Ich, How did this happen?

Jerryed

Hello again.

As many of you may have read, I have been having trouble with my cycle. I was doing a large PWC (60%) due to nitrite problem and noticed my oldest and largest Giant Danio has what appears to be ich. What I can't figure out is how it could have gotten in the tank, as nothing new has been introduced into the environment in over 3 weeks.

Still not ENTIRELY sure it's ich, none of my other fish (3 other Danios and a pleco) are affected, and we keep the tank temp at approx. 78F. From what I've read, ich is not "happy" with high temperatures.

Since only appears to be affecting one fish, I am wondering if I should euthanize him, since I am unable to begin treatment until at least Thursday (two days from now). I am also not currently equipped to set up a quarantine tank, and will not be for a bit of time yet.

Any suggestions?

Lupin

Ich can reside in the gill tissues and do not "magically" appear contrary to what most people think. That is partly why ich can be troublesome. Do not euthanize any of your fish. Ich is easily treated. Once one is already infected, others are also infected. Treat everyone and do not isolate any of them as isolation is pointless. Just get table salt and do treatment by 3 teaspoons per gallon which is considered as 0.3% solution. Increase your temperature to 84 degrees Fahrenheit and do treatment course for 10 days. Continue treatment a week after ich disappears to be sure that ich is completely destroyed.

The next time you buy more new fish, please quarantine them for at least 3-4 weeks and be observant of unusual symptoms. If in doubt, post in this forum for further queries.

Jerryed

Well, looking at him this morning, he appears to be fine. No more spots, and NONE of my other fish have shown any signs of any problems.

What had me confused about it wasn't that it seemed to "magically" appear, but that everything I've read says the life cycle is 10-14 days for ich. As nothing new had been introduced in much longer than that, it didn't seem likely that this fish would suddenly show symptoms.

Thanks for the treatment advice, Lupin! I'll definitely give that a try if it turns out to be ich.