1. NEver ever use it in your cycled tank. It's lethal to bacteria and inverts, and has to be removed before you can cycle again.
2. It can be used for fish, but many hobbyists, myself included, won't use it, because it is toxic, and a sick or parasite-ridden fish often has other issues as well. This is a personal question. But there are other methods for dealing with ich and other parasites. TTM takes advantage of the ich life cycle, but also cannot be used in a cycled tank, or where there is any rock or sand.
3. there is no miracle cure-in-a-bottle for ich. If there were, the hobby would be all over it with great relief. It doesn't exist.
4. ich does come and go, because of its life cycle: it drops off and reappears. Disappearance does not equal cure. Read its life cycle. If you do have this pest, Fish Disease forum will give you some realistic help.
5. 72 days from the last appearance of the pest it is safe to consider bringing other fish in, after due precaution (TTM) that THEY do not bring you a new infestation.
6. Ich is not caused by stress, chill, or whatever. It is a parasite, an animal, though very tiny. What you can do to help your fish resist infestation: keep your alkalinity fairly steady between 7.9 and 9.3. I like 8.3, myself: this helps the fish maintain a slime coat that is healthy protection against skin and gill parasites. Test your water weekly to be sure your parameters aren't bouncing around. If they do, your alk will suffer and your fishes' resistence will suffer. It's not a guarantee, but it does tilt the odds against the parasite.
7. do not buy a fish with white bumps (ich, often), ragged fins (bacterial infection) or filmy skin, and do not buy a fish which has the filmy inner gill showing and flared from under the operculum (hard gill cover). This could be gill flukes (another parasite) or ich (which also appears in the gills and hampers breathing.)
8. Ich is not inevitable: it appears most because novice buyers don't realize a fish is sick when they buy it; and because early in the hobby, maintaining a steady water quality is, well, a problem. Concentrate on looking fish over very critically; on good management (keep the new purchase separate in quarantine); and on good water quality. If you could ace all three of those, you might go years and years with never a sick fish.
2. It can be used for fish, but many hobbyists, myself included, won't use it, because it is toxic, and a sick or parasite-ridden fish often has other issues as well. This is a personal question. But there are other methods for dealing with ich and other parasites. TTM takes advantage of the ich life cycle, but also cannot be used in a cycled tank, or where there is any rock or sand.
3. there is no miracle cure-in-a-bottle for ich. If there were, the hobby would be all over it with great relief. It doesn't exist.
4. ich does come and go, because of its life cycle: it drops off and reappears. Disappearance does not equal cure. Read its life cycle. If you do have this pest, Fish Disease forum will give you some realistic help.
5. 72 days from the last appearance of the pest it is safe to consider bringing other fish in, after due precaution (TTM) that THEY do not bring you a new infestation.
6. Ich is not caused by stress, chill, or whatever. It is a parasite, an animal, though very tiny. What you can do to help your fish resist infestation: keep your alkalinity fairly steady between 7.9 and 9.3. I like 8.3, myself: this helps the fish maintain a slime coat that is healthy protection against skin and gill parasites. Test your water weekly to be sure your parameters aren't bouncing around. If they do, your alk will suffer and your fishes' resistence will suffer. It's not a guarantee, but it does tilt the odds against the parasite.
7. do not buy a fish with white bumps (ich, often), ragged fins (bacterial infection) or filmy skin, and do not buy a fish which has the filmy inner gill showing and flared from under the operculum (hard gill cover). This could be gill flukes (another parasite) or ich (which also appears in the gills and hampers breathing.)
8. Ich is not inevitable: it appears most because novice buyers don't realize a fish is sick when they buy it; and because early in the hobby, maintaining a steady water quality is, well, a problem. Concentrate on looking fish over very critically; on good management (keep the new purchase separate in quarantine); and on good water quality. If you could ace all three of those, you might go years and years with never a sick fish.
