Question about ICH?

Question

I have heard that if you keep your tank at a constant 80 degrees then Ich can't survive in the tank. Is this true? Are there any ways you can help prevent fish from getting it?

Answer 1

Ich can live just fine at 80 degrees. It actually reproduces really fast at that temperature. Its 86 degrees at which ick STARTS to die... unfortunately, most fish will be stressed out at 84 degrees & die themselves.

There is a correlation between generally higher temperatures & healthier tropical fish. If a fish can be kept at 72-80 degrees, they will have less of a chance of getting ick at 80 degrees than 72 since their general health and metabolism will be highest at that temperature.

To further explain the above statement... ick is in all water. The fish must be stressed or slightly ill for the ick to attach itself to the fish and start an infection. This will be less likely at the high end of their temperature range for most tropical fish.


If you have a ich infection, you don't want to jack up the temperature unless you have medicine in the water. The temperature increase will cause it to reproduce faster & unless there's something in the water to kill it when it pops off of the fish's body, then it will just make the infection spread faster.

Answer 2

I have battled ich and returned semi victorious(ok the fish got a better immune system but i feel good :)). I took the kick ich and the raised temp method. Dont think either did much. Some strains of ich can live past the 86 mark up to 92 degrees. The best thing to do when ich strikes is look at what could be stressing your fish... or treat all the water your putting in to a nice boiling install a refugium for nitrates and dry out your fish before they spit water into your tank... you get the point its gonna be incredibly difficult to rid it. If you see ich dont worry so much about treating it the first time. You might try some garlic its rumored to help and is probly about the same on an effectiveness level as many treatments. But whats kept my fish clean is a good diet and low stress. Btw all this was done on a saltwater tank that had inverts in it. There are other options that will kill the ich like copper meds but killing the ich isnt fixing the problem. Also if this is freshwater things may be very different.

Answer 3

80 degrees doesn't do anything to ich.

86 degrees keeps ich from breeding, so it doesn't kill them outright but the end effect is about the same.

90-91 degrees is what I have read would start killing them.

Depending on what kind of fish you keep, as long as you make the temperature changes gradual these temperatures aren't harmful for short periods of time.

I did a heat treatment on my platy tank in December: 91 for three days, then 86 for seven days. All fish were lively throughout the treatment, all of them survived, and the ich has never returned.

The best prevention is to quarantine all new fish before adding them to your main tank. After that, just keep your fish happy and healthy (don't overstock, do regular water changes, etc) and they can generally keep free of it on their own.

Answer 4

Ich is an opportunistic parasite that tends to creep up slightly more often in cooler water than in warmer water. That said, it certainly will survive in 80F water. Keeping your water warm is just one small step you can take to lessen your chances of an Ich infestation among tropical fish. Ich parasites usually attack fish who are stressed or have a weakened immune system. The best steps you can take to avoid Ich are the following:

1. Keep your tank water clean and free from toxins. Test regularly for ammonia and nitrite and keep your pH stable.
2. Purchase fish that prefer the type of water you have rather then trying to manipulate your water to suit the fish.
3. Cycle your tank.
4. Provide a balanced and nutritious diet that suits your fish's needs.
5. Keep your parameters stable. Large pH or temperature fluctuations create stress that can lead to an infestation.
6. Always quarantine new arrivals. Four weeks in a separate tank is usually adequate. If an illness arises during that quarantine period, treat the fish and repeat the 4 week quarantine.
7. Create an environment similar to your fish's natural environment. If your fish come from water with dense plant material, provide lots of hiding spaces in your home aquarium. This will help them feel safe and less stressed. Same goes for maintaining natural social relationships. If your fish are shoaling fish who naturally live in large numbers, maintain a school rather than just one or two. This will cut back on stress. The same idea goes for solitary species. Don't force loaner species into a crowded aquarium.

I know these tips are mostly common sense stuff, but I hope they help.

http://www.nippyfish.net/ich.html

Answer 5

I have seen a tank that was kept at 80 develope ick. The best way to prevent ick is to maintain the tank properly with water changes and minimizing stress as these are typically the underlying reason the fish come down with it.
Weekly partial (25%) water changes is less stressful than larger water changes done twice a month.

Answer 6

It's a parasite present in every fish store. You have to kill them while they're in the free swimming stage. Raising the temperature accelerates the little buggers life cycle so that get to the free swimming stage faster, but you have to add something to the water to kill them. The old timers used to add sea salt, or you can use one of the commercially available preparations from the store. They work...