Does ICH always result in death?

[clamfoot]

I recently took a chance and introduced a new fish (Flame Angel) to my reef tank without quarantining it, first time I did this. Big mistake, the Flame Angel is O.K. but my Purple Tang of 3 years broke out with a bad case of Ich. He looked horrible 3 days ago but today he looks just fine. My Neon Goby was climbing all over him, is it possible that the Neon Goby was trying to eat the Ich parasites? I thought only cleaner wrasse displayed this trait. Anyhow, now that I have the Ich parasite in my tank will this eventually lead to the death of all my fish?
Thanks

 

[monkeyboy]

Neon gobys are cleaners also, they're the only ones that eat prepared food too! Everyone's tank has ich, it just doesn't get a foothold because the fish are healthy. Your body is covered with all kinds of scary diseases but do you get every single one? Fish will get ich when stressed and for the most part (some fish are more prone to it than others, hence your tang) they won't get it unless there is a temp, salinity, agression type stressor.

But then again some fish just come down w/ it somewhat randomly, we'll never understand!

 

[davelin315]

Ich seldom results in death unless you have really horrible water quality, and your fish is in really bad condition and is weakened by something else as well as the ich. If you keep your tank in good condition, your fish may have the occasional bout with ich, but will be able to beat it every time.

 

[clamfoot]

Monkey boy wrote >>Everyone's tank has ich<<

Monkeyboy, I assure you my tank did not have Ich till I introduced the Flame Angel. I know this because about 8 mos. ago, prior to the introduction of the Flame Angel, my fish were stressed out beyond belief when my heater failed and the water temp. dropped to 68 degrees and I removed all the live rock and placed the fish in a tub that leaked overnight and the fish were flopping in about an inch of water the next morning. Not one of them ever came down with Ich. That's because all of them were quarantined in a separate tank, (prior to being placed in my reef), for 3 weeks with water that had copper medication in it that will kill all Ich parasites.
Thanks

 

[Clownkeeper]

hey clamfoot
monkeyboy is actually right. All marine tanks have the ich parasite in them. It just takes the right condition to make it flare up. Poor water conditions, stress to fish or on the system.
posted by cvarcher on another board and i tried it and works

If you do get ich in your tank you can always do a fresh water dip or put them in a seperate hospital tank just drop the salinity to 1.016 and hold it there for 3 weeks.You will see it drop off very fast. Now buy some Kent Marine Zoe vitamins and every time you feed spirulina or other dry flakes put several drops on it and let it saok for several minutes. This should work. Dont try any chemicals,they dont work.IMO at least

 

[davelin315]

I agree with monkeyboy. For the most part, though, ich is dormant. Just because you dip a fish doesn't mean that it can't carry ich into your tank with it (the copper treatment will probably do the trick though). However, if you have live rock, chances are, you've introduced ich into your tank. Unless you're running copper on your live rock, that is, which would then mean you have no possibilities for anything without a spine ever again.

 

[clamfoot]

dave lin wrote >>However, if you have live rock, chances are, you've introduced ich into your tank. <<

I remember reading an article (re.ich) awhile back about a study actually performed under laboratory conditions.It conclusively stated "Ich must have a host, i.e. fish, in order to survive, it will not live on live rock alone. If you remove all fish from a reef tank and leave them out for 37 days the parasite will die.

 

[jmeader]

While you can have a low level of infection, ich does not go dormant. When introducing LR, a FW dip combined with vigorous movement will dislodge any developing cysts that might be on it.

 

[jmeader]

Hey Clownkeeper. Actually Clamfoot is right. The parasite has to be introduced and through proper quarantine and treatment it can be kept out. Most people just don't take the time to do it.

[ September 15, 2001: Message edited by: jmeader ]

 

[Terry B]

Ich absolutely does not exist in all tanks. It is an obligate parasite that must be introduced and it can also be eliminated once it has been introduced. However, you can alway import it again. Ich always being present is a fallacy and Old Wives Tale that just doesn't seem to go away. The life cycle and mode of transmission has been well studied. Ich only lives off fish and it will starve out of a tank if it is left without fish. The time period for this can vary, but 30 days is generally safe.
Neon gobies, cleaner wrasse and cleaner shrimp can sometimes help but they are far from being any sort of consistent cure for ich. It is possible to have a latent infection in a tank that can stay in check for a time. However, no amount of stress can cause ich when the parasite is not present. The example of the temperature plunging to 68 demonstrates this. Thermal stress causes fish to produce about 50% less mucus. Mucus is the primary defense against infection with ich.
There are pathogens that are present in every marine aquarium, but Cryptocaryon irritans (ich) is not one of them. Vibrio is a good example of a pathogen that can be found in most any marine aquarium. This does not usually cause a problem unless the fish are badly stressed or the water quality is poor.
Hyposalinity therapy requires that the Specific gravity be kept at 1.009 at a temp or 78 to 80 to cure ich. Don't confuse this will a salinity of 16ppt or less which is required to interupt the parasites life cycle. Ich tomonts can attach to any hard surface including rock or equipment, so it is possible to transmit the disease this way.

 

[davelin315]

I'll back out now and just read your opinions because obviously, there are people much more well versed with ich than me, I only learned about it from talking to LFS people and other hobbyists. Learn something new every day. I guess, though, that I can qualify my opinion, in a reef tank that has fish in it, ich is always present once it has been introduced and as long as there are fish in the tank, but if the fish are removed, the ich will go away.