ich

[dburnett75]

i posted some messages under parasites and now i have a 40$ bottle of kick ich seems to be working my villignii tang looks better and my yellow tang!!

[Palting]

Good for you! Didn't work for me. Used up two separate treatments, had another Ich outbreak 3-4 weeks after completing the last treatment. Have two more big bottles I was going to use for a third treatment sitting in my basement, unused and unopened, free to anyone who wants it.

[snorvich]

The life cycle of this parasite is interesting and is important to understand when evaluating a treatment. The stage where the parasite is attached to a fish is called a trophont. The trophont will spend three to seven days (depending on temperature) feeding on the fish and that is what you see symptomatically when you see "salt sprinkled on the fish". After that, the trophont leaves the fish and becomes what is called a protomont. This protomont travels to the substrate and begins to crawl around for usually two to eight hours, but it could go for as long as eighteen hours after it leaves it's fish host. Once the protomont attaches to a surface, it begins to encyst and is now called a tomont. Division inside the cyst into hundreds of daughter parasites, called tomites, begins shortly thereafter. This noninfectious stage can last anywhere from three to twenty-eight days. During this extended period, the parasite cyst is lying in wait for a host. After this period, the tomites hatch and begin swimming around, looking for a fish host. At this point, they are called theronts, and they must find a host within twenty-four hours or die. They prefer to seek out the skin and gill tissue, then transform into trophonts, and begin the process all over again. What this means is that when your tank is infected, you can actually see symptoms during a very small part of the life cycle, and it why your tank is infected even though your fish are resistant. It will also explain why symptoms come and go.

Many hobbyists are fooled into believing they have cured their fish of the parasites, only to find Ich present again on fish a few weeks later; a reason why following through with a full treatment protocol is so important. Don't make this mistake and be lulled into a false sense of security. The parasites may be in a stage where they are merely regrouping and multiplying for their "next offensive." In the wild, this sort of massive reproductive phase ensures that a few will find a suitable host to continue on the cycle. In the close confines of our aquariums, though, it means comparatively massive infection rates.

This disease is usually associated with several environmental triggers. Changes in water temperature, exposure to high levels of ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate, low pH levels, low dissolved oxygen often associated with overcrowding, are all factors contributing to the onset of the disease. You could lump all of these in a general category of "stress", but it is more appropriate to think of all of these as "unnatural conditions". In fact, Cryptocaryon irritans is rare in the wild even more unlikely to be lethal. Ich is truly a disease that exploits the conditions of captivity to reproduce and easily find suitable hosts.

By the way, trophonts are under the skin so cleaner wrasses and cleaner shrimp have no real effect on reducing this parasite.

By the way, a vlamingi tang is not normally a new to the hobby fish as it really requires a very substantial tank.

[snorvich]

i posted some messages under parasites and now i have a 40$ bottle of kick ich seems to be working my villignii tang looks better and my yellow tang!!

There are three recognized ways of treating cryptocaryon irritans: hyposalinity at 1.009, copper, and tank transfers. Unfortunately your $40 bottle of kick ich is not one of them.

[Sport507]

i posted some messages under parasites and now i have a 40$ bottle of kick ich seems to be working my villignii tang looks better and my yellow tang!!

As a newbie I went way to fast and added 4 fish to my DT tank about 5 weeks after I set it up. I noticed ich on my flame angel and a few spots on the others. I used kick ich the next day and within two days the spots where gone. I think that the above poster are correct but at least for me kick ich worked. The secret is you have to get started as soon as you see it. It is reef safe and I keep it on hand. Just make sure you use two courses of it. Trust me I was lucky with it. Most people hate it and it's costly!!

I learned and now have a QT.

[MrTuskfish]

There are three recognized ways of treating cryptocaryon irritans: hyposalinity at 1.009, copper, and tank transfers. Unfortunately your $40 bottle of kick ich is not one of them.

+1....and every day that you go without starting one of the proven treatments increases the chances of major fish loss. Not only are these products not effective, they can lull folks into a false sense of security (like UV or cleaners) and just make a bad situation much worse.

