ICK Questions
- Thread starter Redbellypiranha
- Start date
high temps speed up ich's life cycle, so the treatment, whatever the treatment is, can work. There are 4 stages, 1 is on the fish, and the other in a sort of egg stage in the substrate, where it is "immune" to "all" treatments. Only when it first hatches off the fish, or hatches out of the substrate and is searching for a host, is it vulnerable. It must go thru all 4 stages to be eliminated.
If you don't treat thru all 4 stages, it will return.
If you don't treat thru all 4 stages, it will return.
When you first notice ich and start to treat, it is on the fish, where it is immune. But its next stage, where it hatches off the fish, if you've added salt or chemical, it will be vulnerable. Some will be in the gravel, immune and dormant,they then hatch out and search for a fish to infect. When they hatch out they are killable for a short time. These stages don't happen sequentially, because there are many individuals in each stage at once. This is why you must treat for a few weeks, to make sure you get them all. This multistage life cycle is why it it is not cured overnight. Heat hastens these stages, and gives you a chance to kill it faster, but not instantly.
One method of curing Salt and heat
Salt and heat for FW Ich:
1. Increase temperature to 80F -84F. Ich is principally a temperate zone gill parasite and fish may have issues getting enough O2 in warmer water. Start at 80F and if there are no signs of respiratory distress (labored breathing and/or hanging at the surface), increase to 84F.
2. Add 1 level measuring teaspoon per US gallon of salt (ordinary table salt) to some removed tank water, mix well to dissolve and add it back to the tank in the path o the filter outflow or other current. This can be done while the tank is warming up. If there are no signs of distress (as in #1 above), after 12-24 hours add another 1/2 teaspoon per gallon in the same way. Do not use "aquarium salt" as that has no legal definition.
3. Both salt and heat interfere with the division/reproduction of the parasite (the stage after the parasite falls off the fish and rests on the substrate or decor. It is effectively invisible at this stage). At and above 80F, the life cycle is ~3 days total. Therefore you need to hold at the elevated temp approximately 10 days (or at least 3 life cycles).
4. Some to many folks like to vacuum and partial daily during the elevated temperature period. If you do this, the make-up water must have the 1.5 teaspoons per gallon of salt pre-dissolved in it, and it must be at the same temp as the tank before it is added to the tank.
5. At the end of the 10 days, reduce the temperature to your normal operating level.
6. The salt is diluted out by water partials after the ten days are over. Routine 50% partials will effectively remove it after 4 partials. These may be done daily if it is desired to get back to normal operational levels more quickly (I do). At least the first 50% partial should be done immediately after the end of the treatment. After one 50 partial, the salt is down to 3/4 tsp/gal. After two 50% partials it is down to 3/8 tsp/ga. After tree partials it is down to 3/16 tsp/gal and after 4 partial is down tp 3/32 tsp/gal or effectively undetectable.
Nota Bene: The disappearance of parasite lesions from the visible surface of the fish does not mean the parasite is gone. It is a gill parasitre, and if not cleared by the full 10-day treatment it may persist chronically in the gills
- grabbed from the puffer forum
ich life cycle
http://www.metapathogen.com/ich/
It uses science terminology but just kind of read around that.
Salt and heat for FW Ich:
1. Increase temperature to 80F -84F. Ich is principally a temperate zone gill parasite and fish may have issues getting enough O2 in warmer water. Start at 80F and if there are no signs of respiratory distress (labored breathing and/or hanging at the surface), increase to 84F.
2. Add 1 level measuring teaspoon per US gallon of salt (ordinary table salt) to some removed tank water, mix well to dissolve and add it back to the tank in the path o the filter outflow or other current. This can be done while the tank is warming up. If there are no signs of distress (as in #1 above), after 12-24 hours add another 1/2 teaspoon per gallon in the same way. Do not use "aquarium salt" as that has no legal definition.
3. Both salt and heat interfere with the division/reproduction of the parasite (the stage after the parasite falls off the fish and rests on the substrate or decor. It is effectively invisible at this stage). At and above 80F, the life cycle is ~3 days total. Therefore you need to hold at the elevated temp approximately 10 days (or at least 3 life cycles).
4. Some to many folks like to vacuum and partial daily during the elevated temperature period. If you do this, the make-up water must have the 1.5 teaspoons per gallon of salt pre-dissolved in it, and it must be at the same temp as the tank before it is added to the tank.
5. At the end of the 10 days, reduce the temperature to your normal operating level.
6. The salt is diluted out by water partials after the ten days are over. Routine 50% partials will effectively remove it after 4 partials. These may be done daily if it is desired to get back to normal operational levels more quickly (I do). At least the first 50% partial should be done immediately after the end of the treatment. After one 50 partial, the salt is down to 3/4 tsp/gal. After two 50% partials it is down to 3/8 tsp/ga. After tree partials it is down to 3/16 tsp/gal and after 4 partial is down tp 3/32 tsp/gal or effectively undetectable.
Nota Bene: The disappearance of parasite lesions from the visible surface of the fish does not mean the parasite is gone. It is a gill parasitre, and if not cleared by the full 10-day treatment it may persist chronically in the gills
- grabbed from the puffer forum
ich life cycle
http://www.metapathogen.com/ich/
It uses science terminology but just kind of read around that.