Marine Ich and Macroalgea?

[TK_KW]

@Humblefish
#reefsquad

In theory can a cyst fall off a fish and then stick to Macroaglea?

Would microfauna contain Ich tormont stage?

 

[EmdeReef]

The short answer is yes. although the likelihood is much lower thank transmission via rocks or other hard non-porous surfaces. Depending on the macroalgae it may actually repel certain parasites (e.g. certain caulerpas).

 

[RMS18]

Yes it can.. I know from current personal experience. My fish are currently in qt for ich. Added cheato from a forum member, 2 weeks later ich. All fish have been through copper as preventative over a year ago during fish stocking and nothing has been added to the tank besides cheato.

 

[nereefpat]

Good question.

I agree that the risk on the algae itself may be low. There are other things involved, however, that make me nervous, like the water, debris, microfauna, etc.

To be completely safe, I would keep it in a bucket with a light and bubbler for a few weeks....but it depends on your risk tolerance.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

More likely that ich is encysted upon hard shelled hitchhikers, such as copepods,that are in or on the macroalgae

 

[tastyfish]

Yes and I believe my first outbreak of cryptocaryon came in on macroalgae (although, to be fair, I was not QTing at that stage.

I did find a paper which listed viability ratesof over time with different substrates, but have lost the link now

 

[TK_KW]

I think I'm more paranoid than anything. I did QT my Chateo for 15 days, prior to introducing it into display. But then started reading about stories of it getting past. Hopefully putting it through 15 days of quarintine has helped.

 

[tastyfish]

I think I'm more paranoid than anything. I did QT my Chateo for 15 days, prior to introducing it into display. But then started reading about stories of it getting past. Hopefully putting it through 15 days of quarintine has helped.

It’s a risk, but nothing like the risk of transferring infected fish in or water carrying the parasites.

If macroalgae has come from a known infected tank, I would refuse it or QT for 76 days