DACTYLOGYRUS without host?

[Juluguro]

Hello everyone, I have a question about these gill parasites.
I want to restart an aquarium with different fish.
Right now the aquarium is working but without fish.
The question is:
Can these parasites live without fish?
Would the aquarium be clean of parasites right now?

[brewmaster15]

How long has it been empty?

[Juluguro]

1 month

[brewmaster15]

I've looked at my Untergasser's Discus Health book and best I can tell is if discus had gill flukes theres little time (hours to a few days) between when eggs are layed and hatch... then they need a host in in 10 hours... its not known how long they can stay dormant.

My thoughts..its highly unlikely eggs would hatch so fast and would be dormant as well for a month.

Untergasser mentions that 3 days of drying is required to kill all eggs so that indicates at least a few days for hatching.

He also indicates that any other fish species can act as carriers for Discus specific gill flukes and be asymptomatic as they will not reproduce in great numbers.

Given all that..the tank is most likely free of gill flukes if there has been no fish at all in it for 1 month... but one thing about parasites is they can be very adaptable... who knows exactly how eggs can stay dormant.

Sorry I cant be more specific.

Al

[Juluguro]

Thank you brewmaster15 for your quick response.
In my opinion, since there is no carrier in the aquarium, there is only the possibility that there could be eggs. and that is my doubt.
I also think that the eggs do not know if there is a fish in the aquarium or not, so the last egg will just hatch. Another thing I don't know is if the parasite can hatch and feed without fish, and lay eggs again. Do you know if this is possible?

[brewmaster15]

The parasite on hatching has only a few hours to find a host.. if theres no host it dies. :)

[Juluguro]

So if, as I understand it, the eggs hatch in a maximum of 21 days and since there is no possible carrier, after a month it is impossible for there to be parasites, it would be an aquarium 100% free of gill parasites. That's what logic says.

[brewmaster15]

So if, as I understand it, the eggs hatch in a maximum of 21 days and since there is no possible carrier, after a month it is impossible for there to be parasites, it would be an aquarium 100% free of gill parasites. That's what logic says.


I didnt say that nor did Untergasser.. temperature also plays a role in some species...https://www.koicarp.co.uk/skin-and-gill-flukes#:~:text=Dactylogyrus%20(gill%20fluke)&text=Water%20temperature%20is%20important%20as,as% 20long%20as%20thirty%20days.

its likely most of the eggs will have hatched in reasonably warm water in a discus tank and not finding a host will die.. what we dont know is if any eggs go dormant. One line of thought is parasite eggs hatch because there is a biochemical signal given off by fish. If you think about it , it makes sense. These parasites can't swim far.. fish have to be nearby or they would die out. If theres no fish maybe they go dormant longer than we thought.. its been discussed here on the forum in the past

Please read this thread.... http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?79124-Let-s-Talk-Fluke-Eggs

You will note that back in 2010 i had a case where I was pretty sure they must have gone dormant over a month. I have no concrete proof and it goes against whats written so please take it with a grain of salt.. it was not a controlled experiment..it was an observation.

[Juluguro]

You say it very interesting, but I am beginning to think that there are no studies that demonstrate 100% what happens with those eggs, I will review the information in the links.
Anyway, very interesting to talk about this.

[brewmaster15]

If you come across any research that gives more concrete answers, please post it .Thank you.

Al