Sum-X
09-30-2003, 10:23 PM
Ich (Ichthyophthirius), or "white spot":
It happens to the best of us, here are some helpful tips. ;)
The life cycle of the Ich is a complex one, as is its life cycle. The Ich attaches itself to the fish as a tick would do a dog. by the time you see it on your fish it is already in the adult stages of its life. When you first see Ich it will appear as grains of salt on your fish. Once the cyst settles in begins to multiply by dividing itself up to as many as 2,000 times. The result of this produces what are called "Tomites"
After the formation of the tomites is complete, they emerge from the cyst as free swimming parasties. At this stage of their life they are looking for new hosts to feed on. After finding their new host, they will penetrate the fish’s skin and then it will reproduce again. If a ICH parasite is unable to find a new host within 24 they will usually die. So now we have a general idea of what ICH really is. Let's talk about treatment.
Treatment:
It is usually very easy to rid your tank, and fish of ICH. Go to your LFS (local fish store) or wherever you get your supplies. And you will find medicenes, and treatments for this. Any brand should work. Carefully read the directions while doing this, and it is important not to overdose. This could lead to dead fish...
Prevention:
Prevention is easy... Just do regular water changes, and keep your tank cleaned
Also, this link is a very good one, for a more in-depth look at Ich and what it does: http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/disease/whitespot.htm
HTH
Aaron
It happens to the best of us, here are some helpful tips. ;)
The life cycle of the Ich is a complex one, as is its life cycle. The Ich attaches itself to the fish as a tick would do a dog. by the time you see it on your fish it is already in the adult stages of its life. When you first see Ich it will appear as grains of salt on your fish. Once the cyst settles in begins to multiply by dividing itself up to as many as 2,000 times. The result of this produces what are called "Tomites"
After the formation of the tomites is complete, they emerge from the cyst as free swimming parasties. At this stage of their life they are looking for new hosts to feed on. After finding their new host, they will penetrate the fish’s skin and then it will reproduce again. If a ICH parasite is unable to find a new host within 24 they will usually die. So now we have a general idea of what ICH really is. Let's talk about treatment.
Treatment:
It is usually very easy to rid your tank, and fish of ICH. Go to your LFS (local fish store) or wherever you get your supplies. And you will find medicenes, and treatments for this. Any brand should work. Carefully read the directions while doing this, and it is important not to overdose. This could lead to dead fish...
Prevention:
Prevention is easy... Just do regular water changes, and keep your tank cleaned
Also, this link is a very good one, for a more in-depth look at Ich and what it does: http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/disease/whitespot.htm
HTH
Aaron