How screwed am I

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Hybridfish7

Hybridfish7

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Dec 4, 2017
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Have you tested your water?
Yes
If I did not test my water...
  1. ...I recognize that I will likely be asked to do a test, and that water tests are critical for solving freshwater health problems.
Do you do water changes?
Yes
If I do not change my water...
  1. ...I recognize that I will likely be recommended to do a water change, and water changes are critical for preventing future freshwater health problems.
So one of my 40s has an ich outbreak. I have been told that ich cannot actually kill fish, and that any time there's deaths with a "white spot disease" it's actually epistylis. It actual ich, I'm well familiar with the visual difference, but that's not the main issue here. I had the temperature at 85 in that tank, until last night, when the heater's plug fell out of the power strip and dropped the tank to 70, killing a few of the fish. I stuck my fingers in to move stuff around/look for the fish... And without thinking after a few minutes stuck my hand in the (heavily populated) 125 to fix the powerhead. I cranked the heat up to 83 in there in preparation, this is all literally half an hour ago... What are the chances of a full blown outbreak from just that touch? Any other way I can stop it early? I'm aware that any ich in the water column is in the vulnerable stage so now would be the time to act. I'm hoping my tank's matured enough for the few tomonts to get eaten by my microfauna.
 
If your 125 is relatively healthy, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. There are always pathogens about but a healthy immune system usually keeps things at bay.

If you’re worried about an opportunistic infection, you can throw salt or a dose of RidIch Plus or Hikari Ich X as a preventative
 
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I wouldn’t be super worried. Ich is generally going to be on the fish or substrate. Minimal amounts will actually be in the water.
That said, it can never hurt to treat both tanks assuming the fish/plants/inverts would tolerate it. Salt and heat is generally well tolerated.
 
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Deadeye said:
I wouldn’t be super worried. Ich is generally going to be on the fish or substrate. Minimal amounts will actually be in the water.
That said, it can never hurt to treat both tanks assuming the fish/plants/inverts would tolerate it. Salt and heat is generally well tolerated.
Click to expand...
phreeflow said:
If your 125 is relatively healthy, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. There are always pathogens about but a healthy immune system usually keeps things at bay.

If you’re worried about an opportunistic infection, you can throw salt or a dose of RidIch Plus or Hikari Ich X as a preventative
Click to expand...
Big problem, it is in fact epistylis, does this change everyone's answer?
 
I don’t know enough about epistylis to comment for sure, but either way the small amount transferred shouldn’t be an issue.
 
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The problem with raising the temp for ich (that is often times Epistylis) is that the secondary bacterial infection (Epistylis and others) thrives at those higfher temps.
For me, a 3.5 ppt salinity without raising temp is enough to kill ich, but at the same time doesn't fire up those secondary infections that can be harder to deal with.
You probably didn't transfer enough protozoa to cause an ich outbreak, but
if you did, instead of trying to raise temp (that really doesn;t effect ich that much) in a 100+ gal tank, just use 3.5 lbs of salt per 100 gallons.
Here in Panama we have strains of ich that are totslly unaffected by temps in the mid 80s, in fact when I take temps in the river water, most temps are over 82'F, and ich thrives
IMG_6870.jpeg
To me the risk of bacterial infection is much greater raising temps, than not.
I know everybody says pump up the heat, to me thats BS, but 3.5 ppt (parts per thousand) salinity is much more effective..

Because different grains of salt yield different salinty, using tsps, or TBPs are not reliable, if you use the weight method you can't go wrong.

I cured this in a week using just salt
before above
after below
 
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It was once "common knowledge" that Ich couldn't survive temps above 86F. Personally, I've often used higher temps...at least with fish that could take them...and managed to shut down Ich infestations. I've also read recently that there are strains of Ich that can't be fought this way, but it's always worked for me.

But, generally speaking, I agree that salt is definitely the "easy" button answer. It works faster in tropical temps than in coldwater simply because the Ich life cycle is sped up in warmer water, so that the vulnerable free-swimming theronts appear sooner and are thus targeted and killed.

I've also read a great deal of disagreement on whether or not Ich is present continuously in many/most/all aquariums and only becomes problematic when stress or other factors weaken the immune system of the fish. I won't say this is right or wrong...but I have experienced and seen too many instances of fish contracting Ich with absolutely no introduction of new tankmates, plants, water, etc. to disbelieve it. Ich isn't the fish equivalent of the Black Death; rather, it's more along the lines of the common cold. In most cases, it is little more than an inconvenience, and unlike the cold it is easily cured. When I read about a tank that is wiped out by Ich, I just shake my head. IMHO, there is no excuse for ignoring Ich so long that it becomes a killer, when it is so easily controlled.

If your absent-minded cross-contamination of the tank actually managed to introduce a theront or two...well, if the fish are not stressed, nothing should happen. If they are stressed...they might get sick with or without that little faux pas.

Epistylis? I wish I knew. I never heard of it until the last decade or so, and perhaps one or more of my few experiences with Ich were actually this bugaboo instead. And yet, I can't recall ever losing a fish to Ich... or to some other "new" white spot disease. Keep your water clean, keep on top of maintenance, and you likely won't have to stay on top of the latest designer diseases. It's a lot like the thiaminase boogeyman. Long before I ever heard of that stuff, I somehow avoided it simply by what I consider good fish husbandry, which includes feeding a varied and balanced diet. Now that I "know" about the horrors of thiaminase...I still avoid it by the same method, but now I get to worry needlessly about it.

"How screwed" are you? Likely not at all, IMHO.
 
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