my case, the marine version, Cryptocaryon
irritans) and realized that I was finally
getting my comeuppance. I had been playing
a game of aquatic Russian roulette all along!
I’m now a staunch advocate of quarantining,
no matter how inconvenient it may seem
at the time—as I’m sure you will be, going
forward from this unfortunate event.
The good news is that there’s no reason to
tear down your tank and start over. You don’t
even have to treat the tank with any form of
chemical to eradicate this parasite. With all
of the fish absent from your tank, all you have
to do is allow the tank to remain fallow (i.e.,
don’t introduce any more fish) for at least
four weeks. Give it an additional week or two
just to be on the safe side. This fallow period
will allow the lifecycle of the ich parasite
Ichthyophthirius multifiliis to run its course.
Here’s how it progresses: first, the parasites
attach to the fish and feed actively. During
this stage, called the trophont stage, the fish’s
body responds to the irritation by walling
off the parasites, creating the characteristic
white spots that we can see with the naked
eye. Next, the parasites leave the fish’s body,
drop to the substrate, and form cysts. These
cysts are known as tomonts. Inside each cyst,
reproduction begins, resulting in hundreds
or even thousands of parasites. Finally, the
cyst ruptures, and the parasites (now called
tomites) swim freely in search of a fish host
to parasitize.
Now here’s the important part—if the free-swimming parasites don’t find a host fish
within a few days, they will die. Hence,
leaving your tank completely fish free long
enough for this entire lifecycle to elapse
ensures that the parasite will not be around to
infect newcomers in the future. Of course, you
can always reintroduce ich by adding infected
specimens to your tank again, but something
tells me that, like me, you won’t make this
same mistake twice.www.tfhmagazine.com
www.tfhmagazine.com September 2008
Feeding
Frozen Foods
What’s the best way to feed
frozen fish foods? Do you
need to thaw them first, or should you just
drop a frozen cube or broken-off piece right
in the water and let the fish nibble at it as it
thaws in the tank?
Maryann Black
Decatur, Alabama
Q
I prefer to thaw frozen foods
first by placing them in a net
and rinsing them under cold
running water. This also makes
sure that if there is any extra “juice”—a
major polluter—it doesn’t enter the tank
along with the meaty food item.
Also, prior thawing is necessary if you
want to enrich the food by soaking it in a
vitamin supplement before feeding, which I
often do. When thawing certain commercial
formula foods, which may contain smaller
ingredients that would end up running down
the drain if rinsed, I simply place a cube or a
piece in a cup or bowl and allow it to thaw in
the refrigerator.
Beyond
Overstocked
Hi. When I got home from
school today and looked in
my 40-gallon aquarium, I saw my channel
catfish Ictalurus furcatus lying on top of
a lump of eggs with measurements of
probably 4 inches long, 2 inches wide, and
2 inches tall. I have three catfish. One was
on top of the eggs, and one was chasing
and head-butting the other fish in the
aquarium (I figured this may be the male).
I have never had fish lay eggs in any of
my aquariums. I also have an oscar about
8 inches long, a bluegill bream about 5
inches long, a Mississippi map turtle, and a
A
Q
