How to prevent ICH?

[Jungle-mania]

Is there a basic procedure to prevent ICH or reduce the chances of it? I have check a couple of books, but they have nothing concrete in any preventive measures, only cures. Also I talk to a couple of guys, they say it is prevalent especially with new fishes and each time it comes back, it gets tougher to kill, is this true?

[michael lai]

Hi Jungle-mania,
Yes, the disease is prevalent. It is present every where, even in your substrate. My take on the disease is that it does not come back stronger but gets immune to your medication. I usually alternates between 2-3 kinds of medication if possible. Kind of let them guess what I'll use next inorder to not let them get acustomised to the medication. For instance, if you use waterlife which has a 4 days dosage program( this is good as it attacks the life-cycle )after initial regime, I'll change to a new medication.

There is another school of thought though, which is to let the disease run it's course. Both methods has it's pros and cons but at the end of the day, prevention is still cheaper than cure...

[Gecko]

I noticed that when the tank temperature fluctuates too much, too quickly, it happens. QT is also important as that is the most likely source.

[Jungle-mania]

what is QT? Anyway, I discovered my last bout of ICH came about when I had nitrate spike and my fish suffered gill burn, did a frequent water change and using carbon, did the trick.

[valice]

Stress is the reason why fishes succumb to parasite and diseases.. Ich is ever present in the tank for some weird reason. It is whether the fishes can prevent itself from being infected. Similar arguement from the flu bug around us. If we are healthy, the flu bug don't stand a chance...

QT means quarantine... Quarantine and acclimatise new fishes slowly will reduce the stress they face during transportation and introduction into a new environment...

Less stress, healthier fishes...