Freshwater Ich-discussion thread

**msjinkzd** · 06-25-2008, 6:18 PM

The article can be found at the link below, please feel free to share your experiences in this thread.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums...ad.php?t=88601

**hankn** · 09-08-2008, 12:05 PM

My pond koi and goldfish typically live for months in 80F temps in the summer so the recommendation of not going above 76F is wrong. My fish thrive and grow and are not stressed in the least. I would push the temps to 85F to clear ich.

**jaylin** · 09-17-2008, 9:16 AM

That's a very good ich article, however I do disagree with one point.

Using salt with other medications. The use of salt with most of our aquarium fish actually reduces stress. Salt provides much needed electrolytes which can be lost when fish are stressed. It also helps the fish establish/re-establish a healthy slime coat. The author of the article recomends that salt not be used in conjunction with other medications whereas I would recommend that it is used with other medications for the above reasons.

**murraycod** · 10-10-2008, 6:19 AM

I was doing some reading today, and the Journal of Parasitology (pub: American Soc Parasitologists, 1999) presents research from the University of Queensland, Australia, which identifies the Striped Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes peronii) as a host of Ichthyophthirius multifiliis. http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:145508
I think freshwater ecology research will increase as wild fish populations plummet and aquaculture becomes a more heavily relied upon human food resource. This research could well prove that there are other freshwater aquatic fauna species which, because they present a similarly attractive chemical profile to free 'swimming' Theronts, will be shown to be ich hosts.
Greg

**wakingupnow** · 03-27-2010, 5:54 PM

I think the Heat Method is much easier than the salt method, but that's only my opinion and it doesn't count for all aquariums.

It's just snails, many types of catfish and other fish can't tolerate the salt, so it's easier to just slowly raise the temperature for a few weeks and boom, their dead.

Now for the more resistant strains, I couldn't tell you. Very nice article though.

**Weenam** · 02-13-2012, 7:32 AM

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I like this article so much. Its a great information which you share by an Article.
Thanks for sharing this useful info. Keep it up.

**Bgolfer88** · 02-13-2012, 10:54 AM

I skimmed the article so I may only be reiterating a point made there. BUT, it is my understanding that ich is generally always present in water and takes advantage of fish that have become stressed (weakened immune system). Therefore in a tank with an ich outbreak, it is important to look for potential stress factors to avoid future outbreaks. Something like this can be difficult if NH3/NO2 are 0 and NO3 is low. I have found that for fish such as SA cichlids (prob cause this is about all I got) adding things like driftwood and peat REALLY help and even small, difficult, ich spots go away w/o raising the temp above 80 and adding salt. Sometimes its not what is in the water that stresses fish, but what isn't in the water.