Ich and a Yellow Coris Wrasse..........

[Reefie]

So........I've been battling Ich for the past several weeks.

I've finally drained the tank and removed all but one lone Yellow Wrasse that refuses to be caught. It dives into the substrate and hides in there for hours. I even sifted through the sand while the tank was drained to no avail.

My plan was to remove all fish and leave the tank fallow for 8-9 weeks while treating all the fish with Paraguard in a QT. This particular Yellow Wrasse has never shown any sypmtoms of Ich. My question for the experts is this; will the Ich re-appear if I left the 1 Yellow Wrasse in the DT even after the 8-9 weeks? It seems immune to Ich so far.

I have a very small 2" Purple Tang and a Flame Angelfish that I would like to re-introduce into the DT after the 2 months in QT. My fear is that they will get re-infected with Ich and my nightmare starts all over again.

I've read all about the life cycle of Ich, and technically the Yellow Wrasse "should" have Ich, but mysteriously it does not. Is it going to be safe for me to bring the fish back into the DT?

[daniella3d]

yep...although he's not showing sign of ick, there is a very good probability it is carrier of ick and has some in his gills.

The trick is to watch where he goes in the sand and put a net over it so when he comes out he's cought. That's how I cought mine.

Not because you don't see any dots on the wrasse, it does not mean it does not have any on his gills.

Originally Posted by Reefie

My question for the experts is this; will the Ich re-appear if I left the 1 Yellow Wrasse in the DT even after the 8-9 weeks?

[Reefie]

I've read that if Ich enters the gills, the fish's days are pretty much numbered. However, this PITA Wrasse shows no signs of respiratory issues.

I'd be even ok if it just decided to croak on me, but this fish seems to be one tough SOB.

[daniella3d]

He might seem ok but he will carry the disease and when you reintroduce the fish they will get recontaminated again.

People say that mandarins are immune to ick due to their thick mucus, yet I read plenty of thread where mandarins are part of the victims of ich. It's the gill that get attacked and those don't have mucus on it. There can be some ich on the gills and the fish does not seem to gasp because it is a low level infection.

Originally Posted by Reefie

I've read that if Ich enters the gills, the fish's days are pretty much numbered. However, this PITA Wrasse shows no signs of respiratory issues.

I'd be even ok if it just decided to croak on me, but this fish seems to be one tough SOB.

[Reefie]

I've got a plan to catch this tricky fish that I'm going to give a try tonight and tomorrow.

I'll update as soon as I catch this sucker!

[daniella3d]

Good luck

Originally Posted by Reefie

I've got a plan to catch this tricky fish that I'm going to give a try tonight and tomorrow.

I'll update as soon as I catch this sucker!

[George]

Wrasses have this mucus coat and they get rid of the coating and the parasites that stick to that coating from time to time. Therefore most wrasses seem to be immune to marine ich. But they can definitely be carriers. Just to be safe...