Treatment for Ich
- DonkeyFish
- Posts: 1783
- Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2007 4:42 pm
- Real Name: Jen Williams
- Location: Alexandria, VA
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The way I understand it the Ich parasite burrows under the skin/scales of the fish were it grows. Once large enough it produces microscopic eggs that fall to the ground that are very resistant to dessication or chemicals. When the microscopic eggs hatch to microscopic free-swimmers they are hunting for a host to infect/protect them from harm (under the scales/skin and all). The only time the parasite is vunerable is when it just hatches and is free swimming. That's when the salt, heat, water changes, UV Sterilizer can kill/remove them. Problem is when your fish are initially infected you can't see the parasite until it's large enough to look like a white dot. So you're always fighting an uphill battle. That's why I like UV sterilizers in my larger tanks. More fish = more potential cooties.