Can Ich just go away?

Ashna

Ashna

Reefing newb
i have/had ich in my tank...my royal gramma would have the odd spot on him. my fire fish has never had a spot unless i just can not see them. the last few weeks i havent seen not one spot on either fish at all.....where has it gone? i thought it was goin to be in there for ever?
 
ok well i havent added any fish, do youthink if i wait a few weeks i could maybe add one? or would that be totally pushing my luck
 
Do you just have the fire fish and the gramma?
In a 50 gallon tank you would be safe with 5 small fish.
Just wait three weeks between additions and you will be fine.
Like little_fish said, most of us have ich in our systems. So long as the fish are healthy and happy it does not affect them.
 
Yup, and it can just come back too. I dont know why waiting 3 weeks between adding fish has anything to do with it, but I'm sure I'll find out! :D
 
I didn't mean waiting three weeks before additions would have anything to do with the ich. It is more for the bacteria to catch up to the bioload.
 
Yeah I read that not everyone has Ich in their tank and that it is an old wives tale.

Maybe it came about because there is no way to know if a fish has it so they just figure everyone has it.

I also read this from a post on how to treat ICH.

I have tried this and it works everytime... First step is to get a plate. Using your fish net, remove one of the infected fish from the tank. Gently lay the fish on the plate. Most fish will calm down and stop flapping around in about 30 to 45 seconds. When you fish is nice and calm, using a pair of Revlon Diamond Grip Tweezers, gently remove all those pesty little ich parasites. Then turn the fish over and repeat. Return the fish to the tank. It may gasp a few times, but it will be ok. Just simply repeat this step over and over on all your fish untill no more ich is visible. Wait a few days, then check fish again. If the ich returns, just do it all again. If you happen to accidently pull off a fish scale or two when removing the ich, don't worry, it'll grown back eventually.
 
How is this an old wives tale? From Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

Many hobbyists are fooled into believing they have cured their fish of the parasites, only to find Ich present again on fish a few weeks later; a reason why following through with a full treatment protocol is so important. Don't make this mistake and be lulled into a false sense of security. The parasites may be in a stage where they are merely regrouping and multiplying for their "next offensive."
Click to expand...

Ich is free floating...you can remove the white spots from the fish, but they will still have the parasite inside where you can't see it. Just because your fish don't show signs of ich doesn't mean it's not in your water. If they're happy and healthy, the ich won't present itself. The second you stress them with poor quality water, you will see the ich.

Those who quarantine and specifically treat ich from day 1 will most likely not have it in their tanks...so no matter what kind of stress you give them, they will never get ich.
 
phastroh said:
I don't know. I didn't say it I just read it.

Don't Wontonflip out over it.:D
Click to expand...

Um....how was I flipping out? I was simply stating what I have learned about ich....did I hurt your feelings or something? The way it works is you say something, I say something, then you say something....right? :P
 
Stop the madness. You can't hurt my feelings as I have none.

I get what you mean. With no sound sometimes things feel different but it is no problem. Plus I just wanted to say Wontonflipout.

If your name wasn't part of it I wouldn't have even wrote flip out.
 
phastroh said:
Stop the madness. You can't hurt my feelings as I have none.
Click to expand...

He is a robot! I knew it! ;)

Picking the parasites off is not an effective treatment for ich. That does nothing for the parasites that are living in the water. Those ones will continue to reproduce, and re-attach to the fish.

Symptoms of ich can go away, but the fish could still have it or be carrying it.
 
I know there are many, many, many people on this forum that will never agree with products like this one but it seems to at least not be a chemical and from other forums I have read people say it worked well.

Kordon LLC - Kordon - Ich Attack

I mean who knows. I say if you didn't try it how can you say yes or no. Unless there was an overwhelming vote against it why can't it help and I have seen people saying it was great. It explains how when the fish has the white spots nothing can treat that part and how they have be free swimming.

I guess you have to just keep treating so when the time comes for them to hatch there is something in the water ready to kill them.

Too bad there is no way to know because then you could just treat for a few days if you knew when they were hatching.

My other thing is if you have them in a QT tank that is bare and empty, how can they drop and hatch. Do they not need any substrate and can use the bare glass all the same.

It would be cool if you had a funnel shaped QT tank and were able to have fresh water always coming in and then when they drop they go bye bye in the sewer. I mean unless there was a straining system fine enough to catch them underneath.
 
Last edited:
You want to kill Ich, just dose the crap out of your system with copper. That will do ya. And for a bonus, it stays in the glass. Hope you don't have any real Live Rock or inverts or corals.
 
I would say not to put copper in your tank. That is what a QT tank os for.

The stuff I mentioned above is 100% Organic and not chemicals and still kills the parasite.
 
Some of that stuff doesn't work all that great, for everyone that is. It may work for some. And copper, yes you are correct. The stuff is lethal in areef tank, thats why I threw in the warning, but it kills everything. I would not personally use it myself. I don't put anyting in my tank. Nor do I use a QT. If the fish are healthy, they will survive. As mine have done.
 
Wait so your fish have gotten Ich and you just left them and it went away.

You know what I mean, it just cleared up.
 
That is correct. I had most of my tangs inthe tank and decided I wanted to add the Blue Hippo Tang, and we all know that these guys are just Ich magnets. Well sure enough BOOM, the next day he got it. But, he is healthy and was eating well. I just left it up to nature and he beat it. None of my other fish picked it up either. Took about 10 days for it all to clear up.
 
Reef Nutz said:
You want to kill Ich, just dose the crap out of your system with copper. That will do ya. And for a bonus, it stays in the glass. Hope you don't have any real Live Rock or inverts or corals.
Click to expand...


Reef Nutz, im going to ask you not to make comments like this, it is completely counter productive. No one should ever does their main system with copper.. no matter what they want to achieve.
 
Also, all of your fish still have ich, but are healthy enough not to show it as visible signs on their body and have it degrade them.

Ich will always be in the tank, but fish that are healthy, will not show it. There is no point worrying unless your fish show visible spots, then those specific fish need to be treated in order to become healthy again to be protected against ich
 

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