overall fish question

[LMOUTHBASS]

i have a ??? often times you hear that fish a prone to get ick when they are stressed out, i dont understand how stress causes this to break out??? the parasites have to be present right? or do all fish have the stuff on them but it doesnt grow till the fish stress out, ive heard about the lifecycle of ick how it hatches , swims through the water then finds it's host, but i dont get how stress has impact on this? the only thing i can think of is the stress makes the fish immune system weaker therefore making them more suspectible to this???

[ScottoMacD]

Not being an Ich expert this is how it goes from my understanding.

Please excuse and correct any mistakes I make.

The slime coat on fish is what protects the fish from these parasites. Yes ich is always present in a tank.

But if the fish are healthy and happy (stress free) the ich will never be an issue.
When a fish gets stressed out the slime coat on it thins and leaves the fish open for attach from the ich.


Things such as water quaility, poor nutrition, bully fish, and overall enviroment will cause stress in fish. Which in turn thins the slime coat which in turn opens the fish up for attack.

[EDIT] One more thing about ich. When a fish gets ich. It is rarely the ich that will kill the fish. It is the other problems and effects that come from the ich. Usually it will cause some sort of secondary infection (bacterial) in the fish or mal-nurishment because the fish won't eat.

Catching ich and treating early makes a huge difference in a tank that has ich.

[Faramir]

Not quite.

Ich exists in a short lived free swimming stage, a short lived resting phase, and a phase on the fish.

Infections can be very low level - i.e. not visible. The fish gets stressed, and the low level chronic infection becomes high level and acute.

But ich cannot exist "in the tank" - only on the fish.

[LMOUTHBASS]

your explanation it makes sense - i forgot about the slime coating on t he fish

[beviking]

Ditto Faramir.
ich has to physically attach to the fish, the slime coat can hinder this (generally when the fish is healthy) and ich can infect the gills (which you wouldn't see).

[dave76]

is that the same thing a gill flukes or are they different all together.

[beviking]

ich and gill flukes are different critters.