Ick or Ich in fish

Several nomenclatures exist for this disease:

• The Ich
• ick
• white spot disease
• Whitespot

The manifestation of ick disease rarely goes unnoticed in your aquarium, but the sooner you realize it, the more effective the treatments will be. At the time of the appearance if you do nothing, it may be the death of your fish, especially if the fish are in poor health or if they have nutritional deficiencies.

Ick is highly contagious, so if you see a fish infected with this disease, you can be sure the others are in serious danger if they are not already infected. You can quarantine an ick-sick fish in a "hospital aquarium", but often it's too late.

This disease is caused by a parasite (ichthyophtirius multifilis) and can appear when the fish undergoes stress that weakens its immune system. The vast majority of the time, the most common stress is a rapid and drastic change in temperature that causes it. When changing water for example.

Factors favoring the appearance of ick

• Absent or too rapid acclimatization when introducing fish to your aquarium.
• Filtration not adapted or poorly maintained, which causes an overdose of pollutant.
• Poor food, too rich or not adapted to the type of fish you have (carnivorous, vegetarian...).
• Aggressive, incompatible fish, there is a reign of terror in your aquarium.
• Ammonia poisoning, nitrite and nitrate, poor quality filter, poorly adapted, lack of water change or you give too much food.
• Temperature too high or too low, check that all your fish have the same requirement in terms of water temperature.
• Aquarium too small or overcrowded, which leads to a rapid rise in pollution.
• Toxic materials in the tank (water not treated with antichlor, residues of toxic products, soap)
• The physical environment around the aquarium (noise, traffic, vibration, polluted air, etc.)

Recognize the appearance of the Ick

The appearance of small white dots the size of a grain of salt on the fins and then on the body and gills. The fish has tight fins, rubs against the ground, plants or decorative elements as if to scratch. At a more advanced stage of ick disease, the fish lose weight and refuse to feed and become inactive. When his gills are affected by the ick, his breathing rate accelerates and it is a sign of certain death if you do not treat immediately.

ick treatment

Effective treatment to eliminate ick comes with knowledge of the life cycle of the parasite: the growth stage:

• Stage 1 ick disease:
  the parasite attaches itself to the body of the fish, it digs into the skin and feeds on its flesh.

• stage 2 of the Ick, the exit on the ground:
  When well developed, the parasite detaches from the fish, falls into your aquarium bottom substrate, it will then form a membrane around itself and divide. It is at this stage alone that we can fight against him. It is important to treat the whole aquarium and not just the fish affected by the ick.

• stage 3, the spread of the ick:
  Very quickly, the membrane of the "adult" parasite will release hundreds of new parasites in search of a host... a fish and they will begin their cycles again. The ick is vulnerable at this stage, it will die in 70 hours if it has not found a host to feed on.

Possible treatments for ick

(See manufacturer's detailed instructions on ick treatment bottles)

Super Ick Cure:
Every 2 days, 2 treatments. 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons. 25% water change after 4 days.

Aquarisol:
Every day for 48 hours. 12 drops per 10 gallons

Ich-X:
Daily, for up to 8 days: 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons. 1/3 water change before each treatment.

It is also recommended during the treatment against the ick:

To gradually increase the water temperature between 28 and 30 degrees C to accelerate the life cycle of the parasite. In order to reach the spreading phase where the parasite is most vulnerable, so that it can be killed faster by the ick treatment.

• Turning off the light strip eliminates a source of stress.
• Covering your aquarium with a sheet, if possible, also eliminates an external source of stress.
• Do not feed your fish every day, so as not to increase pollutants in the water unnecessarily.

Charcoal and ick treatment

It is preferable, for this treatment as for any treatment, to remove the carbon and the other chemical filtrations (resin) from your filter for the duration of the treatment.

Once the treatment against the ick is finished, you can change 1/3 of the water and place a new charcoal for 1o days in your filter, in order to eliminate as much as possible the traces of the treatment against the ick.

Discard your charcoal canister after this use.