Ich is the parasite hobbyists fear most - white grain-of-salt spots on fish, then fish scratching against rocks, then rapid breathing, then dead fish. Treated correctly with the right protocol, ich is curable. Treated wrong, it wipes the tank.
Gold standard: copper-based treatment with Cupramine or Copper Power in a hospital tank for 14-21 days. Test daily with Hanna copper checker or Salifert. Maintain 0.45-0.50 ppm therapeutic Cupramine, or 2.0-2.5 ppm Copper Power.
Tank Transfer Method (TTM): move fish between two clean tanks every 3 days for 12 days total (4 transfers). Parasites can't reattach. No medications. Works for fish that don't tolerate copper (sharks, rays, some anthias).
Display tank fallow: remove all fish, run the display at 78F+ for 76 days. Parasites die without hosts. This is the only way to clear an established display.
Gold standard: Ich-X at full dose for 7-10 days, with daily 25% water changes between doses.
Heat + salt: raise temp to 86F + add aquarium salt at 1 tbsp per 5 gallons for 10-14 days. Heat speeds the parasite life cycle so the free-swimming stage dies faster. Not safe for some scaleless fish (cories, loaches) - check species first.
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Browse aquacultured fish (lower disease risk) →Sometimes spots disappear, then return weeks later when stress drops fish immunity. Untreated ich becomes chronic and eventually wipes the population. Treat aggressively the first time you see spots.
Either (a) quarantine wasn't long enough (76-day fallow is required for full clearance), (b) a coral or rock introduction reintroduced the parasite, or (c) the fish brought a stress-suppressed infection that flared after a parameter change. Quarantine every new addition - including coral with fish-tank water on it - for 76 days.
Reef tanks: no. Copper kills inverts + corals. Use a hospital tank. Freshwater planted: Ich-X is reef-safe enough for inverts at half-dose, but plants may melt. Move fish to a hospital tank when possible.
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