talk to me a minute about this "ICH" thing...

[woodsplace1]

Ok...so I admit it...I am an aquarium virgin if you will. We bought the 10 gallon tank for my 3 year old sons "fishy" room and I will also admit intended to get just gold fish and use the light as a night light for him, something simple. Well, the more I got into it, the more I got hooked...line...and sinker (excuse the pun) So he we are, 2 dalmatian mollies (had 3, 2 females and 1 male like the lfs recommend) we removed the male once I researched and found out they were live bearers and could birth up to 60-100 fish! YIKES

We also have a mini clown pleco for our overwhelming used to be algae problem...(thanks to "stripes" all gone now) and also an ADF named Webber...

I keep hearing people talk about this "ICH" thing and want to get updated or knowledgable on it before it happens to one of my fish so I can either recognize it, or stop it from happening if that is possible...

My one dalmatian molly is pregnant now but seems to have been for a while now, possibly just not the "average" breeder as some have put it and can hold her fry for up to 3-5 months at a time. It has been about 6 or so weeks now that she has been pooching out.

My second female over the past week has been lagging a bit, dragging her tail, literally when she swims. Not eating as much and hanging out burrowing in the gravel at the bottom...she may be preggers as well, just not as large as my other molly. As I said before...aquarium virgin here...big sign on my forehead... 8O so if anyone can give me some heads up on this ICH thing, I would give you a big HIGH FIVE! Low five, five bucks...whatever! Thanks so much for all your support in our great aquarium dive! Never even would have guessed I would have gotten this deep...(again, excuse the puns)

 

[Jchillin]

No problem. We have the perfect ich article right here: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/article_view.php?faq=2&fldAuto=32

 

[Peregrine]

It's certainly not something to worry about until it happens.
Keep the temprature steady and quarintine new fish for a week and you should have no problems with Ich.
I would guesstimate 75% of ich cases are caused by bringing sick fish home. At least in my experience, that's the only way I've ever got ich in my tanks.

 

[woodsplace1]

excellent article Jchillin...thanks so much! Answered everyone of my questions on the "ICH"...High five to you!

 

[arrow1234]

I would guesstimate 75% of ich cases are caused by bringing sick fish home. At least in my experience, that's the only way I've ever got ich in my tanks.

75% ??? omg
then how can the fishy stay alive so long in the pet store?

 

[Zagz]

IMO some do stay alive for awhile but a lot of the fish die and it is the lfs's responsibility to remove them as quickly as possible. Many lfs's have a universal water supply which can spread illnesses like ich. Other lfs's have rows of tanks or individual tank water supplies and can maintain ich outbreaks easier. Also the fish at the lfs are not usually in the tank long enough to show substantial symptoms. They are usually purchased quickly or like I mentioned, they die and and are removed. The lfs's know they won't sell fish if there are tons of dead fish in their tanks. Fish to them are usually a commodity and not pets the way most of us think of them.

 

[arrow1234]

IMO Fish to them are usually a commodity and not pets the way most of us think of them.

so to prevent suspicous ich from new fish from petstore, we have to put the new fish in QT tank(just a seperated individual tank for the only new fish/fishes) for few weeks and do regular treatment. correct?
is this action for surveillance? or make the fish get used to our new water condition?

 

[Zagz]

QT is usually to protect exsisting fish. The water your lfs has is probably very close to the water you have, of course if you must travel to get to an lfs this may not be the case. It is sad that the fish stores consider fish a commodity but they are running a business and that is their main focus.

 

[RoK]

so to prevent suspicous ich from new fish from petstore, we have to put the new fish in QT tank(just a seperated individual tank for the only new fish/fishes) for few weeks and do regular treatment. correct?
is this action for surveillance? or make the fish get used to our new water condition?

Yes, you should quarantine new fish for at least 2 weeks. They do not necessarily need to be treated when they are in the QT tank, if they are and remain healthy.

 

[Peregrine]

I would guesstimate 75% of ich cases are caused by bringing sick fish home. At least in my experience, that's the only way I've ever got ich in my tanks.

75% ??? omg
then how can the fishy stay alive so long in the pet store?

I don't mean 75% of LFS fish have ich... just that most of the time we get ich, it is from the LFS.