The Other Way to Run a Reef Tank (no Quarantine)

[Lasse]

This review from 2022 have around 90 references - among the the two from Burges (1994 and 1995). There is rather many done with other words

Sincerely Lasse

 

[GARRIGA]

There are not a lot of studies on acquired immunity and Cryptocaryon. Burgess and Matthews wrote this though:

Fish, immunized by controlled infections, established immunity against challenge infections with C. irritans, the degree of protection correlating with both intensity and exposure levels, with relatively few fish developing full protection. Protection lasted for six months in the absence of re-exposure to the parasite.

Keep seeing that study but didn't they stop the study at six months therefore possible acquired immunity lasting longer?

Was speaking with support at a UV vendor and he stated that after decades of not having ich it suddenly showed itself therefore possible ich remained viable yet in low enough numbers that hosts weren't affected because immunity kept the pathogen at bay until one day that host became weaken for an unknown number of possible variables and now the pathogen was able to take hold. Would explain why many go years without infection assuming pathogen free yet reality being fish immunity able to ward off establish pathogen load not large enough to take over the host until it becomes weak. Nature has a way of eliminating the weak based on now becoming prey to other organisms.

 

[threebuoys]

There are not a lot of studies on acquired immunity and Cryptocaryon. Burgess and Matthews wrote this though:

Fish, immunized by controlled infections, established immunity against challenge infections with C. irritans, the degree of protection correlating with both intensity and exposure levels, with relatively few fish developing full protection. Protection lasted for six months in the absence of re-exposure to the parasite.

How were they able to conclude protection lasted six months in the absence of re-exposure? Would they not have to re-expose the presumed immunized fish to the parasite to prove it was truly immunized?

 

[Paul B]

Fish, immunized by controlled infections, established immunity against challenge infections with C. irritans, the degree of protection correlating with both intensity and exposure levels, with relatively few fish developing full protection. Protection lasted for six months in the absence of re-exposure to the parasite.

I disagreed with Burgess then and I still do. They worked under laboratory conditions in small bare tanks. This is nothing like the real world or anyone's tank. In a home owners tank where the owner keeps his fish immune forever (such as mine) hopefully there are some ich parasites that are always alive, albeit in small numbers and those parasites keep the fish immune.

I very rarely, but occasionally see a spot on one of my fish and I see it as a good sign because I realize that that parasite is needed to keep the immunity active. Maybe Burgess was correct as to how long a parasite lives without a host or it's life cycle and what political party it belongs to but Jay, I am sure you know, because I said it multiple times, Fish in a lab don't act like fish in the sea or in a home tank. It's tanks that use copper or some other method to kill parasites that have a problem because there are no parasites to sustain their immunity.

You can search the disease forums for 30 seconds and find tanks that have diseases after long quarantine or parasite medication. Those tanks have no opportunity for the fish to keep their immunity.

My fish are immune and always have been. (I have 50 fish in a 125 gallon tank) I know I am not "that" lucky because I keep calling multiple phone numbers and so far, Scarlet Johanson has never picked up the phone.

But I love you Jay, just not in an icky sort of way.