Can Ich (White Spot) kill a fish ?

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nagukush

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Jan 1, 2008
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Hi Friends...

I was just wondering if Ich can be fatal to fishes ? Actually 2 of my Rope Fishes have Ich now and one is severe (if I'm not wrong), the white spots look raised and almost like minute ulcers...

Will the disease kill my fish ? My tank's temp is 33 C and I've added salt... will this help my fish fight back and is Ich generally fatal ?

The temp was 33C when I introduced the fish - can it be possible that ich survived this high temp and attacked the fish after they were introduced to the tank ?

Kindly advice... just wanted to know for knowledge sake...
Thanks !
Kush
 

ct-death

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Feb 27, 2007
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grannylvsfish

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Dec 6, 2006
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yes, try a treatment right away!!! I always look at my fish thru my magnifier so i can get up close every day and see whats going on , that and I can not see them other wise well :( but I also get a clear eye view of whats going on before it gets to far. Treat right away! i used ick attack, its all natural and did not harm my fish or tank. I did theis with salt treatment but I am assuming you can not.
others here can help you with a good med to use :) good luck
 

J double R

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Jan 13, 2007
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ich will not kill a fish directly, per se.

It does, however, weaken them to extreme levels, to where the slightest chemical imbalance or other illness will kill them.
 

Dwarf Puffers

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Dec 11, 2006
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ich will not kill a fish directly, per se.

It does, however, weaken them to extreme levels, to where the slightest chemical imbalance or other illness will kill them.
And also usually results in a bacterial infection to the wounds that they create.
 

Star_Rider

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Dec 21, 2005
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agree with JdoubleR


ich is a parasite..generally the parasite does not benefit if the host dies..host dies and the parasite can potentially die(if there are no other hosts)

but secondary infections usually can happen and are usually are the culprit.

Ich will weaken the host.
 

lucy42083

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Jan 20, 2008
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What other fish are there in the tank? By the time you can see white spots really clearly, the ich is pretty bad. So probably all your other fish have it too, just watch out for them and keep your water parameters perfect as well as keep up with the salt. Others are correct they will not die directly from the parasite, but if it doesn't get better they will die from some secondary infection.
 

wataugachicken

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Jul 14, 2005
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ich will not kill a fish directly, per se.

It does, however, weaken them to extreme levels, to where the slightest chemical imbalance or other illness will kill them.
I thought that severe infestations of ich could kill the host by basically clogging the gills and preventing respiratory function.
 

KarlTh

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Feb 15, 2008
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I thought that severe infestations of ich could kill the host by basically clogging the gills and preventing respiratory function.
Heavy infections cause the skin to slough off. Normally a parasite does indeed not want to kill its host, and in the wild ich doesn't. It does in aquaria though, because in the enclosed space the same fish keep on getting reinfected over and over - this is not a situation the ich parasite has evolved to cope with.

Untreated, in aquaria, ich has a very high mortality rate. To a first approximation, 100%.
 
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