Any one who
has ever had
an aquarium
can tell you
that they
know what
Ich is.
It is the
plague of
aquariums
and tropical
fish. AND
our beloved
koi and gold
fish can
become
infested
with it too.
They are not
as easily
identified
on Koi as
they are on
tropical
fish.
But a
microscopic
exam will
reveal them
readily.
One good
thing
about
Ich is
that it
clears
easily
with
salt.
It takes
about 2
weeks of
salt at
.3 in
order to
be fully
killed
off.
To the
naked
eye it
will
look
like
salt or
sugar
has been
sprinkled
on the
fish.
Ich is
easiest
to see
on the
fins.
Under
the
microscope
it is
one of
the
easiest
parasites
to see.
It may
appear
round or
oval and
will
change
shapes.
Inside
the
black
circle
you will
see a
crescent
shape
"roughly
"c"
shaped
with
many
black
dots.
These
dots, if
you
watch
them
will
spin
around.
I did
try to
capture
the
crescent
shape in
the
camera,
but
after
many
attempts
was not
able to.
Both
pictures
are
"click
able" to
enlarge
them to
see the
details.
Top left
is was
taken on
the
microscope
at 400x.
There
are 2
Ich
right
next to
each
other
where my
name
goes
through
the
photo.
The
last
picture,
the
picture
on the
right is
slightly
zoomed
in with
a photo
editor |
