Skin protozoans, namely ich, are without a question the most common disease in fish. Treating ich and most skin protozoan diseases is actually very easy.
Public Aquariums use formalin/malachite green (Ich-X, Rid-Ich Plus, Blue Planet White Spot Remedy and Mardel QuickCure) to treat ich in freshwater fish, as do University Research Centers, Cory of Aquarium Co-op and Joey.
Note:
- Formalin/malachite green is poisonous if one overdoses
- One should never raise the temperature with formalin/malachite green.
- Never turn off the filter, change the filter media or clean the filter media with ich
- Do not move the fish to a hospital/quarantine tank.
- Cory and others have treated thousands of “scaleless” fish with full strength formalin medication with absolutely no problem.
The seminal study on ich treatments (Tieman and Goodwin, 2001) found salt and heat to have no effect on ich.
Most of the external protozoans of fish are delved into in some depth in the following chapters:
10.2.1. All Skin Protozoans
10.2.2. Ich
10.2.3. Velvet
10.2.4. Epistylis
10.2.5. Chilodonella and Costia
10.2.6. Tetrahymena
10.2.7. Cryptobia
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Return to Diseases Menu
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Hi Dave, I know you’re not in the business of being a virtual fish vet, but I am wondering if you can help me narrow down what is going on. I am running a fairly standard “1st malawi cichlid tank” and one of my yellow laps has an external disease.
Specifically, it’s dark gray and speckled/patchy, most concentrated on the operculum. Not white salt grains like ich, not golden like velvet. He looks like a small kid who got all mucky playing in the dirt and needs to wash his face, if that makes any sense …. He is spending more time darting in and out of the rocks than his other lap friends but otherwise no real behavioural symptoms. Still eating etc.
Recent changes to the tank: increased lighting strength and photoperiod, added one siamese algae eater (after quarantine of course).
Stocking: 11 species peacocks of various types, 4 yellow laps, 1 SAE, 3 nerite snails.
75G tank, caribsea african cichlid substrate, inert rocks, a few anubias/vall
40G sump static K1, side-plumbing fluidized sand filter
Oxygen: turbulent surface from lilly pipe and two airstones in sump
Disinfection: new 15W UV on return from sump
Food: High protein cichlid juvie food (not changed)
The tank was set up since July (with cycled media from previous tank), fish added as 2 inch juvies in September and up till now have been doing great. A bit of chasing but no fighting as such. They seem to have mixed well.
I am starting on medicated food, but am thinking that will prevent/treat secondary bacterial infections but may not help with an external protozoan.
What to do next? Wait and see? Add copper to the tank (I can move the snails)? Salt bath? I live in Canada so medication options are somewhat limited.
I have some photos I can send if that would help