clown loach ich

Question
I recently added two clown loaches into my community tank without first
quarantining them. After about one week, we noticed the first tiny bits of ich.
They were immediately moved to a different tank. Does the community tank
now automatically need to be treated? Is it possible to test the tank for the
ich?

Thank you,

Amy

Answer
Hi Amy;

You should treat the main tank too. Some of the ich spots on the clown loaches may have already burst, releasing thousands of little microscopic baby ich into the tank water. The parasite can only be killed with the medication while in that free-swimming stage. While on the fish inside the white spot it is protected. You may see a few more spots for the first couple of days treating the clowns because those new spots that appear are where the parasite was embedded but hadn't shown as a white spot yet.

I don't know if there is any test for ich unless you can take a sample of tank water and see them under a microscope. I've never actually tried to do that so I don't know. Since the main tank had fish with it, I would treat it just to be sure.

Strangely enough, the clown loaches may not be responsible for bringing the ich parasite into your tank. Many of our fish have the parasite already in their gills and are resistant to it's infective stage. Healthy fish have a healthy immune system. Part of their immunity is from their slime coating on their gills and on their bodies. This slime usually protects them from most naturally occurring pathogens. Stressed fishes' slime coat is compromised so the parasite embeds more easily into their skin. Stressed fish with thinned slime, such as new fish, injured fish, fish exposed to a temperature change, water chemistry change, etc., are all easy victims.

I hope they feel better soon...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins