Sendiment filter

[DTz]

Hey guys . Should I get a 1 or 5 micron sendiment filter for ich and velvet management?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hey guys . Should I get a 1 or 5 micron sendiment filter for ich and velvet management?

Well, it's complicated. The Amyloodinium (velvet) dinospore is about 10 micron by 10 micron. Cryptocaryon theronts are a bit larger, perhaps 40 micron on average. In theory then, a 5 micron filter would work.

The trouble is threefold:

1) There is a possibility that Amyloodinium dionospores can get caught up in the fish mucus and never actually leave the fish.

2) With Cryptocaryon theronts, they emerge in the early morning from the tank bottom and can infect fish without ever getting trapped by a filter.

3) Micron filters have slow filtration rates. The dwell time is just too long, letting some of the parasites to complete their life cycle.

Mechanical filtration should only be relied upon as one facet of "ich management" and then, ich management is not as successful as an actual treatment.

Jay

 

[Spare time]

PS I don't believe there is such a think as velvet management due to how deadly it is.

 

[MnFish1]

I always thought it was interesting - at least this was the theory I heard - (I'm not going to use the different life-cycle terms) - Ich drops off in the night when the fish are sleeping 'n their area' - and they tend to go to the same place every night - then when they "hatch" the reinfect the fish.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Velvet being a flagellate will settle than be suspended at night
While the thought process of trapping them with a filter sounds like an effective measure, as indicated by Jay , will likely stick to a given fish