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hi, all. i have a situation with my tank now that i'm (possibly prematurely) REALLY FREAKING OUT about...

the short version of my question is this: would it be possible to treat ich parasite by removing all of the infected fish IMMEDIATELY after seeing the smallest, most initial signs of infection? i know the life cycle of the parasite has a free-swimming stage in between stages of living on the fish body. if i think the ich came in on the body of some new fish, and i took those fish out immediately... could this be a way to remove ich from my tank, along WITH those fish? or is this idea completely dumb?

a little backstory, for anyone interested (and because it's potentially helpful):
i've been keeping fish for many years now, and my latest tank (36 corner, tropical) has been set up for almost two years with nearly the same inhabitants: four buenos aires tetras, an algae eater, and a large angelfish. during the past 6 months, for various reasons, my hobby unfortunately had to be put on the backburner. my tank was completely over-run with algae, my water levels were low, my nitrates were high. however, there was no disease in my tank during this time and no fish loss either. a few weeks ago, i completely cleaned up the tank through a series of small changes and scrubs. the fish continued to be healthy during this time. after the tank being stable, with crystal clear water and healthy fish, for a couple of weeks, i decided i could safely introduce some new fish to my now-renovated tank. i was really proud of my work (re-did all the decor during my cleaning, too) and wanted to fill out the tank to make it look even better.

well, i got five more tetras, and two days later, i see spots on four of those new ones. the worst has about three fin spots and is clamping fins; the other three have a single spot and show no signs of illness. all the fish i originally had show NO sign of infection, and i literally JUST noticed these spots now - they definitely could not have been there long. my brilliant idea is to bring these fish back to the store first thing in the morning, and hope that all the ich will go with them. my rationale is that the ich is so new that it hasn't progressed to the part of the lifecycle where it comes off the fish and reproduces in my tank. my tank finally looks great and i'm terrified of messing up my hard work or stressing my healthy fish by raising temp or introducing meds. but am i in lala land if i think this idea could work?

i would love any insight on this, and thanks in advance!

As you have been keeping for for some time now you know about the life cycle of the Ich. It would have only taken one little nasty to start the recycling [process offagain.
With Ich meds just make sure you have the correct one for your tank scale or scaleless.
You will have to treat the tank and all the fish.

Here is a lot of very useful information about Ich I strongly suggest you copy and print this out for future reference.
If you have any more questions please ask.


WHITE SPOT ICH

White spot Parasite, Ichthyophthirius multifiliis

This disease is easy to recognise, as the skin of the infected fish becomes covered with white spots, each the size of a pinhead. Each spot represents the site of one, or sometimes two, parasites. All parts of the body gills, may be attacked.

The causative agent is named Ichthyophthirius multifiliis. It is a spherical and large by protozoan standards, measuring up to 1mm in diameter. Short, hair-like processes known as cilia are spread densely over the surface. A horseshoe-shape nucleus is also present which is clearly visible under the microscope.

By the means of the cilia the parasite rotates vigorously and burrows into the surface layer (epidermis) of its host. It feeds on skin cells and surface debris. The burrowing action causes a local irritation and the epidermis grows across the parasite to enclose it, thus forming a “White Spot”

Reproduction occurs away from the host. After maturing in the skin, which takes a few days to three weeks, depending on the temperature, the parasite bores out, swims away and comes to rest on a submerged object such as a stone, or plant. Here it forms a jelly-like cyst within which a series of rapid cell divisions take place. In a few hours, several hundred daughter cells or swarmers, are produced, which break out of the cyst to find a new host. Alighting on the skin, they burrow in to recommence the life cycle. If they fail to find a host within three to four days, they perish.

Symptoms
If the protozoan is introduced into a tank containing healthy fish, little harm may occur, other than a fleeting infection with a few parasites. If however, the fishes are already weakened for some other reason, e.g. lack of oxygen, the parasite will quickly cover the whole body surface, causing irritation and opening up wounds for secondary infections. The host mobility may become affected. In sever cases, death may result.

Prevention
If white-spot appears in an otherwise healthy tank, the parasite “must” have been introduced either as an adult on a newly acquired fish, or as the cyst form on, for example new stones, a plant or even added water. The only certain method of prevention, is to quarantine all new stock, including stones, plants etc; preferably in water at a temperature of 77F. Allow one week’s quarantine.

Treatments
There are too many treatments today to recommend any specific one. Many can be bought easily at aquarium outlets.


Several very interesting points to think about.

Very easy to recognise.
Its reproduction cycle.
No host they will die.
If introduced into a healthy tank little harm may occur.
Pay attention to all tank details.
Weakened fish, and lack of oxygen can/may and will cause sever deaths. All this is usually caused by poor tank maintenance and/or incorrect and faulty equipment.
Prevention is the best cure
A Parasite “must” be introduced into the tank.

This information was collected from Fresh Water Tropical Fish
Compiled by Keith
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TREATING A TANK and Scaleless fish

Clown Loaches and other scaleless fish require a special White Spot cure. I have seen it said that this is not so just use any WS cure at half strength and that will do. That is totally wrong even at that strength it will become dangerous.

Only use the "CORRECT" WS cure and only use it at the correct dosage as per instruction on the bottle. Also check the UBD "Expire Date" to be on the safe side.

Melafix can be used in conjunction with the WS cure it will not cure it at all but it will reduce the stress on the fish.

Now for the treatment.
Only used the prescribed amount and times recommended.
Remove any carbon filters if you are using them.
Add extra air this is beneficial to the tank as well.
Bump up the temp slowly. By doing this it speeds up the growth rate of the Ich and this kills it quicker.
Turn of the lights if you have a fully planted tank this will not hurt for a few days at all.
Reduce the feeding by 50% they wont feel like eating any way and you could easily have other problem with the uneaten food. I would feed them with small amounts of "Frozen Blood Worms" at least 3 time a week this will keep their strength up remember a healthy fish will survive the Ich problem a lot easier.

