Common Fish Diseases: Ich

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Causes Of Ich

Ich, also called white spot is caused by protozoa called Ichthyophthirius multifiliis. In the adult phase Ich grows in the skin or in the gills of the fish, which often produce the white spots associated with ich. After a few days these spots falls off, the adult parasite becomes a cyst. In this phase the ich will reproduce. After this comes the free swimming phase where the offspring search for fish to attach themselves to and the cycle starts again. If no host is found they die off in a few days. Ich is not normally present in aquarium water, it can only be brought in by infected fish. This is why quarantining new fish is so important.

Ich Symptoms

• Small white spots, that look like grains of salt.
• Flashing, the fish may scratch against objects such as rocks and gravel in the tank.
• Fish loses appetite and is not eating.
• The fish is lethargic, resting on the bottom of the tank.
• Rapid breathing.

Flashing is a commonly used word to describe the fish scratching against a surface or objects. This term originates from seeing a glimmer of light from the fishes lighter colored belly as it turns on it's side to rub against an object.

Ich Treatment

Heat
One treatment to consider is heat, raising the aquariums temperature. The thinking behind this is to kill the ich, this is done by reaching a temperature of 86 °F (30 °C) . This should only be done if the fish can handle the warmer water temperature, if they can't there are other options. You will want to make sure you have additional aeration in your tank since warmer water carries less oxygen than cooler water. Plus the ich can attach to gills making it even harder for your fish to get oxygen.

To begin the water temperature must be raised slowly, ideally 1 - 2 °F (.5 - 1 °C) per day. As you start increasing the water temperature, the time it takes for the ich to complete their life cycle becomes shorter. So you want to get there quickly but safely. Remember our target temperature is 86 °F (30 °C). Once this has been achieved keep it there for about 10 days. You may notice that you no longer see the white spots but the ich could be in one of the other two phases. Once the 10 days have passed you can slowly bring the temperature back down to normal using the same method you did in raising it. If you encounter another outbreak after the treatment, you may have a heat resistant strain, which will require a different method.

Medication
There are a couple of products you can choose from when picking a medication to treat ich. One of them Is FishVet Formalin-MS. When using Formalin, make sure it is freshly bought. If it is stored for a long period of time it can change to paraformaldehyde, which is toxic to your fish. A simple test to see if this change has occurred is to look for white precipitate in the bottle.

Another is Kordon Malachite Green. A warning when using this product, Malachite green is toxic to certain types of freshwater fish such as dwarf cichlids, barbs, gouramis, livebearers, tetras, catfish, loaches, mormyrids (elepahntfish), shark catfish, and scaleless fish.

When using these treatments it is very important to follow the instructions that are given, these chemicals can be harmful to you if misused.

If anyone has any photos of Ich we can use for this article, please send them to me by PM or email. You will be credited for the photo.

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