# Ich? What's that?



## freddieandeffie (Sep 3, 2010)

I'm kind of new to keeping goldfish and when I was on this website looking around, I found out about Ich, a parasite that lives off fish.

I looked on wikipedia about it but I didn't find out much about it. Could you guys give me some info on what Ich is? Like what type of fish does it feed on( eg, freshwater, tropical ect.)? How does it grow? What are you when your at risk to Ich? Is is fatal? By looking at the aquarium list bellow, can you tell if I'm at risk?

- 15 gallon tank -

- One baby Black Moar Goldfish :fish::fish::fish:

- Fine bone china mermaid ornament


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## Mbuna Keeper (Dec 24, 2010)

Hi!

Maybe the following links could help you (Ich is also know as whitespot)

http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_ich.php
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=16+2160&aid=2421


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

ich is a fungal infection that lives on the outside of a fishes body and is probably the most common disease fish get. it is also one of the easiest to treat and not usually deadly however in sevre cases it can be. it is easily noticed as little white spots on the fish(it almost looks as if its covered in salt. it will usually start on the fins of the fish and gradually spread and more spots will appear on the body of the fish. The causes of ich are typically stress indused. Its not uncommon for a fish to get ich when transporting it from the store to your house or suddon changes in temperature. A fish can also get ich simply from being picked on by another fish. what happens is the fish gets stressed and it sheds its slime coat allowing the ich to take hold. there are many medications on the market for the treatment of ich. one of the most affective IMO is coppersafe but be cautious when using this medication as it is not only hard on the fish but it is also more so on scaleless fish and will even kill invertabrates because of the copper. their are more natural ways of treating ich that arn't as hard on the fish. things like adding small amounts of aquarium salt slowly into the tank but again this can be hard on the fish and especially scaleless fish. probably one of the most affective ways is to turn up the heat in the tank. turning up the heat causes the ich to go through its life cycle at an accelerated rate. the higher the temp the faster it will go through its life cycle. it will die faster than it will reproduce when you do this. just be carefull the higher the temperature the less time you can keep the fish at the temperature. i usually like to use around 85-86 degrees F to burn out the ich but i have heard of people even going up into the 90's in order to get rid of it in a day or two. just make sure you dont just bring the temperature up or down suddenly as this can have a more negative affect rather than posotive. instead do it slowly. like 1-2 degrees over no less than an hours time. i personally like to keep my tank at 80-81 degrees F as this helps keep the fish from getting sick in the first place but isn't guarenteed by any means. you can also use the heat trick and salt together to make it more affective. in my experience in the more severe cases of ich or in instances where no treatment is working on the ich or its getting worse it is typically because the fish has a secondary disease. the stress of being sick from something else is to hard on the fish that it just doesn't have what it takes to fight off the ich. when this happens start looking for other symptoms of other diseases. i have seen it where the fish isn't showing any other symptoms and fish were dropping like flies but nothing is working on the ich so i did a treatment with 3-4 different meds and finally the fish went back to health.
i almost forgot to answer your other questions. basically ich can affect any kind of fish as far as im aware but some seem more succeptable than others. there is also a type of ich that affects salt water fish but i believe it cant transfer from fresh to salt or vice versa. if you have any other questions feel free to ask.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

What???

Ich is caused by a ciliated protozoan. The wounds in the skin caused by their burrowing can quickly lead to secondary infection from bacteria or fungus, but it isn't bacteria or fungus itself. Ick kills when it destroys the gills. If the fish have ich so badly that you can see it on the fins, then the gills will by then be absolutely covered, since they very strongly prefer the gills as an attachment site. This means that when you start to see spots, things are already very serious.

There are many kinds of ick, and while most can be treated by the same method(s), some need different methods. As such, it is important to pay close attention to see if the current treatment is working, and adjust accordingly if it isn't.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

TheOldSalt said:


> What???
> 
> Ich is caused by a ciliated protozoan. The wounds in the skin caused by their burrowing can quickly lead to secondary infection from bacteria or fungus, but it isn't bacteria or fungus itself. Ick kills when it destroys the gills. If the fish have ich so badly that you can see it on the fins, then the gills will by then be absolutely covered, since they very strongly prefer the gills as an attachment site. This means that when you start to see spots, things are already very serious.
> 
> There are many kinds of ick, and while most can be treated by the same method(s), some need different methods. As such, it is important to pay close attention to see if the current treatment is working, and adjust accordingly if it isn't.


wow really? ive probably been told 100+ times that it was a fungal infection but if there is anything i have learned on this site its not to go against what you say because pretty much your the fish guru. i didn't know that much about attacking the gils. well i knew it did but i didn't know it appeared there first i always thought it came after attacking the fins. was i right about most of the other stuff?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

TOS is not just a fishkeeper...but has a couple of degrees in relation to the science of keeping fishes......try not to contradict the man.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Unless I'm wrong, of course, then contradict away!
( Hey, it could happen. )
LOL!

Actually, I still get things wrong a lot more often than I'd like. Especially with all this cutting edge new stuff. African Cichlids are another weakness.

As for the other stuff, most ick meds today are formulated to work at normal tank temperature with no need to raise it, which is good since the fish are already having enough problems. 94F is the temp that kills ick. Anything less just makes it mad, so don't screw around with the high 80's nonsense. Otherwise just stick to the meds.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Ichthyophthirius multifiliis may not be the only 'ich' but it's where "ich" or "Ick" comes from. Try searching on the long word or ich fish disease.


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## freddieandeffie (Sep 3, 2010)

Thanks! My fish has a less likely chance of having any problems as it lives on its own and has done so for the past 2 months. But can that harm him?


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