Ich: How to Kick it Out of Your Fishroom.

One of the most common fish related maladies encountered by hobbyists in the aquarium trade is the dreaded parasite known as Ich. Ich is the common short name for a single celled parasite known by the scientific name Ichthyophthirius multifiliis. In appearance, Ich looks like the fish has grains of salt sprinkled all over its skin, fins and gills. Ich is a parasite that literally drills holes into the fish. It causes fish to “flash” which means they will swim fast and rub up against aquarium decor in an attempt to get the parasite off of their bodies. As the parasite also attacks the gills, fish commonly as a result rise in the water column gasping for breath in the more oxygen rich water near to the top. As the infestation advances the fish begin to slow down, they try to hide, become lethargic, lose interest in food, and finally they start to die off. As to where this parasite comes from, some believe it hides in aquariums. That is not at all my belief. It is my belief that Ich gets into a hobbyist’s tank by being introduced into the aquarium whenever a “new” addition is brought into the tank. That addition doesn’t have to be a fish, the Ich parasite has many different forms in each stage of its lifecycle. Some are active, and some are more dormant. As such a new addition could be a fish, it could be swimming in the water that is introduced into an aquarium, or it could also be on a plant or decoration that was submerged in an infected tank.

However it got into your tank, getting it off of your fish and out of your aquarium(s) is a relatively easy but time consuming process but there are some things that you have to be aware of. First this disease can easily spread on aquarium tools, through transfer of water, and even being passed on from tank to tank by you. So when this shows up in a fishroom that is not practicing good biocontainment practices, you will need to change this bad habit immediately or you could easily end up spreading this parasite. What started in one tank can very quickly infest all of the tanks in your home and you will have a gigantic, expensive mess on your hands that will take resources and time to eliminate. Please consult my biocontainment resource article for more help in how you can initiate a good plan for biocontainment in your fishroom. We will not go into details here save this. Mind your siphons, your buckets and your nets during this process. Make certain that siphons and nets especially are not used in multiple tanks I am convinced that when Ich travels from tank to tank in a fish room this is how its spreading. Have a siphon for each tank that is sick that is completely different then the ones you use in clean tanks. The same can be said for waste water buckets and freshwater buckets. Also you must wash every surface of your body that touched the water when you clean an infested tank before going into another one. If possible, maintain the clean tanks on a different and separate schedule then the infested ones. Use separate buckets, siphons, and nets to clean and change out the water in tanks without the parasite.

Ich as a parasite will not go away. In nature fish will swim away when the ich drops off and the fish stay away. The parasite then starves and dies without a host. In an aquarium, there is no where to run. As such fish are quickly killed by this parasite as it has a logarithmic reproductive scale. What starts as one can come back as a 100 or more within one single turn of its lifecycle. Now multiply this by multiple cysts. This explains why it starts small and very quickly becomes life threatening to fish in aquariums. The lifecycle of the parasite itself is dependent upon temperature. The higher the temperature, the quicker it goes through its lifecycle. Raising the temperature means that it will go into its cyst form quicker then a lower temperature. Therefore temperature becomes a key factor in treating ich and a factor that allows us to ultimately kill it when it becomes vulnerable. The ich parasite is not vulnerable when it is in its cyst form or when it is attached to the fish. The parasite becomes vulnerable when its in its free swimming form. We raise the temperature to speed up its lifecycle. The quicker we can get it into the free swimming form, the sooner we can kill it. This is the strategy.

