Chuck Fought The Ich . . .& The Ich Won

chuck78

The Reefanatic
That's my new jingle. I'm now sure the scientists dont know exactly how this damn "parasite" (& I use the term loosely) actually lives. I 1.Quarantined in copper for 3 months with perfect unchanged copper levels - 2.Allowed the tank to run fallow for those same 3 months - 3.Fed nori, mysis, marine cuisine soaked in garlic everyday twice a day - 4.Kept the Achllies in its own qtank far from any high traffic zones in the house to reduce further stress - 5.Successfully transfered this fish with minimal chasing or stress (I can almost pet him w/o him running) - 6.Allowed him to be the only fish in the display tank for 3 weeks. After all these measures, this fish still contracted ich while being the only fish in a tank that was fishless for three months. This 220 gal tank also has 300+ lbs of liverock for hiding:frustrat: Oh & BTW, I ran these steps twice for a combined total of seven months doing battle with this f#@king illness. Someone please let me know if I missed something b/c I'm more inclined to believe that ich is a virus that lives in a fish the same way that the common cold stays with humans meaning....THAT YOU WILL NEVER BE RID OF IT!!!!!! I've come to learn this $1,142.59 later.
 
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That sucks, Chuck. As you know this hobby is not perfect. I'm inclined to not QT, and just hope my fish can fight ich or any other parasite off. Bravo, though, for trying!! I have no patience for that. Is the Achilles still alive? Hopefully he'll be able to fighth it.
 
That really sucks :( I have no idea, all I can think of is that perhaps the copper medication was expired? Have you tried the hyposalinity route? (I am sure the last thing you want to do is to do another 3 months with a fallow DT, but its the only suggestion I have....)
 
I have no idea. You say you used copper at the correct levels, and I believe that you were very diligent about ensuring it was used at the full recommended dose (some people have used a half dose, thinking it will be less stressful for the fish, but not realizing that renders it ineffective). According to the literature out there, three months *SHOULD* be enough time. So I'm stumped!!

Unless it's not really ich. Is there the possibility it's a different disease? There are a few out there that look like white spots.
 
Very many props for doing that for 7 months, that is patience right there. You are not the first to think that of Ich either. I really believe that all fish have ich all the time, and that it is presented when they are stressed, or have another illness. I did a lot of research when I thought (and still think) there is/was ich in my tank, and many people that I have talked to say that it too. I wish you the best with this PITA disease, I hope your fish pull through.
 
So I cant totally confirm this now, but next semester when I pass bacteriology and virology I will. But I have heard talk that some parasites can migrate into the tissues and become dormant, for months/years whatever, just waiting for the next chance to outbreak. That would prevent them from coming in contact with the copper and dying off.

I am so sorry he still has ich :(
 
Sen has linked to an article before that states ich can live in frozen foods. Could you have been re-introducing it over and over again in frozen food?
 
If either of those are true, then really, as long as you keep your parameters as pristine as possible, you really shouldn't worry about ich. I still think the best "cure" is to let the fish fight it off. Nature is about the survival of the fittest.
 
Living in frozen food...WTF...I'm starting to not like this hobby. LOL , I'm selling my tanks for some high end RC Planes.
 
Sucks about the ich battle. You could always download a pretty reef screensaver and just media-center it over onto your bigscreen TV. In the end, even if you have to go out and buy all the stuff for the media center, you'll probably still end up with less $ investment than a saltwater tank....
 
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