How to avoid reintroducing Ich

[simes303]

Hi, I'm new to these forums.
I have an outbreak of Ich in my tank. I've caught it early and I'm sure all will be well. I've been keeping fish a long time and Ich is an easy problem to deal with.
This time is different however. I have two large crayfish which I have moved to a separate tank as I believe the Ich treatment is not good for invertebrates. Can anyone tell me how to avoid reintroducing the Ich when I put the crayfish back? Is it just the case that crayfish don't carry the parasite anyway, or should I give them a separate treatment, and if so, what?
Thanks for any advice.
Cheers, Simon.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I'd recommend you just not reintroduce the crayfish. If you have a separate environment for them already, I'd say your best course of action would be to keep them separated.


Moving the crayfish back, if you are so inclined, would be best done without water. The parasite would be in the water, rather than on the invert. So, removing the crayfish from tank 1 and placing it in tank 2 sans water would limit any reintroduction.

How long have they been separated? The lifecycle of ich generally would mean that they wouldn't be around if they have been separated for a period of a week or two.

So, I suppose my recommendations are this:
1 - Don't reintroduce and keep them separated.
2 - If you do reintroduce, keep them separated for two weeks first,
3 - If and/or when you reintroduce, do so with no water during the transfer.



(Obviously, you want the water chemistry and temperature of the tank the crayfish are coming from to very very closely match the water they will be going into before transferring them.)

 

[simes303]

Hi again, and thank you.
I only have one tank so I can't keep the crayfish separate. My tank is 5 x 2 x 2 feet, my quarantine tank is about 18 x 12 x 12 inches, on the kitchen worktop, and is generally in the way so I only use it for quarantine purposes. It's usually in the shed, empty. And as you saw in my previous post, the crayfish don't bother my fish at all. I get the impression that you're a bit skeptical of that, but I spend a lot of time watching what goes on in there and I'm certain that the fish aren't stressed by them.
Anyway, when you say to keep separated for two weeks first because any parasite that was reintroduced would be via the water, are you saying that the crayfish definitely wouldn't be carriers themselves? Does the Ich absolutely require the presence of fish to complete its cycle? Also, how bad actually IS the Ich treatment for crayfish? Would it be certain death or would it probably be okay with just a small risk of problems? I really have no idea.
Thank you for your time. This is very helpful.
Cheers, Si.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I am not skeptical of your experience, I am skeptical of making your practice more widespread. A lot of things happen at night when the lights are out that are invisible to us. A friend of mine swore that his pictus catfish "never bothered" his neon tetras. Yet, somehow neons went missing. The answer is simple, the neons 'sleep' down near the substrate and at night they would do that and become easy prey. Other species, which were the same size as the neons, didn't have that issue because they slept higher in the water column.


As for ich treatment and crayfish, my preferred treatment for ich is heat and salt. But, not knowing your specific crayfish, I wouldn't be able to tell you how bad that would be for them. It is my understanding that cray are not carriers of the parasite. And it is further my understanding that the free swimming variety of the parasite needs to attach to a fish within a few days or it dies. I cannot say that about the cysts or what not. But, if you move only the cray, the cysts also should not move with them.



I completely understand the quarantine situation. And perhaps the size of your tank allows for such a benign relationship between your fins and claws. In a smaller tank, it might not be such a pleasant experience.

 

[simes303]

Thanks for your help. I'll let you know how it goes. Si. x

 

[Byron]

There is now widespread belief that ich is always present in most aquaria. Nothing else would explain the sudden outbreak of ich when for example the heater fails in winter and when nothing "new" has been introduced for months. If this is the case, then any severe stress will cause an outbreak of ich that will or may overpower the fish. The "immunity" some fish may build is not absolute in and of itself. And stress is the root cause of 95% of all fish disease, including ich. Avoiding stress is consequently the best preventative.

Which brings me to stress. I fully concur with what eaglesaquarium posted concerning the crayfish. These crustaceans clambering about during darkness are almost inevitably causing stress to fish that are not nocturnal. It simply cannot be avoided. None of us can say how much stress this is causing to which fish, but it makes sense to acknowledge it is present to some extent. Keep in mind that in nature these two creatures--crayfish and your tropical fish-- would never encounter one another. Obviously there will be other forms of possibly predatory critters in the habitat of some fish. But another aspect of this is that fish acquire via their respective species DNA data on certain predators and how to respond. An aquarium is a very artificial environment for any fish.

Last, but certainly not least...welcome to TFF.

Byron.