To treat tanks for Ich here is what you need to do. First you will increase the temperature. The tank needs to be raised to 82 - 84 OF. The second thing that we will do is increase the oxygen in the affected tanks by increasing surface agitation. The medication and water conditioner we are going to put into the affected tanks can lower oxygen content and remember Ich attacks gills. So making it easier for fish to breath is a good thing. The next step is potentially a risky proposition for some fish and plants. In my experience as a hobbyist; however, I have never came across a single species of aquarium fish that couldn’t handle this next step. We are going to salt the tank. For every 2.5 to 3 gallons of water we are going to add one tablespoon of aquarium salt. This must be aquarium salt. Do NOT put in iodine infused salt, canning salts, kosher salts, or any other food grade salt into your tank. We need pure aquarium salt here to avoid complications in already sick and stressed fish. The reason we are doing this is because scientific studies have shown that this is the equivalent to tanking a sledgehammer to the parasite. How this works is simple, in order for the parasite to move it must be in a normal state. Putting salt into the water destroys its ability to osmoregulate. The parasite being a single celled organism becomes hypertonic which essentially means the water is being drawn out of it and its shriveling up. This prevents it from being able to “swim” towards its next meal. Lacking the ability to move, gravity pulls it down, and it falls to the bottom of the tank unable to further infect the fish. In my experience tetras, livebearers and cichlids can be treated relatively safely with salt at the aforementioned concentration. I have never had the opportunity to test this with anabantids, catfish, or cyprinids but please monitor your fish in case they are sensitive to salt in the water. The next step you take is a very risky one for plants. We are going to use a product called IchX. IchX is the combination of formalin and malachite green. Both are deadly to the Ich parasite when it becomes free swimming and both are also deadly to plants. We will use this medication as is directed noting the warning on it when used in conjunction with tetras. With the parasite unable to move effectively, it being locked into its free swimming form, and the medication now mixing through the water this becomes a deadly environment for the Ich parasite.

Taking these steps should show you immediate improvement within one day. The turn around will be dramatic by the second day. By the second or third day the fish should be free of those white spots. Please do not take the bait. Please continue to treat the fish as if they are infected because the parasite is still alive in your tank. According to IchX there is a water change schedule that you must do. Follow this rigidly but when you siphon, you need to siphon at the bottom of your tank thoroughly cleaning the floor of the aquarium. The reason for this is that the highest concentration of parasites will be on the floor of the aquarium. Since the parasites will be in a shriveled hypertonic state they won’t be swimming and gravity will bring them to the bottom. Additionally the cyst phase of the lifecycle of ich is one where division occurs when its nonmotile and on the ground. Siphoning this away removes this parasite from your affected tank and places it in the bucket (remember this as you never want to add water that goes into a tank into this). When you dump this water also remember that it contains formalin, malachite green, and salt. This is a bucketload that is best put into the sewer where the water treatment facility will deal with it. Do not dump this on food plants as formalin can be very harmful to human life. When you replace water as directed, remember to medicate the tank per the instructions of IchX and don’t forget to salt the tank again to replace the salt that was removed according to the volume that you took out. So for instance if you took out three gallons, add one more tablespoon of aquarium salt back into the tank.

It is tempting to discontinue treatment when the disease disappears. This can be especially pressing if plants are melting due to IchX being in the tank. Please do not do this. Plants can be easily replaced and they can even be made safer using reverse respiration. The parasite is something you need to deal with now because if it survives it will be stronger and more resistant the next time around. Continue medicating your affected tanks, continue segregating your affected tanks, and continue to implement biological controls until a whole week passes AFTER one day after the disease totally disappears from your fish.

After ridding your tank(s) of the parasite and after the week has passed, you’re still not out of the woods. All of the tools you used in this tank must be cleaned. To clean them soap and water is a good start, after rinsing then begin desiccating the tools Under the Florida sun, one week is sufficient to desiccate buckets, nets, siphons, and tools. Pay attention and bring them in to make certain they don’t get rained on. Make certain after a week that the tools are dry, turn each physically and wait another week just to be certain. After that second week of desiccation its now time to take any metal tools, use mineral oil to discourage rust and hang them back upon the racks that they come from. The net should be safe at this point and can be safely hung up where you need it to be. The siphon and the bucket can be bleached with a 10% solution, immediately rinsed and redried. The reason for this extra step is that the hose can be very difficult to completely desiccate due to its small volume and low flow rate. It is usually safe by this point but the bleach solution will make certain that it is. Make certain you rinse it so that the bleach can’t be smelled, allow it to sit in the sun and dry for three more days and then both are safe to bring back into the room and use.

This seems like a lot. This is why you need to use quarantine tanks with anything that comes into your fishroom. It is wise to assume that all things that enter the room are in fact carrying infections. Please quarantine, have tools dedicated to quarantine and that will eliminate the need to make heart wrenching decisions of do I save the fish or the plants and the aquascape I am proud of later down the line.