Quarantine Subject II

[seamonkee]

bro seamonkee, i am glad ur fishes are doing well. On my side, the fishes also recover from itch already. Although i didnt quarantine the fishes, but i fed them daily with mysis/brine shimps soak in garlic. This prob contributed to their recovery.

Just take note bro.... from what I have intensively read about ich, garlic dun "kill" ich but only boost the immunity for the fishes and is only use as a preventive measure rather than a cure.... very much like when we take garlic pills to protect ourselves from the common flu. (Too late to take them when you are down with flu, rite?) The same goes for fishes.

Technically, if you ask me, ich will exit from the tomont stage (parasite stage where it is a visible spot and stick itself to the fish) to another stage where it lies dormant on the substrate before exploding to another 200 baby iches....

So that's what usually fools the hobbyist into believing that the iches are no longer there since they are not visible on the fish... but actually the ich parasites has gone on to another stage and will come back in greater numbers. Believe me.... Just imagine.... 1 will give birth to 200.

That's why I decided to take the longer route, took out all the fishes (one left actually) and put him on the quarantine tank. I left the tank fallow in 1.009 hyposalinity stage for 1 week (since I dun have coral) and suck the top of the substrate daily to remove any dormant iches ready to explode into babies... This greatly reduce the number... Likewise, I changed the UV light bulb for a more effective measure.... lastly, the patient wait for 8 weeks to kill off all remaining ich in the main tank before putting the fish back into the main tank. As for new fishes, 2 to 3 weeks of QT will be a must before releasing into main tank (depending on fish breed and size).

I am interested to know the effectiveness of this measure myself (since I heard it is the common practice in the west to QT and successful results were achieved). Not to worry, I will keep all posted on the end results... I guess everyone is dying to know....

As an encouragement to you, studies have also shown that some fish species are able to develop a six month immunity to ich attack after initial expose to the parasite. But dun bet your luck on natural immunity... bottom line is still on choosing the right fish and proper quarantine practices....