Post by Allaquatica on Sept 23, 2006 22:31:16 GMT -5
A good way of slowing down ick and velvet disease is to raise temp in the tank to 84f and add aquarium salt (or food grade PURE/Kosher rock salt with no additives) at 1tsp per 5 gal. This can be used as a emergency treatment untill you can medicate.
Life Cycle
Its important to understand the life cycle of the Ich parasite so one can treat properly and rid your tank of the infestation. Ich has 3 stages, only one which is visible on your fish:
Trophont: This is the obvious stage, when you can usually see the white spots on your fish. In this stage, the parasite has made itself at home under the epithelium of your fish and encysted itself; the white spots you see aren?t actually the parasites themselves, but the fish?s biological response to the parasite that has burrowed into its skin. It?s really made of mucus and proteins that the fish has produced in an effort to rid themselves of the irritation. In this stage it is NOT susceptible to medications, both because it has encysted itself and the mucus/proteins the fish has produced protect it.
Tomont: Once the Ich parasite has had its fill, it will break out of its cyst and drop to the bottom of the tank or any flat surface. It is briefly susceptible to meds at this point, but once it reaches the bottom it encysts itself again. In that cyst, it multiplies till there are upwards of 2000 tomites! Again, for the most part it is NOT susceptible to meds.
Theront: This is the free-swimming stage of ich, and the only stage truly susceptible to medication. At this stage, they swim around the tank looking for a fish host. Once they find one, they burrow into the epithelium and start the process all over again. If they don?t find a host in a day or two, they die.
Temperature plays a large role in the Ich life cycle. Higher temps speeds up the cycle, lower temps slow it down. At a temp of 45F, the entire life cycle take 6 weeks. But at a temp of 80F, the cycle can take less then a week.
Prevention
So what can we do to prevent infestations? The first thing to do is to quarantine ALL new fish; a minimum of 2 weeks is suggested, although the longer the fish are in QT the more sure one can be the fish are 100% healthy. Some folks quarantine fish for upwards of 2 months. This gives us time to inspect and watch the fish, and determine whether the fish is ill. Putting a fish with ich into a healthy tank can be devastating (I?ll explain why shortly). Many wild caught fish, such as clown loaches which have yet to be bred in any quantity in captivity, usually arrive with parasitical infestations.
Keeping fish healthy, with proper food and good water quality is also important, as Ich is opportunistic itself, and a stressed fish often has a depressed immune system. This makes the fish more susceptible and less able to fight off the infection itself.
Of course, nothing is 100% effective, and there will be occasions, despite all precautions, the fish will become infested. So what now?
Treatment
There are a number of treatments to chose from. All have benefits and drawbacks; one needs to take into consideration all the fish being treated (whether they are actually infested or not, as it recommended to treat the entire tank) and whether they can safely handle the treatments.
The most popular form of treatment is medications.
Medications such as malachite green, Methylene blue can seriousley damage plants and invertibrates and also Biological filtration so extreme caution should be taken when medicating entire tanks.
Life Cycle
Its important to understand the life cycle of the Ich parasite so one can treat properly and rid your tank of the infestation. Ich has 3 stages, only one which is visible on your fish:
Trophont: This is the obvious stage, when you can usually see the white spots on your fish. In this stage, the parasite has made itself at home under the epithelium of your fish and encysted itself; the white spots you see aren?t actually the parasites themselves, but the fish?s biological response to the parasite that has burrowed into its skin. It?s really made of mucus and proteins that the fish has produced in an effort to rid themselves of the irritation. In this stage it is NOT susceptible to medications, both because it has encysted itself and the mucus/proteins the fish has produced protect it.
Tomont: Once the Ich parasite has had its fill, it will break out of its cyst and drop to the bottom of the tank or any flat surface. It is briefly susceptible to meds at this point, but once it reaches the bottom it encysts itself again. In that cyst, it multiplies till there are upwards of 2000 tomites! Again, for the most part it is NOT susceptible to meds.
Theront: This is the free-swimming stage of ich, and the only stage truly susceptible to medication. At this stage, they swim around the tank looking for a fish host. Once they find one, they burrow into the epithelium and start the process all over again. If they don?t find a host in a day or two, they die.
Temperature plays a large role in the Ich life cycle. Higher temps speeds up the cycle, lower temps slow it down. At a temp of 45F, the entire life cycle take 6 weeks. But at a temp of 80F, the cycle can take less then a week.
Prevention
So what can we do to prevent infestations? The first thing to do is to quarantine ALL new fish; a minimum of 2 weeks is suggested, although the longer the fish are in QT the more sure one can be the fish are 100% healthy. Some folks quarantine fish for upwards of 2 months. This gives us time to inspect and watch the fish, and determine whether the fish is ill. Putting a fish with ich into a healthy tank can be devastating (I?ll explain why shortly). Many wild caught fish, such as clown loaches which have yet to be bred in any quantity in captivity, usually arrive with parasitical infestations.
Keeping fish healthy, with proper food and good water quality is also important, as Ich is opportunistic itself, and a stressed fish often has a depressed immune system. This makes the fish more susceptible and less able to fight off the infection itself.
Of course, nothing is 100% effective, and there will be occasions, despite all precautions, the fish will become infested. So what now?
Treatment
There are a number of treatments to chose from. All have benefits and drawbacks; one needs to take into consideration all the fish being treated (whether they are actually infested or not, as it recommended to treat the entire tank) and whether they can safely handle the treatments.
The most popular form of treatment is medications.
Medications such as malachite green, Methylene blue can seriousley damage plants and invertibrates and also Biological filtration so extreme caution should be taken when medicating entire tanks.
