Category Archives: Fish Ich
7 Ways To Avoid Fish Ich In Your Fish Tank
This fish ich article is a follow up from a previous post entitled “Using Rocks In An Aquarium Design“.
Imagine looking into your fish tank one day and seeing your listless fish with tiny white spots on it looking as if someone powdered it with salt. This is a clear sign of fish ich and not only do they make your beautiful fish look weird and ugly, they will also be detrimental to the health of the fish.
Fish Ich
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Fish ich can affect anyone’s aquarium anytime and it is not an unusual aquatic disease but it is one that you would need to address as fast as possible. The affected fish needs to be quarantined and treated, the entire tank needs to be clean out and sanitized and the sick fish needs to be closely monitored. But rather than have to solve the problem on hand, what you should be focusing on is to avoid introducing fish ich to your fish tank in the first place. This is because as always, preventing is always the best cure.
7 Ways To Stop Fish Ich
Here are 7 ways that you could put in place to ensure that your precious fish are never affected by fish ich:
- Perform your water changes diligently. You must do a water change at least once a week or at the worst once every two weeks. But a water change is more than just throwing out the old water and pouring in new water. You should only remove and replace about 20% of the water in your fish tank during each water change. Changing the entire tank of water will actually harm the fish and should be avoided as much as possible unless it is because of a disease. Also, the replacement water should never be taken straight from the tank. It should be allowed to sit in a bucket for at least 24 hours before introducing it into the existing aquarium water.
- Vary the the fish food. Could you imagine eating the same food each day for the rest of your life? The different brands of food sold on the shelves of pet shops each stress a different nutritional need and content so change food types once in a while. Also if your fish feeds on live food which you could get from your pet shop, use that for main meals and keep the packaged fish food as supplements.
- Reduce the amount of stress that your fish has to endure. The more stress the fish is placed under the more the more likely it is to fall sick. Stress can come in so many factors, not just physical. Do not place the fish tank in an area that has heavy human traffic. Place rocks and plants in your fish tank, not just as decoration but as little hiding places that your fish can escape to when they feel stressed. Control the chemical and well as temperature fluctuations well and monitor them with a proper test kit.
- Do not breed too many fish in one tank. More is less. Having too many fish not only stresses the fish out but it also increases the chance of disease spreading.
- Never introduce a new fish immediately into your existing fish tank. Always quarantine new fish for no less than 4 days before allowing it to mix with your existing fish. This is to rule out the possibility of e fish having fish ich and spreading it to your existing fish. Fish ich has a life span of 4 days and if there are no signs of disease after the period is over, the fish is fine and ready to be integrated into your aquarium.
- Choose your pet shops well. There are many pet shops around today which has a tendency to have several tanks sharing one filter. These merchants do not concern themselves with fish disease too much because they buy fish in bulk and sell them for a higher price. Regardless of how great a filter may seem, there is always a chance of disease being spread through the filtration filter too. Also, when you bring your fish back home from the shop, never mix the water they came in with the water in your fish tank.
- Do not buy plants that are sold from a tank with fish in it. Always buy plants that are sold from a separate tank. If the plant that you bought did come from a tank of fish in the pet shop, then make sure that you quarantine the plants just like you would quarantine a new fish. The 4 day period would ensure that any fish ich has completed its life cycle and died before it had a chance to spread.
Prevent Fish Ich From Spreading
These are 7 simple steps that you can take to ensure that your fish live long and healthy lives. These steps will ensure that fish ich as well as many other fish disease will never hurt your fish ever.
Dealing With Fish Ich In A Fish Tank
This fish ich article is a follow up to an earlier post entitled Spotting Aquarium Fish Diseases Before It’s Too Late.
Fish Ich are aquarium fish diseases that are so common that almost every fish breeder will have to face it at some time. While in most cases Fish Ich really isn’t that deadly, it will cause the fish to itch, making them rub themselves against fish tank decoration to relieve themselves and this constant rubbing will cause their skin to tear. Open wounds that are untreated will eventually cause the fish to die.
The right way to solve a problem is to understand it first. Treating the cause is always better than solving the effect.
What Causes Fish Ich
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Fish Ich is caused by a protozoa known as Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, which is capable of multiplying at an extreme fast rate. The enclosed condition of a fish tank and the lack of immunity of bred fish makes it even easier for Fish Ich to spread. The protozoa attaches itself to the outer skin of the fish and begin to feed on the skin and outer tissue. The protozoa will eventually cause a cyst that allows it to rapidly multiply within the enclosed tissue, feeding even more on the fish. This cyst can easily be seen as white spots on the fish and is very itchy.
After some time, the cyst will burst and the protozoa will fall onto the substrate and multiply even more, waiting to infect other fish. Warmer temperatures will speed up the multiplying rate of the protozoa and the rate of infection.
The physical symptoms of Fish Ich is of course the white spots. Initially it will be hard to notice as these cysts are tiny and look more like specks of salt on the fish but as they progress, they will cover the entire fish. Left unchecked, they will eventually damage the fish gills and vital organs, causing death.
The fish will also start to lose they appetite, seem restless and constantly scratch themselves against anything, which will cause open wounds.
Treatment For Fish Ich
Fish Ich that is encapsulated in the cyst lie in a protective shell and is almost impossible
to treat. That is why we will need the cyst to burst open so that the Fish Ich is released. To do this we will firstly have to raise the temperature of the fish tank water a little in order to speed up the life cycle of the protozoa. Raise the temperature slowly over the next two days until a maximum temperature of 80 degrees Celsius but only do so if this level is not harmful to the fish.
Once you have reached this temperature, begin the treatment over a the next few days to a week. Do not remove the infected fish to quarantine tank, what you want to do is have all the cyst burst within your original tank to kill off all the protozoa.
The most effective treatment for Fish Ich contains formalin but you could also use Malachite Green. However, when using Malachite Green, be extremely careful as it is toxic to invertebrates and other aquatic life. You will need to remove any life that is not scaled into a separate tank during treatment. You can see a list of the best Fish Ich medication in the Recommended List below this article.
Another important thing that you will need to do is to remove the carbon fish tank filters media from your fish tank filters. Carbon fish tank filters are used to treat any chemicals in an aquarium so remove them or they will absorb the medication that you are using in the water.
Preventing Fish Ich From Infecting Your Aquarium
Prevention is always better than cure. It is actually quite easy to prevent Fish Ich if you know how it infects the tank. The only way for Fish Ich to get in is if you put something contaminated into the tank. This could be a new fish or even used decoration or gravel.
Before putting in new fish into the tank, inspect the fish first for any signs of disease. It would also be a great idea to quarantine the new fish for a couple of days and monitor it for signs of disease.
Before putting in any used decoration or gravel into your tank, wash it thoroughly with tap water and set it to air dry in the sun. Tap water contains chlorine which will kill off any microrganisms and the UV rays of the sun will finish off any that may be left over. Never use detergent as it will leave chemical traces that you would accidentally introduce into the tank water.
Lastly, always maintain the cleanliness of the tank, encourage good biological filtration and don’t forget your water changes.
Get Rid Of Fish Ich (Click for details)
These are some of the best ways to cure Fish Ich without harming the aquatic life too much.
