No, fish can’t survive ich without treatment. You must start the correct treatment for ich once you see even the smallest of the symptoms in your aquarium fish. If not treated this can get transferred to other fish as well. This is a fatal disease with fish having a chance of death if not treated.
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What is Ich and What causes Ich or Ick in fish?
This disease is caused because of internal parasites living inside fish and the visible symptoms are developed on the fish skin in the form of white spots. Common name for this disease is therefore called as “white spot disease”. Fish that get affected by this rub their skin against glass or decorating items because this literally “itches”.
The scientific biological name of this disease is “Ichthyophthirius multifiliis”. In this disease a type of parasite called “protozoan parasites” affect fish health that have weak immunity. Normally fish that are under stress in a tank for a variety of reasons will more likely catch up the ich than those who are happy and not under stress.
Just like humans fish that have a strong immune system are probably having antibodies to fight against ich in their bodies and will not get infected with ich.
How to identify this disease?
There are some visible signs you can observe in fish that can tell if fish are suffering with ich or not. The very first and obvious sign is fish will develop white spots on their skin. If you see this type of condition then probably this is ich.
However one important point to consider here is that the parasite that is responsible for “these white spots” has three stages of development in fish tank water.
Once the ich parasite enters the body of the fish it will survive inside on the food that the fish eats. Duing this stage the fish will start to develop white spots on it’s body and he will rub body against decorations, stone and glass. The white spots truly are “itchy”.
If the parasites are not treated in this stage then they will get matured and get out of the ody to find another fish in the water. At this stage the parasites are developed to an extent that they can be seen by eyes floating around in the tank.
This stage is the most dangerous for other fish because if this parasite finds body of another fish to survive then slowly the entire community gets affected. During this stage the parasites grow exponentially affecting and infecting the entire tank.
That is why when you find just one fish getting affected with “ich” disease you must start the treatment immediately and try to kill the parasite as soon as possible. If that particular fish has a strong immune system then he will respond to your treatment and recover fast.
As the owner of the tank it is your responsibility to see that the tank environment is stress free so that fish live happily and do not suffer because of diseases.
Ich or something else?
Many times getting white spots on the body of the fish may not be ich in the first place. Many people just assume that if there are white spots then it’s ich. Yes, getting white spots is definitely a symptom of this disease but the main symptom to decide whether it’s ich or something else is, Ich always starts from fins and tail of the fish.
If you see white spots first on the body then it may be some sort of cyst and not ich. This scientific name of this other disease that looks like ich but is not is “Lymphocystis”. The white spots that are formed in this type of disease are more clustered and not spread over the entire body of the fish.
Also in the ich disease it will spread to the entire tank very quickly if not treated when you see it in your fish. But in case of the “Lymphocystis” disease it will tend to stay on the particular fish that gets affected. In that case the treatment would be slightly different than what’s proposed for ich.
From where does these parasites are likely to enter fish tank water?
The itch parasite may be present in fish tank water in a variety of places. Let’s have a look at some of the common places where ich can enter your existing fish tank.
1) Inside newly introduced fish – The pet store has an ample supply of fish of different breeds and this is the place from where a newly introduced fish is most likely to get the ich parasite in your tank as well.
Most pet store fish are highly stressed because of a variety of reasons such as poor maintenance, constant movement from one tank to another and to the owner home tank, human movement around the tank. etc. This stress greatly reduces their immunity making them a victim of catching up one ore more of such diseases.
One more thing that you must always remember is never buy from fish from a tank in which there is a dead fish already in it. When you buy these new fish keep an eye on from which tank the specific fish you are buying is collected from. Also when you bring the new fish from the pet store see to it that you never mix the water from the plastic bag i which you carry the new fish, in your main tank.
It is possible that the water from the fish pet store is already contaminated with many diseases and by mistake you add them in your main tank inviting unnecessary disease and contamination all of a sudden.
The best way to prevent ich or any other diseased fish in your home tank is to first put the new fish in a quarantine tank for at least a week or more and observe how they behave. This will also give them some relief from stress and some time to get recovered. If you see any visible signs if ich then immediately start the treatment and only shift him to main tank once he is free of any parasites.
2) Gravel – Gravel that you buy from online or offline stores must be cleaned thoroughly and dried completely under the sun and then introduced in the tank. Most of the times these gravel particles contain invisible parasites, bacteria that once introduced in the tank thrive because of the conditions that are created by the owner and their growth becomes exponential and out of control.
To avoid any kind of outbreak first wash the gravel thoroughly and dry in hot sun so that most of the contamination is eliminated outside.
3) Plants – Just like gravel even live plants are likely to carry contamination under the leaves or stems and once they are introduced in the main tank, ideal conditions encourages their growth further.
To avoid such accidents always observe what you buy from the pet store and plan carefully. If you collect plants from natural resources like lakes, river beds, ponds then it is necessary to wash them thoroughly and introduce them in a quarantine tank and observe their growth for a while.
4) Decorations – Decorations bought from the pet store such as stones, driftwood shapes, any other ornamental artifacts, ceramic decorating items are also prone to carry contamination and parasites. It is best to first wash them thoroughly and dry in hot sun so that most of these are eliminated outside before they get introduced in the main tank.
How long does ich stay on fish?
Once the fish gets this disease it is likely that it will kill your fish in about two weeks if you don’t treat it. That is why it is necessary to always keep observing behavior of your fish and maintain a cleaning schedule.
