Fish ich is probably one of the most common fish diseases among aquarium fishes. But do we know enough about this disease to properly combat it?

The term Ich is a simplified form of Ichthyophthirius which is a type of ciliated protozoa. Similar to germs in the air, Ich is always present in aquarium water but in minute quatity. But when the immunity level of the fish is significantly lowered probably because of stress or sudden lowering of temperature that they become vulnerable and are afflicted. Another fairly common way that an Ich outbreak happens is when a new fish is introduced into the fish tank with your other fish.

Ich swims freely in the water until it finds its victim and attaches itself to the fish. Even under a low microscopic resolution, Ich can be seen easily looking like a round mass. Once it happens upon its victim, it will attach itself to the fish’s outer skin. It then forms a hard cystic like shell and feeds on the bodily fluids of its victim. These cysts can be seen by the naked eye, looking like white specks and as it begins to spread, the fish appear to be sprinkled with salt. When it finally matures, the cysts will open and the Ich fall from the fish, falling onto the gravel, ornaments, plants and almost everything else.

At this stage they will begin to reproduce into the free swimming Ich that starts its cycle all over again.

Ich exists in nature but due to the ratio of water to fish, it will not cause much of an infestation. However in an enclosed system like an aquarium where there usually is more fish than allowable, this causes infections that can be truly severe.

One very important fact to note when treating fish ich is that during the time it is in its cyst bubble, it is protected against any medication so it is no use treating it then, it is after it has falen from|left] the cyst and is swimming freely that it can be killed easily. In general the fish ich life cycle takes approximately three days so to effectively heal the fish you would have to conduct treatment for four to seven days.

Instead of using harsh medication like what most fish breeders do, there are more natural ways for you to do your treatment as follows:

Firstly, increase the temperature of the water to between 85 to 88 degrees, because ich do not reproduce well in warmer water.

Secondly, increase the aeration in the water by adding air stones to provide more oxygen for the fish. Fish ich also attacks the gills and can limit the ability of the fish to breathe.

After that, add one teaspoon of canning and pickling salt to each gallon of water to reduce the osmotic pressure. This aids the immunity system of the fish to effective fight the ich. The salt in the water is also harmul to the ich.

Fourthly, do half tank water changes on a daily basis. This removes a large quantity of the free swimming ich. Water changes are very crucial in fighting ich outbreaks. Also vacumm the gravel every other day.

Finally, even though I would rather use chemicals as much as possible, if the fish ich persists use a proper treatment specific for ich such as Rid-Ich which available at most fish shops.

When your fish have won the fight against ich, they usually develop an immunity to it and will not be troubled by future outbreaks. However to ensure that it does not happen again, simple aquarium maintenance will do wonders and regular water changes are essential. Also, always quarantine new fish for a couple of weeks before adding it to your established tank, no irregardless of how healthy the fish may look.

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