I swear if its not one thing after another...

[duanes]

I usually quarantine for 2 months, and have found it often takes that long for certain diseases to become obvious.
A friend who runs the aqua exhibit at a municipal zoo, quarantines all fish and inverts, for no less than 6 months befor adding to a a display tank.
Many fish can be asymptomatic carriers, either because they have built up immunity over time to such things as ick, or that they carry a phage that is species specific.
In some cases diseases are so minute, that they go unnoticed when just observing a tank, so photos of all new fish allows for detailed observation.
taking 100 photos per day and analyzing each of the non-blurry ones for the tiniest spot or infection is not out of the ordinary.

 

[EntoStentor]

I had to deal with ich on three peacock bass I bought last year. It started the same way you described. One day I didn’t notice anything, then the next day they were covered. Luckily, they were small and I still had them in a 29 bare bottom quarantine tank. I did daily water changes while vacuuming the bottom of the tank each night, raised the water temp to 89, and added one cup of API aquarium salt per five gallons when doing water changes. The ich got worse before it got better, but it cleared up in a few days. I still kept up the treatment for a full ten days to make sure the ich was completely gone. Interesting side note, the bass were quarantined with a 5-6” endli bichir and the bichir never had a spec on him throughout the whole ordeal. Not sure what to make of that. Lol. Unfortunately, while the fish were growing out in the quarantine tank, the bichir ate the smallest bass. The bichir was about 7” and the bass was about 4” at the time.

Bichirs and bottom dwellers are usually fairly resistant to ich. I think the poly slime coat has something to do with it

 

[Hendre]

Bichirs and bottom dwellers are usually fairly resistant to ich. I think the poly slime coat has something to do with it

Polypterus have ganoid scales, much tougher for ich to get through.

Hope your fish get well!

 

[FINWIN]

Polypterus have ganoid scales, much tougher for ich to get through.

Hope your fish get well!

Patch is improving every day, she's something else. I will post some pics of her in the "Updated tank Pics" thread.

Interesting about the Polys being resistant.

 

[FINWIN]

I usually quarantine for 2 months, and have found it often takes that long for certain diseases to become obvious.
A friend who runs the aqua exhibit at a municipal zoo, quarantines all fish and inverts, for no less than 6 months befor adding to a a display tank.
Many fish can be asymptomatic carriers, either because they have built up immunity over time to such things as ick, or that they carry a phage that is species specific.
In some cases diseases are so minute, that they go unnoticed when just observing a tank, so photos of all new fish allows for detailed observation.
taking 100 photos per day and analyzing each of the non-blurry ones for the tiniest spot or infection is not out of the ordinary.
View attachment 1361394

What's a phage? Not familiar with that term.

The fish I have in qt now I watch every day, not trying to be too paranoid. Sometimes I'll see ick and its a 'nick' instead. When I first got my Parrot Patch I thought she had ick on her tail but I discovered they were knots in her tail rays...all lined up perfectly vertically. I treated her for ick at the time.

 

[Hendre]

Patch is improving every day, she's something else. I will post some pics of her in the "Updated tank Pics" thread.

Interesting about the Polys being resistant.

I had ropefish bring ich in but didn't seem visibly affected, was all over my fine-scaled knifefish though. Glad your parrot is improving!

 

[EntoStentor]

I once had ich sweep through almost all of my tanks and none of the bottom feeders (plecos, corys, gobies, polys, ropes, otos) had it at all.

 

[duanes]

What's a phage? Not familiar with that term

Phage is a term microbiologists use for a pathogenic, or simply microscopic organism (maybe one they're not sure of). It can mean a simple celled protozoan like ick, a bacteria, a virus, or microscopic nematode, or in the case of humans, Crytosporidium. Being a former microbiologist, made it a norm when talking to other MBs.

It is very common to misdiagnose fish diseases.
some bacterial diseases like columnaris, can look like fungus, some acute forms appear as duck lips.
This is why quarantine is so important, and taking the time it gives for observation and know what you are treating before duming what may be ineffective meds in a tank.
Bichers are naturally resistant to many things, and can live in degraded waters that fish like cichlids can't, they can be found in swamps with little available oxygen because of their ability to use atmospheric oxygen.
This is also why (especially if they are wild caught) they may be asymptomatic carriers of things cichlids are easily infected by.
There are also strains of bacteria, and other phages, the fish from one continent may have resistance to, that a fish from another continent may not.
I often rag on at nauseam about how combining continents often look weird to me, but this disease resistance is another factor to consider.
There is a strain ick from the rift lakes, that is much more resistant to drastic osmotic conditions than a strain of new world ick. Certain strains from hot desert areas, may be more resistant to high temps, than a strain from the cooler waters of the US or Europe.
Then throw in something like a hybrid, or mutant strain (like something froma BRP) and its like the sh....t hitting a fan.