[JTL]

Everyone with ich is looking for a quick and easy cure but the reality is that it is not going to happen. I doubt if there is any fish disease that has been researched more than ich. At various points in this hobby I tried just about everything. One thing I do believe is that not all fish have ich, depends on how they were quarantined or treated, if at all. I do believe that fish can live with it when healthy. I am kind of on the fence about the theory if you do not introduce new fish for a year the parasite will no longer be able to reproduce, would be nice if true.

[bigdoug]

I hope you got lucky, as kick ich did not work for me either, ended up treating some with hypo and some with cupramine to see which was more convienent for my work schedule. They both worked great. Cupramine is easier if you take your time.

[MrTuskfish]

Everyone with ich is looking for a quick and easy cure but the reality is that it is not going to happen. I doubt if there is any fish disease that has been researched more than ich. At various points in this hobby I tried just about everything. One thing I do believe is that not all fish have ich, depends on how they were quarantined or treated, if at all. I do believe that fish can live with it when healthy. I am kind of on the fence about the theory if you do not introduce new fish for a year the parasite will no longer be able to reproduce, would be nice if true.

I agree that some fish can live with a small number of ich parasites, for a while. But in the confines of a tank; sooner or later the parasite is going to get any fish. Either a tank has ich or it doesn't. If its present (often in the gills & unseen), it can, and will rear its ugly head. I think a lot of "theories'' and success stories don't really involve true marine ich in the first place. IMO: other parasites, lesions, substrate particles and even bits of foreign matter, are often mistaken for marine ich. When they don't return, a victory over ich is declared. There is just too much valid research on this subject for me to really buy all the anecdotal accounts that come and go. Bottom line: for the cost of one moderately priced fish; a QT, along with a good QT routine will guarantee that ich will never reach your tank. (Disclaimer:99.99 % of the time.)

[IMM3DOORSDOWN]

The life cycle of this parasite is interesting and is important to understand when evaluating a treatment. The stage where the parasite is attached to a fish is called a trophont. The trophont will spend three to seven days (depending on temperature) feeding on the fish and that is what you see symptomatically when you see "salt sprinkled on the fish". After that, the trophont leaves the fish and becomes what is called a protomont. This protomont travels to the substrate and begins to crawl around for usually two to eight hours, but it could go for as long as eighteen hours after it leaves it's fish host. Once the protomont attaches to a surface, it begins to encyst and is now called a tomont. Division inside the cyst into hundreds of daughter parasites, called tomites, begins shortly thereafter. This noninfectious stage can last anywhere from three to twenty-eight days. During this extended period, the parasite cyst is lying in wait for a host. After this period, the tomites hatch and begin swimming around, looking for a fish host. At this point, they are called theronts, and they must find a host within twenty-four hours or die. They prefer to seek out the skin and gill tissue, then transform into trophonts, and begin the process all over again. What this means is that when your tank is infected, you can actually see symptoms during a very small part of the life cycle, and it why your tank is infected even though your fish are resistant. It will also explain why symptoms come and go.

Many hobbyists are fooled into believing they have cured their fish of the parasites, only to find Ich present again on fish a few weeks later; a reason why following through with a full treatment protocol is so important. Don't make this mistake and be lulled into a false sense of security. The parasites may be in a stage where they are merely regrouping and multiplying for their "next offensive." In the wild, this sort of massive reproductive phase ensures that a few will find a suitable host to continue on the cycle. In the close confines of our aquariums, though, it means comparatively massive infection rates.

This disease is usually associated with several environmental triggers. Changes in water temperature, exposure to high levels of ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate, low pH levels, low dissolved oxygen often associated with overcrowding, are all factors contributing to the onset of the disease. You could lump all of these in a general category of "stress", but it is more appropriate to think of all of these as "unnatural conditions". In fact, Cryptocaryon irritans is rare in the wild even more unlikely to be lethal. Ich is truly a disease that exploits the conditions of captivity to reproduce and easily find suitable hosts.

By the way, trophonts are under the skin so cleaner wrasses and cleaner shrimp have no real effect on reducing this parasite.

By the way, a vlamingi tang is not normally a new to the hobby fish as it really requires a very substantial tank.




I really hope you have that saved somewhere.and all you did was copy then paste.good reading for sure.that was alot of typing.thanks for the lesson.