Hi guys, I've noticed alot of threads popping up about the all to common fish disease Ich. I decided to write a article on it, instead of having to answer every thread.
Here Goes:
Ich is a parasitic disease which effects alot of fish in alot of tanks. It looks like small white dots on your fish. Almost like you sprinkled salt on them. Dont worry about the fact that you have ich in your tank. Almost all of us have dealt with it, at one time or another. The trick is, knowing how to deal with it, and how to prevent it from happening again.
Technical Name:
Ichthyophthirius multifilis
Here is the only amusing part of ich. The translation of the name "Fish Louse With Many Children" thats the only funny part of it though. What really happens is when those little white dots turn up on your fish? The ICH is multiplying!! Each parasite, can spawn up to 1000! more!
Symptoms of ICH:
Infected fish are covered with small white spots. Some will only have a dot or two, at the beginning stages of the infection. However, ich won't remain unnoticed for long. Don't think that just because the spots are gone, the ICH is gone. ICH has a 3-Stage life cycle. It can start as a dormant parasite in your tank (stage 1). You wont see it, you will have no clue its there. Once matured, it will become free swimming in the tank (stage 2)...on an endless search for a host...I.E. your poor fish. It's looking for those tasty fish, and it WILL find them! Now is when your fish show the white dots (stage 3). Very early into your outbreak, your fish wont really notice the problem. You may see them rubbing on the substrate, plants, decorations. At this point, only having a few parasites on their skin...its just annoying.
The parasites will burrow into the fish's skin, getting under the slime coating. Thus making them immune to medication. They are also immune during stage 1 as mentioned above. What does this mean? You can only kill the ICH in stage 2. The other problem here...stage 2 is a 3 day process. So, thats all the time you have to catch it.
The total life cycle lasts about 2 weeks. However, water temperatures can effect this. Colder water will make the life cycle longer, and warmer water will make it faster.