Wayne n Kell Posted February 17, 2007 Report Share Posted February 17, 2007 Hi everyone After suspecting some of my cichlids having the itch, i spoke to our LFS and was told it is dormant in most aqueria and only comes out when fish are run down or stressed. At the time i was not entirly convinced by what i was told so did some research on the net and found the following article, which i found very informative and thought may be useful to others. http://www.malawimayhem.com/articles_health_treating_ich_white_spot.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted February 17, 2007 Report Share Posted February 17, 2007 Yeah my clown loaches get it occasionally they're in with my africans so I treat it with salt and they all come right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted February 17, 2007 Report Share Posted February 17, 2007 I bump the temp up to around 28 and it zaps it quick.. also extra airation can help and of course a bit of tonic salt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted February 18, 2007 Report Share Posted February 18, 2007 Nice link. Its a hard topic to debate. I have heard stories from people saying they haven't entered anything in the tank for weeks, months....and whitespot has broken out. I myself have only ever had the disease a couple of times, but its been not long after introduction of fish or plants. Then again this part can explain it.... The proliferation of this myth could be due to the fact that it is possible for a strong, healthy fish to resist severe infestations, especially if it was infected previously and developed some resistance. While the organisms attach easily to the gills of most fish (where they cannot be seen), the body may be sufficiently protected by a tougher mucus coating. Such a fish could serve as an asymptomatic carrier; potentially hosting many lifecycles without showing any visible signs. Frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted February 18, 2007 Report Share Posted February 18, 2007 I have only ever had whitespot 3 times.. and like Frenchy, it has always been after introduction of a new fish.. but had never given it a chance to take off.. nipped it straight away.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freakyfish Posted February 18, 2007 Report Share Posted February 18, 2007 I myself believe its remains in the tank always and takes something to get into plague proportions I have had a tank where I didnt add anything but water for months and then had it break out AsFrenchy has said id say it attacks the fish in parts where it can be seen easily and only a couple of the parasites keep going through its life cycle and the fish is strong enough to get through it by itself Then something happens and the fish loses alittle of its immune system and bang the parasite can take hold and mulitply very quickly causes it into plague proportions Brad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted February 18, 2007 Report Share Posted February 18, 2007 But it shouldn't be in your tank if you can help it Brad. That was the point of the link. At one stage one of your fish had the parasite & carried the disease. Once immunity was low it spread through the tank. If none of your fish are carrying the parasite, then its not in your tank. Frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne n Kell Posted February 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2007 Some interesting points of difference raised. I think the reasearch outlined in the artice is to strong to ignore ref being able to eliminate compleatly, and the parasite having a natural life cycle, and as others have referenced i have recently introduced new fish to the tank. Prefering to do things as naturaly as possible i have gradualy raised the temp in the tank over the last two days to 30 deg C and will leave it there for ten days.. :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted February 18, 2007 Report Share Posted February 18, 2007 Make sure you have plenty of airation too. Hotter the water the less oxygen available in the water. Frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne n Kell Posted February 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2007 Thanks frenchy, yep, i've got plenty of airation happening.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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