town for a week and don’t know if I should start copper or not.

 

[Jon Fishman]

Where did you have these fish together?

I thought I had read about your plans to get a tank, and found these posts from 2 months ago.....

thanks. I ordered mine a week after you and still have not received it.

It's should be coming Thursday. Can't wait! Like you this will be my first tank and going all out high-end. I'm not sure why it took so long but I was told it would be at least 5 months by many people.

 

[lakai]

Where did you have these fish together?

I thought I had read about your plans to get a tank, and found these posts from 2 months ago.....

They’ve been in a smaller tank since November.