Do ITCH come with fish or plants?

[mikemou]

Hi~
I have a new 55gal with four plants and 9(was 10) neons that I started two days ago. Now the neons have ITCH. Also, there're very tiny white round objects resting on the hairy algae on plants. I guess those are ITCH, too.
So, where did I get them into my new tank? From the fish or plants? If I can be absolutely sure it's the fish then maybe I can return them.
THX!

 

[astroguy]

Ich is often found in tanks, generally on fishes, so your priority is not to see where it comes from, but how to get rid of them. Look at the article on ich on AA, and see your possibilities (medics, raise temp, etc).
Even if you return the fishes, you still have ich in the tank, and that is no good. Fishes are often not prone to develop ich except if they are stress, and that obviously comes from the new introduction.

 

[mikemou]

Fishes are often not prone to develop ich except if they are stress, and that obviously comes from the new introduction.

Yes I read the article but I'm still confused on the origin of ICH.

Am I understanding you correctly that fish "develope" ICH, not "infected" by ICH?, if so returning them is moot; if not, then is it safe to say my fish were already infected when they left the store?

How do I reduce their stress to a new environment by the way? Apparently water params are different, but other than that what else matters to them?

 

[heavenly]

Fish usually develope Ich from stress. Maybe it is eggs on your plants. I don't know what the eggs look like but I hope everything works out for the best.

Fish are wonderful to have, but horrible to eat

 

[jsoong]

Am I understanding you correctly that fish "develope" ICH, not "infected" by ICH?, if so returning them is moot; if not, then is it safe to say my fish were already infected when they left the store?

Ich has a 3 staged life cycle, so it can get a bit complicated.

Fish is infected by the ich parasite... but healthy fish can often combat the infection & not show any symptoms. It is only when stress that they come down with the disease. In a sense, the fish acts as carrier, and develope the disease when weakened. I think this is what people mean when they say fish develope ich when stress.

Where did the ich came from? Hard to say. It can be in the fish from the start, or in the water as free swimming tomites, or as cysts in substrates (sand, gravel, bits stuck to plants). <This is where the 3 staged life cycle comes in>

If the plants comes from a tank without any fish, then it is unlikely to be the source, as ich can't survive for more than a few weeks without a host. Ideally you would want to QT everything (plants. fish) seperately so you'll know where a problem is coming from. Of cause this is not always practical.

 

[Menagerie]

Hmmm, white round objects on the plants/algae does not sound like ich. Are you sure the neons have ich and not a fungal or bacterial infection? There are many ailments a fish can suffer from. If you can post a pic, please do so.

 

[heavenly]

Maybe it is that neon tetra disease someone spoke of earlier on a diffrent topic.

 

[astroguy]

Menagerie: could the round white stuff be some cysts that fell on the algae?

 

[mikemou]

Thanks guys, I'll post some pictures tonight, but be forewarned: It's disgusting, those tiny round white stuff...

 

[Menagerie]

could the round white stuff be some cysts that fell on the algae?

I was under the impression they didn't get that big.
Looking forward to the pics

 

[heavenly]

I don't think much can be said without pictures. They would really help.

 

[mikemou]

I don't think much can be said without pictures. They would really help.

Here they come:

 

[mikemou]

more

 

[mikemou]

more...

 

[mikemou]

more

 

[mikemou]

so? what are your thoughts? ich or not?

 

[Menagerie]

Does the neon have spots on the dorsal and tail fins? Or is there just one spot on the head. If it's one spot, my gut feeling is that it's not ich.
As for the plants, it looks like what I saw at a LFS in a tank with fish infected with velvet/fungus/poss bacterial (the fish were in bad shape) and the fake plants were covered in algae and had white spots. I'm going with fungus because it is so large and it is on the plants.

 

[mikemou]

yes, unfortunately they're on fins, too.

why are my plants getting fungus? are fungus harmful to fish? if so i should throw them out.

 

[mikemou]

yes, unfortunately they're on fins, too.

why are my plants getting fungus? are fungus harmful to fish? if so i should throw them out.

 

[crazie.eddie]

Yes, it does look like ich. I had a bout with ich on my cardinal tetras about a month ago and it looks the same.

Ich needs a living host, which includes, fish, snails, EVEN PLANTS.

Ich is also present on all fish/tanks. It is generally known as the "common cold". When the fish suffers stress, it's immune system lowers, therefore, the ich takes over. Much like the common cold in humans. Everyone has a cold virus, but it's only when our resistence is low is when we catch a cold.

It's best to increase the temp (a degree per hour) to about 82, this will increase the life cycle of ich. Ich cannot be killed while it is an adult (attached to a host) or becomes a cysts, but only in the free swimming stage. You should also perform daily gravel cleanings and water changes (about 15% max), which should remove any cysts on the substrate and the ones that are free swimming.

Since you have plants, I would not suggest using aquarium salt. There are some medications you can use that are safe for salt, unfortunately, I cannot name any of them at the moment.

You can probably do away with the ich with the high temps and daily water changes. The life cycle of ich is about 2-3 days, but it may take up to 2 weeks to get rid of the ich entirely.

Regarding the fungus on your plants...Could you give me your tank specs? Like tank size, filter equipment, water parameters (ammonia, nitrITE/nitrATEs, pH, etc.)?


Good luck.