What is the best ich fish treatment?
When you fish gets infected with these parasites most of the times as a symptom the fish will develop white spots on the skin. To treat this it is necessary to immediately kill the parasite and free the fish of this infection.
But this is difficult to achieve because the parasites penetrate the skin of gills of the fish and killing them would require a high concentrate of the medical treatment which can be harmful for delicate fish.
The best way to treat fish infected with ich to first move him to a hospital or quarantine tank and treat him there. With this method you will requires a less concentrated chemical. Because a quarantine tank need not be as large as the main tank.
The best way is to raise the temperature of the water in the quarantine tank to about 30 degrees Celsius ( Approx. 86 degree Fahrenheit) and make use of salt so that Ich gets killed. Ich remains in the body of the fish for about 5 to 7 days.
The chemical based treatment is best when the Ich parasite gets out of the body of the host fish and gets matured. Once it gets matured it starts looking for another fish as a host and this is time when you must prevent it’s exponential growth by adding anti-ich chemicals to tank. That is why it is necessary that when you see a single fish with “white spots” on it’s body you must quarantine him in another tank so that even if when Ich parasite gets outside it’s body, the entire tank gets saved because of it’s exponential growth.
Which chemical based treatment is recommended for Ich?
Ich X – (paidlink)
The dose to be used is as described on the bottle (5 ml/10 gallons) and will be sufficient to kill ich. If you are using it for the first time then It’s always the best practice to use this in a quarantine tank and observe the results so that if anything goes wrong your main tank is safe from the side effects.
The best practice is to when you buy a new fish from the pet store treat him in a quarantine tank for a week and then shift him to new tank so that you completely eliminate the chance of getting ich in your main tank.
Which chemicals can be used to prevent exponential growth of Ich?
The chemical that kills the Ich parasite includes formaldehyde and malachite green. with this a slightly raised temperature will do the job perfectly for you. You’ll see the white spots getting disappeared and the fish getting a normal skin. You can have a smaller quarantine tank than your normal one and save on chemical quantity as well. The quantity you must use for treatment of ich must be followed as described by the particular product you are going to use. All these will have directions written in the form of a printed manual or printed the dosage on the bottle itself that comes with your purchase.
A combination of raised temperature and chemicals works best in the quarantine tank. The growth of the termites is highly sensitive to temperature levels and will most likely die naturally because of raised temperatures (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in the quarantine tank. With this set up termites will die in about 4 -5 days.
Be careful while using chemical treatment directly in main tank because some combinations of chemicals are sold in the market( eg. methylene blue) that may kill beneficial bacteria in your bio filter. These bacteria are essential for breaking down ammonia and take longer time to form their colonies in the filer media.
However while raising the temperature it is necessary to also consider the fact that the fish must tolerate the raised temperature and survive in this slightly raise temperature. Some fish like the goldfish is highly sensitive for raised temperatures and can die because of this set up.
If you see behavioral problems with fish such as fish gasping for air at the top surface then first it is necessary that you increase the oxygen intake in the tank by adjusting air pump intake power and encourage ample amount of oxygen exchange at the surface level and then try the method by increasing temperature. A water with raised temperature will always have less dissolved oxygen in it.
Treating ich with salt
It is possible to treat not just ich but a variety of disease caused by fungus, parasites and bacteria using salt which has a chemical name “Sodium Chloride”. The best thing about salt is that it doesn’t have an expiry and is very easily and cheaply available in most parts of the world.
The fact that salt can be used to treat ich does not mean you juts add it to your fish tank water and assume that the fish will be disease free the very next day. While using salt you must follow some rules because various species of fish will have different tolerance levels when it comes to accepting salt in the water. The only disadvantage of using salt is that it must be very cautiously used in case of planted tanks and if you have snails in the tank.
If you are planning to use salt as medication then start with very low quantity ( 1 tspn in 3 gallons of tank water) and not in your main tank but in a quarantine tank. If you don’t see desired effects on fish health then you may consider increasing dose. In combination of the salt treatment you can also try increasing the water temperature of the hospital tank for the desired effect. This works especially well in case of treating ich.
Even after the mentioned quantity doesn’t seem to work you can increase quantity of salt per gallon of water till you get desired effect. A maximum of 3 tspns of salt per gallon of water is enough to completely eliminate most of the disease using this method.
As a precautionary measure do not have plants or snails in your quarantine tank because they may not tolerate salt in dissolved form in the water.
Can you feed fish while treating for ich?
The very first reason why a fish becomes sick with ich is because of stress. Fist get stressful for a variety of reasons and to keep them happy you need to check a lot of parameters such as feeding schedule, water chemistry and quality, tank environment and tank mates as well.
When you are treating a fish with ich it is necessary that he remains happy because when he is happy he will have a better immune system to create antibodies to fight against the ich parasite. That is why it is necessary to feed him even when he is being treated with either medications or salt.
How Long Does Ich Last After Treatment?
Once you start the ich treatment you must see a positive development in the health of your fish within 4 days and in 7 days you will see substantial development in his behavior and conditions. Depending upon the severity of the disease you may have to alter some parts of the treatment such as using salt or other medical solutions depending on your fish.
Many times it is advisable to treat the fish in hospital tank and a combination of raised temperature and salt or medicinal solution will work best as the treatment.