To take the mystery out of ich, think of it as having fleas. The problems are similar. It's not a disease, it's an ittybitty parasite, so small our eyes can't see it, which (as fleas don't) gets under the skin and raises a pimple. Once this bursts, the pest, having fed on fishy fluids, heads for the sandbed (particularly where fish may sleep at night) to complete its life cycle and reproduce. In time, a horde of little swimmers launch forth, a new crop of little fleas looking for a fish. They'll settle in the gills, on the body, wherever they can, and the pimples will form, and that's the way it goes, round and round.
A fish's natural defense against this pest is slime. A healthy slime coat stands it off, and a fish is easiest prey to it when a) stressed b) when the alkalinity is below 7.9 [I like 8.3 as a setting] ---and c) when a fish's slime is compromised by shipping, moving, being in a bag, being netted, being starved, or generally messed with---that fish is the best target for it to penetrate his skin successfully and find a home.
On the ich's side of things, the little parasites have one need in order to reproduce: they have to have a fish. And they have to get through its slime coat. Once they do---you're in for another round, as the pest drops off, and comes back tenfold.
TTM (tank transfer) uses its own strategy against it. You change the fish's tank once the pest has dropped, and you clean that tank, killing the pest, and keep that exchange of tanks going until you can pretty well say your fish has calmed down after its adventure and fed up and gotten healthy. In simple terms, we've thinned the herd, and the fish has its barriers up. After a time of observation, you can put your fish back in the tank.
How long can ich wait for a fish? Once it's launched looking for one it has to latch on within hours, or die. But it can wait in the sandbed or rock for about 72 days before it needs to make its run for a fish. No fish around for 72 days---and our invaders fizzle and die. Poor things.
ONLY a fish can serve. Only a fish will do, when it comes to ich's reproduction. It can travel in a water drop, so keep fish store water out of your tank: I give my inverts a little swish in old tank water and toss that before putting them in. With fish, qt them and watch for pimples. With corals---dip them: they have their own problems; and keep soft coral under observation in their own qt, because their pests lay eggs.
I hope that this makes things a little more sensible. It's not true that tanks always have ich---it's also not true that it develops spontaneously from fish being stressed. It's like fleas. They can ride in on you and hop onto your dog. In this case, fish. But it's very similar. Wish we had 'flea powder' for fish, but unfortunately, what kills the ich would do in your tank biostructure, so to protect the tank, we do our treatment in a different tank. And you're not about to say my spaniel has fleas but I'm sure my terrier doesn't. Nope. Not real likely in the fish tank either. If your clown has ich, bet your other fish either has it or will be the next target.
A fish's natural defense against this pest is slime. A healthy slime coat stands it off, and a fish is easiest prey to it when a) stressed b) when the alkalinity is below 7.9 [I like 8.3 as a setting] ---and c) when a fish's slime is compromised by shipping, moving, being in a bag, being netted, being starved, or generally messed with---that fish is the best target for it to penetrate his skin successfully and find a home.
On the ich's side of things, the little parasites have one need in order to reproduce: they have to have a fish. And they have to get through its slime coat. Once they do---you're in for another round, as the pest drops off, and comes back tenfold.
TTM (tank transfer) uses its own strategy against it. You change the fish's tank once the pest has dropped, and you clean that tank, killing the pest, and keep that exchange of tanks going until you can pretty well say your fish has calmed down after its adventure and fed up and gotten healthy. In simple terms, we've thinned the herd, and the fish has its barriers up. After a time of observation, you can put your fish back in the tank.
How long can ich wait for a fish? Once it's launched looking for one it has to latch on within hours, or die. But it can wait in the sandbed or rock for about 72 days before it needs to make its run for a fish. No fish around for 72 days---and our invaders fizzle and die. Poor things.
ONLY a fish can serve. Only a fish will do, when it comes to ich's reproduction. It can travel in a water drop, so keep fish store water out of your tank: I give my inverts a little swish in old tank water and toss that before putting them in. With fish, qt them and watch for pimples. With corals---dip them: they have their own problems; and keep soft coral under observation in their own qt, because their pests lay eggs.
I hope that this makes things a little more sensible. It's not true that tanks always have ich---it's also not true that it develops spontaneously from fish being stressed. It's like fleas. They can ride in on you and hop onto your dog. In this case, fish. But it's very similar. Wish we had 'flea powder' for fish, but unfortunately, what kills the ich would do in your tank biostructure, so to protect the tank, we do our treatment in a different tank. And you're not about to say my spaniel has fleas but I'm sure my terrier doesn't. Nope. Not real likely in the fish tank either. If your clown has ich, bet your other fish either has it or will be the next target.