Treating the Tank
You might not see any WS after a week BUT it has not all gone and by this I mean the treatment must be continued for at at least a total of 3-4 weeks. This might sound a long time but it will be worth it.

I would still carry out your weekly water changes and when you have completed the tank treatment a 50% of treated water change would help for the next two changes.

Then you can replace or add a carbon filter for at least 2 weeks and toss it out completely.

I have had WS with my CLs and they as well as all fish worth the extra time and effort in removing the Ich.

Finally take all the precautions and try not to get it again

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Calilasseia
POSTED BY Calilasseia

Posted 24-Nov-2006 01:48
The key facts to remember about White Spot (and I'm sure Keith has covered these, but I'll repeat them just in case) are:[1] Only one part of the life cycle of Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, the causative parasite, is susceptible to medication, which means that ...[2] Medication has to be applied even when the symptoms appear to have gone for up to 7 days afterwards, to make sure that all the susceptible stages of the parasite have been eliminated. The parasite in question has a three stage life cycle. The part that manifests itself is the trophont or feeding stage. This stage burrows through the fish's slime coat, attaches itself to the outer layer of tissue or epithelium, and starts feeding upon the fish. This stage is impervious to medication because it forms a protective cyst around itself. The next stage is the tomont stage. This forms when the parasite has ingested sufficient nutrients from the fish to begin reproduction. This stage is largely invisible in the aquarium, because it detaches from the fish, falls into the substrate, and remains encysted while it divides into daughter cells - something like 1,000 daughter cells for each tomont. Because it is encysted, it is impervious to medication again. The third stage is the larval or tomite stage. Each daughter cell becomes a free swimming tomite, which is microscopic and invisible to the eye. At this point in the life cycle, the parasite is vulnerable to medication. The trouble is, of course, that the swarming tomites are microscopic, and so you can't actually see them directly with the naked eye, which means you have to keep medication levels in the aquarium maintained at sufficient concentration to kill the tomites for as long as they are likely to persist. Depending upon temperature, the tomites could mutate into mature trophonts in as little as 3 days or take as long as 7 days. In an aquarium that contains solely Labyrinth Fishes, one means of dealing with the parasite is to increase the ambient aquarium temperature to 85 degrees Fahrenheit during the medication stage. This speeds up the parasite's life cycle, and ensures that the medication can destroy all the free-swimming microscopic tomites before they have a chance to attach themselves to a fish and begin the cycle anew. With NON Labyrinth Fishes, however, this could induce unwanted additional respiratory stresses - Labyrinth Fishes can cope with this because they are able to breathe atmospheric air to compensate for the lower concentration of dissolved oxygen at higher water temperatures, but fishes that rely exclusively upon gill-based respiration cannot do this. Some fishes such as Clown Loaches can be subjected to elevated temperatures as they experience these in the wild periodically, but it's not a good idea to do this with certain other fishes - Panda Corys spring to mind as one species that should NOT be subject to temperatures above 80 degrees F because they're inhabitants of cooler waters in their native Peru, and will die of heat stress if 'cooked' in this manner. So, depending upon ambient temperature, the tomites will appear in as little as 3 days, or you could be unfortunate and the tomites could take 7 days to appear. In cooler aquaria (e.g., a Panda Cory aquarium kept at 72 degrees F) you could be required to maintain medication for up to 14 days. If the fishes can be moved to a hospital tank for treatment, and medicated there, this is preferable because you don't have to subject your main aquarium's biological filter to adverse effects from the medication - you can just destroy the parasites there. Removing the fishes from the main aquarium also has the advantage that any free swimming tomites that arise in the main aquarium are left with no hosts to attach to, and thus starve to death. So, at the end of your medication period in the hospital aquarium, you are free to return the fishes to the main aquarium. Of course, your problem here is that you have to remember to add a small quantity of fish food to the main aquarium as if you were still feeding fishes so that the biological filter in the main aquarium is kept ticking over whilst the fishes themselves are temporarily rehoused. Once the fishes have been removed from the main aquarium, by the way, you can speed things up vis-a-vis destroying remaining parasites by increasing the temperature to 105 degrees F while the fishes are absent, which will speed up the life cycle considerably, and result in the accelerated production of tomites ... which then find themselves bereft of fishes to attach to. And, they starve to death quicker at the higher temperatures, because they use up their reserves more quickly. Get yourself a cheap plastic aquarium that you're never going to use as anything BUT a hospital tank, put your fishes in that, medicate them, then whack up the main aquarium temperature to 105 degrees while the fishes are in the 'hospital'. Once the fishes are free of parasites and have remained so for 7 days, you can return the main aquarium to its normal temperature and reintroduce the now treated fishes. Any watertight container that is safe to house fishes in (i.e., it hasn't ever been used to mix weedkiller or insecticide, and doesn't leach toxic material into the water) can be pressed into service as the 'hospital' for the duration, so long as it is possible to maintain aeration and some basic filtration (e.g., sponge filter) within the container during the medication phase. Oh, and DO NOT use activated carbon filtration or ion exchange resins in the hospital aquarium because that will remove your medication! EDIT : Almost forgot. I use Protozin. Protozin is somewhat expensive, but it is claimed by the makers to be formulated so as to impact as little as possible upon filter bacteria. And, upon the occasions I have had to use it, it works well


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Keith


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My guess would be that it would not be a 100% assured way to prevent further infection. Free-swimming ich may have been introduced in the water with the fish. It might help, but I wouldn't guarantee that it would work.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.