I would like to thank Pufferpunk from http://www.thepufferforum.com for this excellent article. Pufferpunk can be found in just about every internet forum for puffers and has helped countless people with their fish. The online puffer community would not be the same without her

Please note that for dwarf puffers, you want to use regular "aquarium salt for freshwater fish" when treating them. You do not want to use marine salt because it will raise the specific gravity of your aquarium. Dwarf puffers are strictly freshwater and cannot tolerate higher salinities.

- Jeremy


Puffers With Ich - by Dawn R. & Pufferpunk

If some morning you get up and it looks like someone has salted the body, fins, and gills of your fish, you are looking at "Ich", sometimes called ick, or white spot disease. "Ich" is a protozoan parasite with the scientific name of Ichthyophthirius multifiliis. It is the largest of the ciliated protozoans. It is easily introduced into your tank by new fish or equipment or plants that have been moved from one tank to another. A quarantine tank is the best way to prevent introducing this parasite into your display tank. If you see ich on your fish they should be treated immediately. In heavily stocked tanks it can cause massive death rates within a very short period of time. Some symptoms before white spots appear may include flashing, clamped fins, weakness, loss of appetite, and decreased activity. In the case of heavy gill infestations, you may not see evidence of white spots, but may find your fish breathing heavily at the surface of your tank. Secondary bacterial and respiration difficulties may result, so keep an eye out for complications in addition to the ich infection.

The best way to prevent ich, as I stated above, is to quarantine all incoming fish. A minimum of three weeks in quarantine (in my opinion) is the best way to go. When kept at 76 to 83 degrees, incoming fish that have been exposed to ich may show symptoms within the first 3 days. However, at cooler temperatures, ich outbreaks may take longer to show up because of its lengthened life cycle. Water temperature has a tremendous effect on how fast the life cycle of ich is completed. At water temperatures of 75 to 79 degrees F, the life cycle is completed in about 48 to 72 hours. In water temperatures below 75, it takes much longer for the parasite to complete its life cycle.

LIFE CYCLE

There are three phases to the life cycle of this protozoan. Ich is susceptible to treatment at only one stage of its life cycle, so knowing the life cycle is important.

ADULT PHASE: the parasite attaches itself under the mucus layer of the skin or gills, causing irritation and the appearance of small white spots. As the parasite matures, it feeds on blood and skin cells. After some time, the parasite breaks through the mucus layer and falls to the bottom of the aquarium.

CYST PHASE: after falling to the bottom of the aquarium, the adult cyst bursts and divides into numerous daughter cells called tomites.

FREE SWIMMING PHASE: after the cyst phase, the free swimming tomites search for a host. If a host fish is not found within 2 to 3 days, the parasite dies. Once a host is found the whole cycle begins again. These three phases take about 28 days at 70 degrees F but only 3 days at 80 degrees F. For this reason it is recommended that the aquarium water be raised to between 80-86 degrees F. for the duration of the treatment. If the fish can stand it, raise the temperature to 86 degrees. Raising the aquarium temperature in this manner will shorten the length of time between the cyst phase and the free swimming tomite stage. It is during the free swimming tomite stage that chemical treatment is effective in killing the parasite. During this time, whatever you use for treatment should be supplemented with daily or every other day water changes and gravel vacuuming to remove as many adult cysts and free swimming tomites as possible.

TREATMENTS

Before starting treatment you should do at least a 50% water change and vacuuming of your tank. I also suggest doing 50% water changes every other day of treatment, to reduce the number of parasites in the water.

I do not like to use meds w/my puffers, except in a heavy infestation. All natural Melafix is helpful to treat any damage done to the puffer's skin from the parasite. If you run into any severe secendary bacterial problems, Pimafix will help.


One tablespoon of salt per 5 gals. of aquarium water (for FW puffers) gradually raising the temperature to 86 degrees F. Continue with this for a period of 21 days, adding back 1 tablespoon of salt for every 5 gals of aquarium water that you remove during water changes. One thing to remember with high temperatures is that you should run an additional air stone to oxygenate the water. There is less dissolved oxygen available in warm water than there is in water at cooler temperatures.

Written by Dawn R & Pufferpunk, (aka Jeni Tyrell)

This article is simply amazing!! Very in depth and simple. But I would rather not have ich in the first place. BTW how big should a quarantine tank be??

Ten gallon tanks are the most common and cheapest tank, so I recommend them unless you have a fish over 6" long, in which case a 29 is a good bet. I keep the filter I use on my QT tank as an "extra" on a larger, known healthy tank when it is not in use. That way, the QT tank is automatically cycled just by moving over that filter.

But do you need a filter?? I mean it's only gonna be for like 2-3 weeks of quarantine?? Also when do you do water changes in the QT?? Weekly, every other day, or daily??

You will need to filter and cycle your quarantine tank. Puffers can't withstand poor water quality. You simply maintain the same parameters as with your regular tank. Nick's method is great. I have used filter media at my disposal for those situations - I can just transfer the sopping wet, dirty, nasty, nitrifying-bacteria-laden floss to my quarantine filter.

BTW what kind of salt should you use?? Marine, Aquarium, or cooking salt?

Table salt is fine for ich.

Okay thanks!! Another less thing I need to pay for!

Never marine salt.

By the way, I was wondering if you guys/girls can leave this post here on the DP forum because there is some really helpful info here and I can't seem to find a site with treatment of this detail for Ich. It could help a fellow DP keeper determine life or death for their pet...