Dealing with hot tap water in the summer

Originally Posted by wishbone

The poor little loaches get ich so easily that I really try to avoid the temperature swings as much as I can!

You can't just magically get ich, it has to be introduced to the tank, and once it is you would know it because your fish would have ich. It can't live in the tank without a host for very long.

[wishbone]

I understand it is a parasite and it cannot live without a host, but I sware I'll go weeks without ANY ich on my fish (and I'm pretty good about inspecting them closely). Then all of a sudden I'll see it on the loaches, but just the loaches. In fact they are the only ones who have ever gotten it (visibly anyway). Can ich attach to live plants? I've never seen that, but I don't know any other way to explain it.

[tetrin]

ich is present in almost any tank. it shows up on stressed fish. its like some of the bacteria we carry in our intestines.
and clown loach are notoriously susceptible to ich. don't worry wishbone. let them loaches get a little bigger, and you won't have any problems at all.

[krazymom]

I thought it was a protozoan parasite and once you kill it all it is gone till you reintroduce it again?

[greenmaji]

It is a parasite and once its killed it doesnt come back.. The problem here is that it goes through a 2 week life cycle an its only visible when it has infected the fish.. Your tank.. wishbone... is infected with ich.. The hosts just happen to be your loaches.. I would heat treat the tank for ich.. Ich is better explained in the site article.. link below..
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showqu...q=2&fldAuto=32
Good luck

[FawnN]

Actually, from my understanding of ich is, it's a parasite that lays dormant and are found on all fish.

It isn't until the fish are stressed, which is usually caused by poor water quality, being picked on all the time, drastic water temp changes, etc.. do they surface.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[greenmaji]

FawnN.. Have you read the Ich article recently?

[FawnN]

Yes, I have, but if you really read the article, all it says is the stages, prevention and treatment. I also have done other research regarding this ICH. Because if you really think about it, where do they come from?

If your tank has been healthy for over a year (very established), nothing new has been introduced and you mistakenly do a water change with drastic water temp change or during the winter time your heater dies on you, and suddenly ich occurs, where would the ich come from?

[greenmaji]

Originally Posted by FawnN

If your tank has been healthy for over a year (very established), nothing new has been introduced and you mistakenly do a water change with drastic water temp change or during the winter time your heater dies on you, and suddenly ich occurs, where would the ich come from?

I have never gotten ich this way.. My assumption is that the tank always had ich ie.. it was never heat treated to kill ich.. and the aquarium was kept healthy enough to keep the fish from showing any signs of the parasite..

[FawnN]

My assumption is that the tank always had ich ie..

That's not possible, because the parasite needs to find a host within 48 hours to survive.

That's why I said they lay dormant on all fish until the opportunity arrises for them to surface.

Honestly, there is no documentation anywhere that states exactly where they come from or how they got their to begin with. It's like asking, did the chicken or egg come first?