This is a common question that is often asked, what is ich and how is it recognisable and what causes it?
The real term is ICHTHYOPHTHIRIASIS. OR commonly known as white spot.
It is an extremely comon parasite that affects aquarium fish. It is highly infectious and potentially lethal and manifests as tiny white spots all over the fish. The spots are no larger than grains of salt. The wide host range of this parasite is it's life cycle, and speed of mutiplication especially in a tropical aquarium. When you can see the white spot on your fish it's already too late for those ich particles to be killed, they can only be killed in the parasitic stage.

FISH parasite stage under the skin and fin. }TROPHONT exits fish and forms a reproductive stage(TOMONT) } The tomont then settles on the substrate and starts its division. The Tomont can reproduce 200-800 THERONTS The Theronts must locate a fish within 24 hours otherwise it will die.It is at this stage when the free swimming Theronts can be destroyed by treatment/chemicals. If it infects a fish the cycle starts again, if not and it is killed off by the treatment the cycle stops. Early signs of white spot are when fish begin to flick themselves against rocks. Other signs are your fish swimming in an odd behaviour as if they were trying to use the water to wash away an irratation. Then you have the white spots. There are many causes for white spot, fish catch white spot like we catch a cold! Some of the more common causes are stress, bad water conditions, live food that have been infected or you've bought an already infected fish without knowing it. The main culprit is the parasite Ichthyophthrius multifiliis
Treatment: There are many remedies out on the market, most are based on either Methylene Blue or Malachite Green. Salt can also be used(not table salt),but only with salt tolerant species and if you have a major outbreak than the "big guns" need to be brought in. The big guns being UV irradiation.

*edited one line for clarification and opened it if dragonslair wants to amend my own alteration! *

well done

It is my understanding that all untreated water contains ich. If the tank water has been cleansed of the ich parasite, the next untreated water change will reintroduce the parasite. It is a practice to treat the water at a water change with a mild ich remedy (like aquarisol.) I have also been directed to treat all incoming fish in quarantine with an aquarisol wash. When treating the water at waterchanges it isn't necessary, I am told, to mess with the filter media. It is treating the water to kill the parasite, not treating the disease.

If I am posting here incorrectly or my information is wrong, dragonslair, let me know and I'll immediately remove it.

This post has been edited by jollysue: Jul 23 2005, 06:57 PM

great post dragon.
I'd just like to add that some fish (such as neon tetras), after becomming infected and sucessfully treated, can be carriers of the disease; thus giving (potentialy)
the chance of infecting any addition to the tank.

I found this link very informative indeed.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/BODY_FA006

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I've had Ich in my tank for about two weeks I have done the regular water changes, increased temp, added salt, and tried the white spot treatment at the pet shops, all that has happened is that it just hasnt spread rapidly is there anything else I can do! Beside the fish having the white spots they seem healthy enough but I keep noticing others in my tank starting to scratch themselves on the rocks or wood in my tank! I don't know what else to try so would be grateful for any suggestions that may help

Have you posted a thread in the main emergency section?

There is a new strain of Ich that is highly resistant to most comercially produced treatments.
The only thing that will cure this form of ich are copper based treatments.

I'll just add that copper is highly toxic to most life on this planet and many fish can not tollerate it at all
so you have to be extreamly careful when useing copper based treatments.
it maybe a case of the cure is deadlier than the disease.

my fish also has fish and i read in here that it is allready to late to get rid of the white spots on my fish... the question I have is ... Will my fish die....I have a huge goldfish that has white spots all over the place ad it was hard to tell he had Ich...and now one of my Black Moors has white spots also... will they die or will treatment help them??