For what period of time is ich visible on an infected fish?

[Tlflan]

I ask because...

I recently finished cycling my first SW tank. I have a 60 gallon and used 60 lbs of live rock from liverocks.com to cycle.

After the cycle finished I added a clean up crew of 30 snails and 20 hermit crabs.

This past Sunday, I added my first 2 fish, a pair of O. clowns. They acclimated well and began eating that same day (no I did not quarantine them).

Everything was fine for two days, but on the night of the third day, I noticed a few small white spots on one of the clowns, and I thought he was behaving as if he was itching. He wasn't rubbing up against the rocks, but seemed to be hugging the glass and passing really close to the other clown. The next morning the spots were still there, but that afternoon they were completely gone. The spots were on the fish for less than 24 hours total. Since both fish are brand new to me, I am certain there were no spots before the third day, because I had been watching them closely. Now no matter how hard I look now (even though I am paranoid that I have a problem) I see no spots.

I did some reading and it all led me to believe that if a fish had ich, that the spots were visible for a longer period of time, like 4-7 days, before they fell of to begin reproduction.

What do you all think?

I really trust the LFS I bought them from. I know they run their tanks at a SG of 1.017 and use copper to proactively treat all their fish, but I don't know for sure how long mine were under this treatment.

Can the visible stage of ich come and go this quickly?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[melosu58]

When you cant see them means that they have fallen to the bottom and will release over 200 small ones called tomites. These will attach them selves to fish and the cycle repeats. Dont ever make the mistake that they just disapeared. They are multiplying. You must treat at first sign of them.

 

[steve-s]

Re: For what period of time is ich visible on an infected fi

I really trust the LFS I bought them from. I know they run their tanks at a SG of 1.017 and use copper to proactively treat all their fish, but I don't know for sure how long mine were under this treatment.

A 1.017 SG will have zero impact on any parasite. The only way the copper would be at all effective in the regard of carrying it into your system is if the fish where in the medicated environment for 2+ weeks. It would also make a great difference if the copper concentrations where actually monitored and maintained by the LFS which most do not.

Did the tanks the clowns came from have any rock or substrate?

Can the visible stage of ich come and go this quickly?

Depending on the temp of your tank, the process of tomite>>theront>>trophont and then releasing from the fish to reproduce (tomont) can take as little as 3 days. Less depending on which stage the fish was infested when you bought it (newly infested vs a few days) it can be as little as a day or two. Especially when you consider the level of stress a transported fish goes through causing a depressed immune response overall.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Tlflan]

Did the tanks the clowns came from have any rock or substrate?

Steve,

The tanks at the LFS have aragonite sand and synthetic coral/rock decorations. There is no real rock/live rock in the tanks with the fish.

I figure I will go ahead and do what I should have done in the first place and set up a QT tank. It will be a 10 gallon.

Do you suggest hyposalinity or copper?

Thanks again for the advice!

 

[steve-s]

The tanks at the LFS have aragonite sand

The sand would be a sorbant for the copper reducing it's concentration and effectiveness. Anything CaCO3 based would. Many LFS make it sound like "they've got your back" but in all honesty it's rarely the case. In their defense though, many do not realize their errors because they do not get full blown outbreaks themselves so they believe their efoorts to be successful. There is typically enough of a Cu concentration to keep it at bay but not near enough to be considered "treatment level".

Do you suggest hyposalinity or copper?

Hyposalinity should be the first choice when dealing with C. irritans if possible. Copper only when you have no choice.

Cheers
Steve