ATJ
Premium Member
Terry,
Here is an observation from my 6' tank. In mid-March, 1999, 3 of my 4 blue tangs developed mild cases of 'Ich'. The one that didn't get 'Ich' had been in the tank for 6 weeks and the others had been there for 2 months (after being in a quarantine tank for 4 months. Some wrasses, a blenny and a goby had been moved into the tank (from the quarantine tank) 2 weeks before the 'Ich' showed.
A week later the 'Ich' was gone. A further week later the 'Ich' was back again. This time all 4 had varying signs of the cysts. During this time it was quite warm and I was noticing sizable differences in the water temperature from morning (25.5 C) to afternoon (28 C).
I installed fans in the hood, and the tank temperature stabilised. By April 4, all the spots had cleared from the 4 tangs and have not reappeared.
No other fish was infected. At the time I also had a scopas tang, a leopard wrasse, a cleaner wrasse, 3 dwarf angels, 2 tomato clowns, 2 fire fish and a yellow prawn goby.
While it is likely that the Cryptocaryon was already in the tank, or was introduced with the new arrivals, I believe it was the stress of the fluctuating temperature that "weakened" the tangs and once that stress was removed, they were able to "fight" off the parasite.
Is the "Ich" still in the tank? Who knows? Other fish have been added since, and they have been stressed - the leopard wrasse was very aggressive to three Halichoeres sp. wrasses added later and another dwarf angel was added which initially caused problems - but none of these became infected.
I have other tales (or should that be tails) of "Ich", but going through my diary, they are even more complicated than above.
Here is an observation from my 6' tank. In mid-March, 1999, 3 of my 4 blue tangs developed mild cases of 'Ich'. The one that didn't get 'Ich' had been in the tank for 6 weeks and the others had been there for 2 months (after being in a quarantine tank for 4 months. Some wrasses, a blenny and a goby had been moved into the tank (from the quarantine tank) 2 weeks before the 'Ich' showed.
A week later the 'Ich' was gone. A further week later the 'Ich' was back again. This time all 4 had varying signs of the cysts. During this time it was quite warm and I was noticing sizable differences in the water temperature from morning (25.5 C) to afternoon (28 C).
I installed fans in the hood, and the tank temperature stabilised. By April 4, all the spots had cleared from the 4 tangs and have not reappeared.
No other fish was infected. At the time I also had a scopas tang, a leopard wrasse, a cleaner wrasse, 3 dwarf angels, 2 tomato clowns, 2 fire fish and a yellow prawn goby.
While it is likely that the Cryptocaryon was already in the tank, or was introduced with the new arrivals, I believe it was the stress of the fluctuating temperature that "weakened" the tangs and once that stress was removed, they were able to "fight" off the parasite.
Is the "Ich" still in the tank? Who knows? Other fish have been added since, and they have been stressed - the leopard wrasse was very aggressive to three Halichoeres sp. wrasses added later and another dwarf angel was added which initially caused problems - but none of these became infected.
I have other tales (or should that be tails) of "Ich", but going through my diary, they are even more complicated than above.
