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Originally Posted by reef_raf
Not to get technical and all, but I have found that using garlic makes white spots on fish go away. This equals good. Try garlic, you'll like it.  |
yeah if you knew about the life cycle of the parasite you would know that the ich falls of the fish regardless of what you soak the food in within 3-7days.
The life cycle of C. irritans (Ich)
C. irritans has a four stage life cycle. The parasitic stage (theronts) is the one that results in the appearance of white spots all over the fish. The theronts burrow under the skin where they feed on body fluids and tissue debris. When the theronts first infect the fish they are small but grow as they feed and so the white spots are initially small but get larger as they mature.
Once mature, they drop off the fish and sink/swim down to the substrate where they encyst and begin to reproduce. In this stage they are called tomonts. After a number of days in which the tomonts divide, the cyst ruptures, releasing the tomites. Tomites may differentiate into theronts, the infective stage, which actively seek a host to reinfect.
The life cycle of C. irritans
C. irritans has a four stage life cycle, as shown in Figure 1. The parasitic stage (theronts) is the one that results in the appearance of white spots all over the fish. The theronts burrow under the skin where they feed on body fluids and tissue debris. When the theronts first infect the fish they are small but grow as they feed and so the white spots are initially small but get larger as they mature. Once mature, they drop off the fish and sink/swim down to the substrate where they encyst and begin to reproduce. In this stage they are called tomonts. After a number of days in which the tomonts divide, the cyst ruptures, releasing the tomites. Tomites may differentiate into theronts, the infective stage, which actively seek a host to reinfect.