LyndaB
Aquarium Advice Addict
This is a very helpful article on causes, the life cycle and treatment options:
Freshwater Ich? Yuck!
Freshwater Ich? Yuck!
One more tid bit in my terrible journey with this.
what you're treating is ich.
To effectively treat ich, it's important to understand a little
bit about the life cycle of the organism.
-------> ADULT (on fish) -------
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** TOMITE ** TROPHOZOITE
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------------- CYST --------------
The adult stage lives on the skin and body of the fish. It will burrow under the epidermis, causing skin damage. Disruption of the skin
leads to osmoregulatory disturbances, osmotic stress, and allows for the easy entrance of secondary invaders like bacteria.
The cyst stage lives on the bottom of the aquarium, and gives rise to about 300 tomites per cyst.
** THE TOMITE STAGE IS THE ONLY STAGE WHICH IS SENSITIVE TO MEDICATION!
The life cycle takes 12-16 days to complete, depending on the
temperature, and the tomite stage lasts for only three days.
xtra51 said:Correct, and the Tomite stage is the stage the ICH particles are free floating. This is why it is susceptible to medications. Medications tend to be more harsh than what is actually needed in treated for ICH. That is why it is recommended that you slowly raise the temp. to combat this issue.
have a blessed day. Hope it all works out
severum mama said:Moved to FW and Brackish - Unhealthy Fish.
Marine ich and freshwater ich are completely different parasites. The article that LyndaB linked has got you covered.