Ich on a Cichlid

Image from Wikimedia Commons by Thomas Kaczmarczyk (www.djpalme.de.vu)

Does your tropical fish have ich?

Here are a few symptoms of ich:

white spots
lack of appetite
lethargy: inactive, hiding, or laying on bottom of tank
scratching against decorations, rocks, or gravel

Fortunately, we have never had a problem with ich, which can be deadly for your fish. The best medicine is prevention. However, if your fish gets ich this wikiHow article may help you get the ich out.

Good luck!

How to Treat Tropical Fish With White Spot Disease (ich)

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

White spot disease, Ichthyophthirius multifiliis also known as Ich, is a parasite that most Tropical Fish enthusiast will at one time or another have to deal with. These parasites can be fatal to a fish and getting rid of them takes persistence. The following steps should be taken to treat and cure a tank infected by this parasite,

Steps

Once you see the white spots on the body of your fish, take action quickly, Ich will quickly multiply spreading to other fish in the tank. Using ich medications will stop this from happening for the most part.
You will have to treat the entire tank even if only one fish is affected. It may be wise to set up a separate quarantine tank if only one fish has it, but treat both tanks. You may ask why but if you change the water daily in the second aquarium you can help to stop the ich from being as bad. This may also be achieved by doing daily water changes in the main aquarium but this is stressful on fish without ich so isolating the fish that has it.
The water temperature of a tropical fish tank normally should be kept at between 68 and 78 degrees. SLOWLY increase the temperature of the tank to a maximum of 86 degrees. Increase by a degree every few hours until you reach the desired temperature. This depends on the type of fish because some fish can handle higher temperatures than others.
Vacuum the gravel daily if possible and replace with fresh water. Do this every day until your fish are no longer showing signs of the parasite. Be sure you treat the water for chlorine BEFORE putting it in your tank.
Add aquarium salt to the tank. While this does have any direct effect on the parasite and it does aid in gill function, but it is a specific dosage as specified on the box. This can be beneficial with species with high oxygen requirements and aid the fishes osmotic function to replace electrolytes lost during stress. Do not use where scaleless species (eels, loaches, catfish) are present. One dose per entire tank is all you will need until you change the entire tank's water.
Remove any charcoal filters being used in the tank. You will replace with new ones after treating your tank. It is a good idea to sterilize all things that came in contact with tank during treatments. Such things as nets, filters, and artificial plants should be run through boiling water.
Add the measured dose of a recommended brand of commercial whitespot/ICH treatment. Follow the directions on the back of the bottle carefully making sure not to overdose or miss any part of the course. Because most tanks are not always filled to the brim, take off a drop the recommended dose. Repeat the course if the spots are still visible 4 days after the last dose. Most treatments require you to do daily medications, this is Exactly what you should do to help your fish.
Continue the treatment every day until 6 days after the spots have disappeared and the fish are acting normally. The ich parasite goes through a life cycle and another outbreak can occur within a few days if the parasite infestation isn’t completely eradicated. After an outbreak be proactive. Check your fish daily for those dreaded white spots. It is very common for the ich to make a comeback.

The best way is to feed the fish a vitamin enriched diet- ie. soak food in selcon or zoe. This special diet will boost the fishes immune system and help them fight the disease off. NONE of the brand name medications will be effective. Don't move the infected fish, the excess stress can kill them. if you need to isolate the fish, move all the other tank inhabitants.

Tips

Aquarium Salt is available in many stores that sell pet fish.
These parasites go through a life cycle that averages about 2 weeks in duration. There is usually a factor which brings on an outbreak of ich. Also the temperature will determine the lifetime of ich. It can be as short as a few days or possibly a few weeks. Possible sources include poor water quality, the introduction of water carrying the parasites and stress to fish causing their immunity levels to drop. Temperature fluctuations may also cause a whitespot outbreak in species such as loaches.
Newly purchased fish should always be placed in a quarantine tank for at least 2 weeks where they can be observed for any possible parasites or disease that could be passed on to your healthy fish in the main tank.
It is believed that fish that survive an attack of Ich have an increased immunity against future attacks.
Do some research into the overall care of tropical fish and the various problems that can happen when caring for fish.
Medications used for Ich are: Malachite green, Formalin, Copper sulphate. These ingredients are found in Quick Cure, Coppersafe and Super Ich Cure. Always read the directions carefully. For pleco and loaches Ickguard 2 is a safe solution using formalin.

Warnings

Do not use table salt, iodized or non! Only use aquarium salt.
Do not add salt to an aquarium with salt-intolerant inhabitants, which may include corydoras, loaches and snails. Research whether your fish can handle salt or the medication you plan to use first.
Always treat water you are putting in your tank to get rid of chlorine and other toxic substances in water. Chlorine will quickly kill tropical fish.
When it comes to medicating your fish, more is NOT better! Strictly adhere to the doses recommended on the directions.

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