I am new, what's Ich??

Discussion in 'Fish Disease' started by Tyman, Jul 9, 2012.

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  1. Tyman

    Tyman Plankton

    Joined:
    Jun 24, 2012
    Messages:
    15
    Location:
    St. Louis, MO
    The temp as lowered to anout 75-78! Thanks for the tips and info. 3reef has helped me alot! Thanks guys
     
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  3. Tyman

    Tyman Plankton

    Joined:
    Jun 24, 2012
    Messages:
    15
    Location:
    St. Louis, MO
    2 more questions, you already know I'm cycling and where I live I have really hard water... I'm the tank is a little cloudy... Any thoughts?? I tested the water and the strips said the tanks water is to hard for fish... What should I do? Thanks again
     
  4. Brian Andrews

    Brian Andrews 3reef Sponsor

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2013
    Messages:
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    Location:
    Australia
    Understanding ich or white spot disease

    Sorry this is a bit late! You are wise to ask about Ich in advance! It is a very common, and potentially very destructive disease, but there are steps which can help to minimize the chances of you (and your fishes) experiencing it! The first line of defense, as always, is to try to obtain disease-free fish. But this doesn't always happen. (Also, ideally new fish should be quarantined, but this too is not always possible.) Here is a little bit more about this disease. I hope it’s helpful!

    The parasite is a small protozoan (single celled) organism which lives on the outside of the fish (just under the skin), and on the gills. Because of the protection from the fishes’ skin against medications, this disease is not the easiest to treat. In fact treatments are only effective when the cell leaves the host fish and divides into hundreds of offspring which are free-swimming and go off into the water in search of a host. (And within days your fish have not a few, but many salt-like spots!)

    As stated, treatments will only kill off the disease during the free-swimming stage. The time between the spots appearing on the fish, and leaving the fish to multiply and produce the free-swimming treatable stage is highly temperature-dependent. (At the average tropical fish tank temperature, this is appears to be about two to four days.) The warmer the water, the quicker the cycle. Therefore, when treating the disease, if this can be done, heating the water from a lower temperature to about 30 degrees C (86 degree F) speeds up the cycle. This can very considerably enhance one’s chances of treating the disease successfully, due partly to the fact that the organism then has less time to damage the fish, which is a big part of the problem.

    Because of the life cycle referred to, after treatment the spots will not disappear overnight, but will take several days, again depending on temperature. This is important to know, so that one doesn’t think the treatment is being ineffective when results are slow in coming. Unfortunately, in advanced cases, the fish is/are likely to be damaged, allowing secondary bacterial infections to take hold. EARLY DETECTION is the key.

    DETECTING THE DISEASE. The first visible signs of the disease are a few white spots which can appear pretty much anywhere on the fish. In addition to this, many fish, especially smaller and more delicate ones will start to show some useful telltale physical symptoms very early. (Note that these symptoms can also be indicative of other diseases.) These earlier symptoms are valuable because the earlier that this disease in particular can be caught and treated the better. Signs can include: changes in swimming behaviour, slowed movement, flicking and/or scraping, individuals moving away from a shoal, ‘head in corner’, and clamped fins.

    If you see this, look for spots. Looking at night with a torch (flashlight) makes detection of a few spots much easier.

    I won’t go into treatments as my own background is commercial farming, and there are numerous easier-to-use treatments available across the counter from aquarium stores.

    I hope that’s helpful…and that you never see white spots on your fish!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 28, 2013