ICH!!!

[andregurov]

The statistics speak for themselves. United rock.

The pike is definitely healing; I only see a couple of spots left, literally. I think the acriflavine is working, despite what you said.

Manchester United rock.

I have to admit, you guys have been better for the last 85 years or so. But this year we'll perform, and next year it will be us in the CL. Okay, maybe not the CL. But Europe!!!!

Glad to hear the pike is doing well!

 

[HerCrenVie]

I have to admit, you guys have been better for the last 85 years or so. But this year we'll perform, and next year it will be us in the CL. Okay, maybe not the CL. But Europe!!!!

Glad to hear the pike is doing well!

We'll see about that. Rolando Bianchi is turning out to be quite a flop.

The pike is still scratching.

 

[andregurov]

Ouch! Give Bianchi time ... even Carlos Tevez took a while to adapt to life in sunny, warm England. I do see Jermain Defoe in our future come January.

It can easily take up to 2 weeks for ich infestations to clear. Flashing can often be caused by changes in temperature and GH of the water as well.

 

[HerCrenVie]

Ouch! Give Bianchi time ... even Carlos Tevez took a while to adapt to life in sunny, warm England. I do see Jermain Defoe in our future come January.

It can easily take up to 2 weeks for ich infestations to clear. Flashing can often be caused by changes in temperature and GH of the water as well.

Ok, ok. We'll see what happens when City visits Old Trafford sometime soon.

GH = hardness, am I right? My filter and substrate are full of crushed coral, so my pH and hardness are pretty high. Is this causing the scratching? Should I remove some? They're in there as a buffer because the pH of my tap water sometimes dips to 4.0!

 

[andregurov]

I think it is safest to assume that flashing in this case is caused by irritation of ich cysts in the gills and skin (just at a microscopic level). Flashing from mineral changes are harmless.

 

[HerCrenVie]

I think it is safest to assume that flashing in this case is caused by irritation of ich cysts in the gills and skin (just at a microscopic level). Flashing from mineral changes are harmless.

I thought all ich cysts were small and white and visible...now you're telling me some are microscopic!

 

[andregurov]

I thought all ich cysts were small and white and visible...now you're telling me some are microscopic!

Yes. The free-swimming stage is impossible to see without a microscope. When they first attach and feed on the fish's tissue/slime coat, they are still microscopic. The white cysts that form are (partially) immune responses that coat the parasite. While encysted, the ich parasite multiplies into the thousands and is untreatable. The cyst erupts, the ich parasites tumble out and begin looking for new hosts to repeat the life cycle. That is why you medicate - to kill that free-swimming stage. This is a seriously curtailed and brief explanation ... as long as the pike is feeding and you don't see cysts I wouldn't sweat it.

 

[HerCrenVie]

Yes. The free-swimming stage is impossible to see without a microscope. When they first attach and feed on the fish's tissue/slime coat, they are still microscopic. The white cysts that form are (partially) immune responses that coat the parasite. While encysted, the ich parasite multiplies into the thousands and is untreatable. The cyst erupts, the ich parasites tumble out and begin looking for new hosts to repeat the life cycle. That is why you medicate - to kill that free-swimming stage. This is a seriously curtailed and brief explanation ... as long as the pike is feeding and you don't see cysts I wouldn't sweat it.

Oh ok. The pike certainly is eating as usual, but it's much more sluggish than before it had the ich (when the white cysts were still visible it was sluggish as well); lying on the substrate, sometimes with pectoral fins clamped. It used to cruise around the tank front, and that was a mere two weeks ago.